Louis Armstrong: Now You Have Jazz

Satchmo                                      Adi Holzer, 2002

Louis Armstrong, the phenomenal jazz trumpeter, performer, and all around good will ambassador was born on this day in New Orleans in 1901. He was a trailblazer in any number of ways, and although he left us in 1971 his imprint remains large in popular music and jazz in particular. Here is a link to the Armstrong page at NPR's Jazz Profiles where you can listen to the master himself and to others as they describe his broad cultural legacy. Readers can learn more at the Louis Armstrong House Museum site.  Here are few samples of Armstrong at work:

There is an hour of music in this first video. If you can't enjoy all of it, at least go to 17:20 and listen to Now You Have Jazz.

And here is a signature hit Armstrong recorded in 1968.

It's safe to say that Armstrong indeed helped make a wonderful world during his near six decades in jazz and popular music. May his smile, his sound, and his goodness stay with us for a long, long time.