‘Satchmo’ at QC

Priceless recordings of American musical legend Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, discovered in the Armstrong family archive at Queens College, are now available to the public on a two-CD set from the Jazz Heritage Society.
The set includes recordings of a history-making series of radio broadcasts, and excerpts from 650 reels of home-recorded audio tapes which had been saved by Armstrong’s widow, Lucille.
On Tuesday, August 12, the unique recordings will be available digitally at iTunes. One week later, on August 19, all digital downloading sites worldwide will be authorized to sell this title.
The two-CD set was conceived of and authorized by the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation. It contains more than one hour of Armstrong’s performance with his big band, more than one hour of excerpts from Armstrong’s home-recorded tapes, illuminating notes by award-winning jazz writer Dan Morganstern and rare photos from the collections of the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
In the days before television became dominant, families gathered around their radio for entertainment. Programs ranged from suspense drama, to comedy to “variety shows,” and had audiences comparable to the TV-hit shows of today.
From April to May 1937, Armstrong, whose immense, toothy smile earned him the nickname “Satchmo” (short for ‘satchel mouth’) was the guest host of Rudy Vallee’s “Fleischmann’s Yeast Hour,” one of the most popular shows on radio. Armstrong was the first African-American to host a national network variety show.
Since 1987, Queens College has been the repository of Louis and Lucille Armstrong’s vast collection of memorabilia. Discovered in the archives were 18 fragile acetate discs of the 1937 broadcasts and the tapes.
Armstrong was fond of his tape recorder and used it often. The selections include “Pops,” as he became known later in life, playing trumpet along with a 1927 recording, singing “Blueberry Hill” and other popular standards a capella and reminiscing with friends about topics ranging from the early days of his career, jazz greats like Bix Beiderbecke, boxers Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano and his philosophy.
Until now, this set which was first released by the Jazz Heritage Society, was only available on CD via membership in the Jazz Heritage Society at www.jazzheritage.org, at www.JazzStore.com or at the Louis Armstrong House Museum’s gift shop. Excerpts from the release are available on line at www.jazzstore.com/stash/louis-armstrong/index.php.
In Armstrong’s words, “That’s my story folks - I guess I’m stuck with it.”