The Art of Staying Hot

[mjzee]

The family of jazz in the 20th century, like many another multi-generational household, seemed to spend nearly as much time splitting into factions and nursing grudges as it did celebrating its own achievements. Performers and enthusiasts alike fell out over real and imagined divisions of race, over the conflicting demands of art and show business, and over the imperatives of a musical form that seemed to change drastically every five years or so. Thus it came to pass that, in the last 20 years of his life, Louis Armstrong (1901-71)—one of the most important figures in the history of jazz and, in Ricky Riccardi's phrase, "arguably the most recognizable entertainer on the planet"—had a hard time, in certain quarters of the jazz community, getting much respect.

Since his death, though—thanks to informed commentary and a few fine biographies, not to mention the enduring value of his music—Armstrong's reputation has grown and grown. With "What a Wonderful World," Mr. Riccardi, an archivist for the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, N.Y., celebrates the trumpeter-singer's twilight years, a period sometimes slighted in otherwise appreciative accounts of his life.

More here:

WSJ

[brownie]

Thanks for linking the WSJ review.

Will be looking forward to read Riccardi's book.