Louis Armstrong's New Orleans

Book Description

"The best book ever produced about Louis Armstrong by anyone other than the man himself."—Terry Teachout, Commentary

In the early twentieth century, New Orleans was a place of colliding identities and histories, and Louis Armstrong was a gifted young man of psychological nimbleness. A dark-skinned, impoverished child, he grew up under low expectations, Jim Crow legislation, and vigilante terrorism. Yet he also grew up at the center of African American vernacular traditions from the Deep South, learning the ecstatic music of the Sanctified Church, blues played by street musicians, and the plantation tradition of ragging a tune.

Louis Armstrong's New Orleans interweaves a searching account of early twentieth-century New Orleans with a narrative of the first twenty-one years of Armstrong's life. Drawing on a stunning body of first-person accounts, this book tells the rags-to-riches tale of Armstrong's early life and the social and musical forces that shaped him. The city and the musician are both extraordinary, their relationship unique, and their impact on American culture incalculable. 16 pages of illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A very, very great book.......2007-06-08

Thomas Brothers has pulled off the near-impossible for a youngish man living in the 21st century. He has managed to dissect and explain most of the complex social and musical interactions in New Orleans as they existed in the years when Louis Armstrong was growing up, coming of age, and learning his way around the horn and the music business. He adroitly explains how the social and cultural climate of New Orleans was exactly right for not only the formation of the music we call jazz, but also how it trickled down from the uptown African-Americans to the downtown Creoles.

I only give the book four stars, however, for one reason. Mr. Brothers does not include or describe the jazz music created by Jack "Papa" Laine, Tom Brown and THEIR bands in the further downtown white districts. Laine was leading jazz bands from the mid-1890s on, and his graduates included virtually all the better-known white jazz musicians such as Nick La Rocca, Larry Shields, Eddie Edwards and Alcide "Yellow" Nunez. While it is true that the "Original" Dixieland Jazz Band claimed credit for music that was not their own, the same was true of "blues composer" W.C. Handy, whose wholesale theft of folk material was exposed by Jelly Roll Morton in 1938; of Clarence Williams, who routinely stole songs from everyone (Brothers even blithely credits him with stealing "I Wish That I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" from Armstrong); and of Benjamin and Reb Spikes, who stole songs from EVERYBODY, black, Creole or white. As a matter of fact, the ODJB's original clarinetist, Alcide "Yellow" Nunez, even stole "Livery Stable Blues" from his former bandmates, copyrighting it under his name and that of white bandleader Vincent Lopez! So much for honor among thieves.

Despite this oversight, the book is excellent in every respect. Armstrong's development, musically, intellectually and socially, is explained in painstaking detail. (One of my few complaints is that Mr. Brothers overuses the word "hegemony" as much as Gene Santoro overuses th word "zeitgeist.") Very well written, thoroughly researched, and a full explanation of exactly "how" jazz developed, especially in New Orleans, and how this development affected the greatest early jazz soloist of them all. Highly recommended.

Satchmo and the context of New Orleans.......2006-10-14

It is amazing, beautiful, and triumphant that African Americans, who at the beginning of the 20th-century were mostly despised by the dominant White culture and subject to wanton and homicidal violence in the South, should at the same time have created jazz -- the only original American music and which, in its origins, is essentially happy and upbeat.

In Mr. Brothers's superb new book, he examines the reasons for this aspect of jazz, as well as many other aspects. As he says in his introduction to "Louis Armstrong's New Orleans", it is not so much a biography of Satchmo as it is an attempt to place him and jazz in the historical, social, political, and musical contexts into which the man and the music were born.

Satchmo was the perfect person in the perfect place at the perfect time. The aftermath of the defeat of Reconstruction and the institution of Jim Crow laws was the impetus for 40,000 ex-slaves to flee the plantations and move to New Orleans. Among their possessions they brought their music. This music and its players fused African rhythms and tonalities with Western instruments. The old plantation bands, which were composed mostly of string instruments, began the tradition of "ragging" the tune; that is, taking the melody, breaking it apart, and riffing on it.

