In addition to tons of great live music, Satchmo SummerFest included a series of eighteen seminars on all aspects of Louis Armstrong's life and career. If you missed them, never fear! You can see all of them here on WWOZ.org.
The six seminars held on Saturday, August 2, 2014 are below. Here are the other twelve seminars:
Friday, August 1, 2014 | Sunday August 3, 2014
Satchmo Seminars from Saturday, August 2, 2014
11:30 am – Disciples of Pops: Jack Bradley and Ruby Braff
Mick Carlon, author of Travels With Louis and Riding on Duke’s Train, discusses his friendships with two men: jazz photographer Jack Bradley, whom Armstrong dubbed “my white son;” and Ruby Braff (1927-2003), the soulful artist of the cornet. Jack, now 80 and living on Cape Cod, was a frequent speaker at earlier Satchmo Summerfests, and his masterful photographs are now at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens.
12:30 pm – “Red Beans and Ricely Yours”: Louis Armstrong and Food
We shouldn’t be surprised that a musician from New Orleans, who composed “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue” and “Cornet Chop Suey,” and signed his letters “Red Beans and Ricely Yours,” loved to eat. In this multimedia presentation, Michael Cogswell, Executive Director of the Louis Armstrong House Museum in New York City, shares charming photos of Louis eating falafel, soba noodles, and other dishes during his world travels; restaurant menus that Louis saved and annotated; candid audio clips of Louis eating meals and commenting upon the dishes; food jokes from Louis’ private joke notebook; a peek inside Lucille’s cookbooks; and, of course, Louis’ personal recipe for red beans and rice. Complimentary Swiss Kriss for every audience member!
1:30 pm – Louis Armstrong in Denmark
Armstrong historians—and longtime Satchmo Summerfest favorites – Dan Morgenstern and Ricky Riccardi – team up to provide an all-inclusive look at Louis Armstrong’s relationship with Denmark, with footage of the trumpeter in Copenhagen in 1933, and later with popular Danish-Dutch singing duo Nina and Frederik in 1959, rare audio of the All Stars performing there in the 1950s and 1960s, and a look at the Danish Armstrong-inspired trumpeter, Theis Jensen.
2:30 pm – In New Orleans, Pops is Still “The Man”
Louis Armstrong left New Orleans before he established himself as an American icon, and though he never returned to live in his birth city, he has remained the face of jazz in his hometown over the decades. Armstrong’s influence on the identity of New Orleans jazz has increased in the recontextualized post-Katrina New Orleans. Musicians strive to emulate him and find he speaks directly to their needs. Audiences can hear Armstrong, not just in cover versions of his songs, but in the ways he guides New Orleans’ young musicians. Award-winning music writer John Swenson (OffBeat, Rolling Stone, UPI, Reuters) examines these ideas in a multi-media presentation using recordings, videos, and still photographs.
3:30 pm – The Deeper Link between Rampart Street Jews and the Birth of Jazz: “Bricolage”
The role of Rampart Street Jews in the birth and history of jazz, especially in Louis Armstrong’s early life, is familiar territory. One way to explore the deeper connection between Jewish and Jazz cultures is through the concept of “bricolage” – making do with what comes to hand. French for “tinkering,” bricolage, a kind of improvisation, is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available. What did Louis learn from the Karnofskys’ rag and bone cart where he first learned to play the penny whistle? Author and educator Randy Fertel presents.
4:30 pm – Cinematic Satch: New Discoveries of Louis Armstrong on Television
Author Ricky Riccardi has been screening rare clips of Louis Armstrong on television for Satchmo Summerfest since 2008. This year, he’s digging deep into his private collection to show an hour of footage rarely seen since originally airing in the 1950s and 1960s!