When this music arrived in New Orleans, it was translated into wind instruments such as the clarinet and trombone, but especially the cornet. Blues structure also developed at the same time. At the beginning of the 20th century, brass bands were flourishing in New Orleans. Buddy Bolden, a cornetist who played the blues, became the first jazz soloist. The music took off. Into this fecund world, Louis Armstrong was born (1901).

The son of a teenage mother and absent father, Louis roamed the streets of New Orleans selling newspapers, carrying the instruments of band players, and getting himself into trouble occasionally. Trouble sent him to school where he got his own instrument and emerged as a cornetist who, at the age of 14, was good enough to be a substitute in bands. By 17 he was renowned in his hometown and by his mid-twenties he had moved to Chicago as part of the Great Migration of Blacks to the north. He had come to Chicago by invitation of his cornet mentor, Joe "King" Oliver. Soon, Satch would be cutting the records -- with his Hot Five and Hot Seven bands -- that first made his reputation and then made him a planetary legend.

All of this Mr. Brothers tells in a literate, compulsively readable style. But he brings more to the table. What is crucial in his book is the understanding of the many strands of context so important to a full picture of any artist's achievement. One example: Mr. Brothers highlights how important the cornet was to the origins of jazz in New Orleans because it was a brass instrument that could be played LOUD and with dexterity. In fact, everybody who remembered Buddy Bolden remarked on the fact that he played loudly (Bolden went insane around 1907 before he could be recorded). This was important because the music mostly took place outdoors in the streets and could be heard a mile or two away. Thus audiences flocked to the bands. Of equal importance in this analysis is that jazz developed before there were automobiles; consequently, cities were quiet enough so that a band could be heard from two miles away.

Another thread of analysis Mr. Brothers foregrounds: The established Creole musicians of New Orleans. They lived downtown on the west side of Canal Street. They were of French heritage and classically trained because of it. They looked down on the "raggy" people, i.e., Blacks, who lived uptown on the other side of Canal. Eventually the Jim Crow laws caught up with the Creoles, and so there grew some empathy between the groups as outsiders trapped by White racism. This social and political dynamic eventually brought the musicians together and benefited both ethnic groups. Many Black musicians learned to read music from the Creole example, and many Creole musicians learned how to "rag time," i.e., play jazz. Sidney Bechet (note the French last name), the greatest of early jazz clarinetists, is the most famous example of a Creole jazz musician. Jelly Roll Morton may have been partly Creole as well.

There is some examination of jazz in Mr. Brothers's book that requires an understanding of very basic music theory. It is helpful to know the fairly rigid and repetitive musical structure of 12-bar blues. It is also of use to know that 4/4 "flat" time means that every beat in a 4-bar measure is of equal weight -- unlike European music in which the first and third beats are accented. Knowing what a melody is and that the heart and soul of jazz is to take the melody apart ("rag" it) is also necessary. I confess to being a musician, but still, these are minor matters, not major ones in appreciating this terrific book. Finally: One highly recommended companion to "Louis Armstrong's New Orleans", is Lee Friedlander's book of photographs, "The Jazz People of New Orleans."

A Good Dose of Music Theory .......2006-08-18

I'd really rate this book at a 3+ stars. It was a great deal more music theory than I had expected. There were just enough really interesting history tidbits buried in the explanation of arpeggio's, syncopation to keep me reading. New Orleans at the turn of the century must have been much like a musical, folks burst into song at every opportunity!

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The Jazz People of New Orleans
Lee Friedlander
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0679416382
Release Date: 1992-10-27

Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (Da Capo Paperback)

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Must read for New Orleans and/or Literature Fans
listen to the tune, not the words
Like pulling up an armchair and jawin' with Louis
Interesting, but incomplete...
To Louis Armstrong And All Who contributed,THANKS!

Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (Da Capo Paperback)
Louis Armstrong
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0306802767

Book Description

"In all my whole career the Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in. It was the honky-tonk where levee workers would congregate every Saturday night and trade with the gals who'd stroll up and down the floor and the bar. Those guys would drink and fight one another like circle saws. Bottles would come flying over the bandstand like crazy, and there was lost of just plain common shooting and cutting. But somehow all that jive didn't faze me at all, I was so happy to have some place to blow my horn." So says Louis Armstrong about just one of the places he grew up in, a tough kid who also happened to be a musical genius. This story of his early life, concluding with his departure to Chicago to play with his boyhood idol King Oliver, is a fascinating document. Contrary to popular belief, it turns out that life in New Orleans was an amazingly eventful and a basically happy experience for Louis Armstrong-and he ought to know-for in no other city in the world at the time could a boy discover and learn about the music that he loved, for this was New Orleans, and he was Louis Armstrong.

Customer Reviews:

Must read for New Orleans and/or Literature Fans.......2007-07-03

Bought and read it twice in a couple weeks. Terrific imagery into old New Orleans. Get it- you'll love it.

listen to the tune, not the words.......2005-12-30

This book is a quick and enjoyable read, but the reader needs to be ready for a very simple and unpretentious telling of Satchmo's early years. Some of his writing is charming in its simplicity, but some of it is pretty clunky.

For example, here is part of the dialog he documents between him and his mother, after he abruptly got married without her knowledge. Armstrong, defending his decision, says to his mother, "You must realize that I didn't go any further than fifth grade in school myself. But with my good sense and mother-wit (sic), and knowing how to treat and respect the feelings of other people, that's all I've needed in life. You taught me that, mother." A fine philosophy of life, put in humble and concise manner. But then he goes on to write, "Then she said, 'You must bring your wife to me; I want to meet her.' With a palpating heart I gave a big sigh of relief and said: 'Oh, thanks, mom.'" (page 160)

Adding some additional information, such as notations explaining some of the other characters and some of the background to the colorful scenes he describes, would make this a great book. As it is, it is a fun and quick read that fans of jazz shouldn't miss.

Like pulling up an armchair and jawin' with Louis.......2003-11-05

What shines through this recollection of Louis Armstrong's youth in New Orleans is the essential positive outlook this man seems to have been born with despite the hardship of his early years. This "life-force' for lack of a better term is what drove his musicianship to such heights that he is the most revered American musician of the 20th century. While this is no scholalry biography it is written with the feel of an oral history and reading it is much like having Satch relate these tales over a few drinks. Not only does it shed much light on the real person that Louis Armstrong was but it also reflects an era in old New Orleans that is absolutely fascinating to read about in the words of someone who lived there. This is a hugely enjoyable book on numerous levels and for fans of Armstrong it is indispensible.

Interesting, but incomplete..........2001-10-21

I have always believed that Louis Armstrong was one of the more animated and vibrant characters in 20th century culture. "Satchmo," Louis's semi-auto-biography, does nothing but reaffirm this belief. He goes into great detail about his childhood memories, recapping on the rough, New Orleans street life and the beginnings of his musicianship. Little else is covered however, which I thought to be rather dissapointing; after all, it was written later in his life. If a childhood expose is all you're after, pick up this book. The writting is fine for someone who only got through the 5th grade.

To Louis Armstrong And All Who contributed,THANKS!.......2001-08-02

You left you music to carry on so majestic, so elogant. Your music makes the song bird sing, while traveling in rainey and sunny New Orleans skies. Your music makes southern bees dance and fly. When I here your music, I just let my mind give over to your music. When I want to relax, your music, I choose it. It's jazzy, calm and cool. Your music makes me feel like I'm retiring on a raft in a pool. Your music is a real jewel.

In Search Of Buddy Bolden: First Man Of Jazz

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Reverent deromanticizing
The real Buddy Bolden
The Real Story of a Legend
NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIS FAMILY HISTORY,CHILDREN,WIFE,PARENTS

In Search Of Buddy Bolden: First Man Of Jazz
Donald M. Marquis
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807130931

Book Description

The beginnings of jazz and the story of Charles "Buddy" Bolden (1877-1931) are inextricably intertwined. Just after the turn of the century, New Orleanians could often hear Bolden's powerful horn from the city's parks and through dance hall windows. He had no formal training, but what he lacked in technical finesse he made up for in style. It was this—his unique style, both musical and personal—that made him the first "king" of New Orleans jazz and the inspiration for such later jazz greats as King Oliver, Kid Ory, and Louis Armstrong.

For years the legend of Buddy Bolden was overshadowed by myths about his music, his reckless lifestyle, and his mental instability. In Search of Buddy Bolden overlays the myths with the substance of reality. Interviews with those who knew Bolden and an extensive array of primary sources enliven and inform Donald M. Marquis's absorbing portrait of the brief but brilliant career of the first man of jazz. For this paperback edition, Marquis has added a new preface and appendix. He relates events and discoveries that have occurred since the book's original publication in 1978, including a jazz funeral and a monument erected in honor of Bolden in 1996, the locating of Bolden's granddaughter, the proper identification of Bolden's clarinet players, and the unfortunate confirmation of the destruction of the last known Bolden recording.

Customer Reviews:

Reverent deromanticizing.......2006-07-20

I'm astonished and heartened that this extraordinary book has been re-published. I would suppose that everyone who has heard Oliver, Armstrong, Bechet, Morton et al. has heard of Buddy Bolden, "the most powerful cornet player that ever was hoid, or ever was known" (Morton in his Library of Congress recordings). Unfortunately, he never was recorded, except, maybe, some say, for a paper disc, back around 1902 or 1905, right before they put him in the insane asylum. The big bang of jazz.
What makes this book remarkable, though, aside from its subject, is how painstakingly the author has documented his search. And, I rush to add, entertainingly. I don't know of another book in which we hear every detail of archival and courthouse searching and enjoy every paragraph, as we do here. It all adds, in fact, to the fascination and pathos associated with this first figure of jazz music, and indeed with the passage of time and the loss of most things and most of us in it.

The real Buddy Bolden.......2000-03-31

Donald M. Marquis not only brings us the real Buddy Bolden, the first "Jazzman", but also turn of the century New Orleans, a hotbed of musical innovation. Marquis' succesfully describes all the different cultural influences that all of the sudden converged into what we now call jazz. How New Orleans' multicultural make up made it possible for jazz to come of age, and finally how Buddy Bolden unknowingly began jazz, the first true american music. As a person living in New Orleans, and working just a few blocks from where Buddy Bolden was born and lived, it was specially refreshing to get acquainted with his story. I have been able to corroborate first hand with marquis' descriptions, as I frequently walk through First Street and in front of Buddy's home. This is a must read book for all those interested in early jazz.

The Real Story of a Legend.......2000-03-25

When the first jazz writers in the late 1930s started asking older musicians about the origins of the music, the name "Buddy Bolden" kept comming up. Bolden was a New Orleans trumpeter and bandleader active in the 1890s and first decade of the 1900s who some contemporary and later musicians credit as having started jazz.

Bolden became a figure of legend, with 4th hand stories about him being passed around, and his name has been used for fictional characters (most notably in writer Michael Ondaatje's well written but historically inaccurate novel "Coming Through Slaughter").

Legends aside, Buddy Bolden was a real person. Writer and researcher Don Marquis find the real story of Bolden. This book is the result of long research, both in archives and interviewing and cross-checking accounts of surviving people who had know Bolden first hand. The book may be a bit dry in parts compared to a novel, but here you get the truth about Bolden, his life, his associates, and his music. Unlike his fictional counterpart, the real Bolden wasn't a barber and never heard the music he was helping form called "jazz" during his active life, but he did play an original loud and driving style of cornet that made New Orleans take notice, until he was hauled away to an insane asylum in 1907.

If anyone wants to find out about Buddy Bolden, this is THE book.

-- DCM "Froggy"

NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIS FAMILY HISTORY,CHILDREN,WIFE,PARENTS.......1999-09-15

I'M TRYING TO LOCATE MY COUSIN BUDDY BOLDEN THE JAZZ MUSICIAN, THE BLUE MUSICIAN, ETC. AND HIS FAMILY. PLEASE E:MAIL ME AT SHERRY_A._BOLDEN@HUD.GOV. OR CALL ME ON 202-708-0614 EXT. 3336 OR MY HOME NUMBER AT 703-837-8282. I AM ONE OF THE YOUNGEST BOLDEN'S. HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

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Cousin Joe: Blues from New Orleans
Cousin Joe
Manufacturer: Univ of Chicago Pr (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Jazz Cats and New Orleans Flavor
A rhythmic story told in verse about some real cool cats
Fun, Flowing -- Funky Jazz Cats!
Cool Cats, Hot Jazz for Hip Kids
Excellent opportunity to integrate language, music and rhyme

Jazz Cats
David Davis
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565548590

Customer Reviews:

Jazz Cats and New Orleans Flavor.......2001-10-18

This is a charming story of the "Jazz Cats" playing their music through out a New Orleans night. It is told in rhyme and each member of the band shows his musical talent. There is the hot piano kitty, Louise, and the leader of the band Broussard playing his clarinet, and old Grandpa Kitty blowing his horn. These and the rest of the jazz band play through the evening and the story follows them into the dawn as they walk home stopping at their favorite cafe along the way for a bite to eat and play a bit more jazz out on the lawn. The story ends in the park with the cats drapped asleep around the park bench waiting for the next nights gig.
The illustrations are delightful as the cats prance and strut to the music in their hip clothes set against lush backgrounds. The rhyme and art is felt through out the book and any child would enjoy this flavor of the south. They will hear the music blow out of the pages.

A rhythmic story told in verse about some real cool cats.......2001-10-18

Jazz Cats is a rhythmic story told in verse about some real cool cats that knowhow to entertain. Their New Orleans jazz combo plays together in the streets as these cats know how to have fun! David Davis' lively and entertaining picturebook story is brought vividly to live with the detailed artwork of Chuck Galey against such New Orleans backgrounds as Preservation hall, Cafe du Monde, and Jackson Square. Jazz Cats is an enthusiastically recommended addition to family, school, and community library picturebook collections for young readers.

Fun, Flowing -- Funky Jazz Cats!.......2001-10-11

I loved Jazz Cats. The rythmn could be felt on each page with the flow of the text and the wonderful illustrations. It helped me explain to my children the unique culture of New Orleans. Then we listened to some Kenny G and went to eat at Razoo's Cajun Restaurant!

Great Book

Vickie L. Perez

Cool Cats, Hot Jazz for Hip Kids.......2001-10-11

Jazz Cats serves up a fanciful glimpse of the Big Easy from a feline viewpoint. The rhymed story swings with the same easy rhythm of the jazz that Davis' musical cats play. Young readers and listeners will be drawn into the cats' world, while adult readers will enjoy the many true-to-life references to the sensory feast that is New Orleans. Chuck Galey's lush, full-page illustrations round out each cat-musician's personality, and anchor the book squarely in celebratory Crescent City ambience.

Excellent opportunity to integrate language, music and rhyme.......2001-10-11

Writer David Davis has converted rhyming prose into jazz music! His wonderful rhythmic text is full of ingenuity, invention, and inspiration. I love all these "hip" historical places in New Orleans, and what a wonderful introduction of jazz through these swingin', swayin', groovin', wailin', far-out JAZZ CATS! Fantastic illustrations too. A perfect book for homes, schools, and libraries, for adults and all cool kids!

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Set in New Orleans of the 1930s

Rent Party Jazz
William Miller
Manufacturer: Lee & Low Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1584300256

Book Description

When Sonny Comeaux's mother is laid off from work, he wants to quit school and earn their rent money. She refuses, but Sonny finds a solution. With help from a jazz musician, he throws a rent party, where music raises the needed money. With colorful images, Rent Party Jazz tells of family, friendship, and the bonds that unite people.

Customer Reviews:

Set in New Orleans of the 1930s.......2002-01-04

William Miller's Rent Party Jazz is set in New Orleans of the 1930s, where Sonny has to work before school to help his mother. When his mother loses her job, rent day looms and Sonny must devise a unique plan to save the day. Charlotte Riley-Webb's drawings are lively embellishments.

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4 1/2* The Rhythm of the Street

The Jazz of Our Street
Fatima Shaik
Manufacturer: Dial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0803718861

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4 1/2* The Rhythm of the Street.......2004-04-20

There's a vibrant rhythm to this story of a New Orleans marching band and the dancers who follow it. Fatima Shaik's combination of free verse and rhyme evoke the syncopation of jazz, and the writing is full of rich similes that describe the feelings of sound: "The sound is like slippers slipping and scraping on the long gravel streets. The songs growl like mad boys who fall too hard to their beds." Although the book is short on plot, children will enjoy watching the procession and celebration of the neighborhoods' residents. After marching through the streets, the musicians and dancers "pause ...to silently recollect the reason we gather together at all":

Because the tradition
of love is our mission.

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Entertaining introduction to early jazz by a pioneer!.......1998-12-23

Anyone who spent anytime around the New Orleans jazz scene knows that Danny Barker was the living voice of the music. Before his death, Danny always peppered his concerts with his spicy, insightful anecdotes (true in meaning if not in every fact). This book brings together some of his stories centered around Buddy Bolden (The "Father" of Jazz) and Storyville. His voice comes through strong and funny, just as he spoke in life. Factually, I am not sure of the accuracy of all these stories, but nothing catches the flavor of early New Orleans jazz like Danny Barker. All of us who had the pleasure to know him miss him, this book reminds us why we loved him so much. He still teaches us.

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A SPARKLING NEW ORLEANS TRADITION

D.J. and the Jazz Fest
Denise Walter McConduit
Manufacturer: Pelican Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1565542398

Book Description

Where in the world can children hear jazz, gospel, blues, and Cajun music? Where can they eat foods like shrimp po' boys and strawberry snowballs? Where can they buy handmade crafts and see performances of all kinds by people of all ages? They can do all of this and more only at Jazz Fest in New Orleans! D.J. reluctantly agrees to go to his first Jazz Fest with his mother and her godmother, Nanan. Looking cool in his favorite baseball cap and new sunglasses, D.J. first notices the large crowd of people and the huge tents everywhere that hold the stages for the performers. At the Children's Tent, girls perform an Oriental dance and a boy D.J.'s size breaks boards with his foot! D.J. meets his cousin, Jonathan, in the Children's Tent, and they go on to have a great day filled with food, music, and crafts. As D.J. would say himself, "It was a great Jazz Fest weekend indeed!"

Customer Reviews:

A SPARKLING NEW ORLEANS TRADITION.......2004-03-04

You can almost hear the beat of tapping feet in D.J. and the Jazz Fest by Denise Walter McConduit, illus. by Emile F. Henriquez

Although D.J. sometimes finds his mother's ideas boring, he changes his mind when she takes him to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. What a weekend - shrimp po' boys, strawberry snowballs, dancing, plus jazz, gospel, Cajun music, and the blues.

The author places a fun-filled traditional New Orleans experience in a child's context.

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