Book Excerpt: Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong, by Ricky Riccardi

November 18th, 2020

.

.

 

 

…..In anticipation of an interview with The Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Director of Resarch Collections Ricky Riccardi, I have had the pleasure of spending a few weeks reading his new book, Heart Full of Rhythm:  The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong.  

…..Focusing on the years of his big band’s existence (1929 – 1947),  this superbly researched, expertly written book is a marvelous read, and filled with the rich history and colorful characters at the center of Armstrong’s career during the era he transformed himself from being a little-known trumpeter in Chicago to an international musical phenomenon, beloved by white audiences while remaining a hero in the Black community.

…..The book spotlights Armstrong’s achievements and career-defining stories, and Riccardi forcefully pushes back against the notion that Armstrong abandoned jazz for the prospects of commercialism, writing that Armstrong “was much more than a jazz musician; he was a popular artist and entertainer who appealed not just to jazz aficionados, but rather to anyone who regularly listened to music and liked to have a good time.  If you were hip, you loved Louis Armstrong.  If you were square, you loved Louis Armstrong.  He ultimately transcended the world of jazz – and for that, the jazz world never truly forgave him.”

…..In the book’s prologue, “Bigger Than Jazz”– a portion of which is published here with the consent of the publisher, Oxford University Press – Riccardi introduces his book by writing about Armstrong’s Apollo Theater performances of 1935 (marking his comeback from an 18 month stay in Europe), his final big band performance of 1947, and subsequent appearances there with his integrated small group, the All Stars.

 

 

.

.

___

.

.

“Riccardi’s Heart Full of Rhythm is the best account we have of Armstrong’s vital work with big bands — the research is impeccable, the ardor contagious.”

-Gary Giddins, author of Bing Crosby:  Swinging on a Star — The War Years, 1940 – 1946

.

“Dedicated research, access to ideal sources, and fine storytelling combine to shed new light and insight on the most interesting and least well-documented period of Armstrong’s fabled life.  Riccardi has done it again, but even more so.”

-Dan Morgenstern, Director Emeritus of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University

.

.

 

 

photo by Curtis Knapp

Ricky Riccardi is Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum and author of What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years. He runs the online blog, “The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong,” and has given lectures on Armstrong at venues around the world, including the Institute of Jazz Studies, the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, the Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival and the Monterey Jazz Festival. He has co-produced numerous Armstrong reissues in recent years, including  Satchmo at Symphony Hall  65th Anniversary: The Complete ConcertElla Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong Cheek to Cheek: The Complete DuetsPops is Tops: The Verve Studio Albums,  and two volumes of Decca Singles for Universal Music, in addition to Columbia and RCA Victor Live Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All Stars for Mosaic Records.

.

.

From Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong by
Ricky Riccardi. Copyright © 2020 by Ricky Riccardi and published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

.

.

 

Prologue

Bigger Than Jazz

.

The Apollo Theater in Harlem is synonymous with some of the greatest names in African American entertainment such as James Brown, Redd Foxx, Ray Charles, Billie Holiday, Michael Jackson—and Louis Armstrong.

…..Louis Armstrong? A man seemingly vilified by the black press and who lost his black fan base over the years because of his out-of-date stage persona? A hero at the Apollo? And in the black press? The way Armstrong’s story is often told, this might be difficult to fathom but it’s all true.

…..Upon his return to the United States in January 1935 after 18 months in Europe, Armstrong’s first stop was the brand-new Apollo. Lip troubles prevented him from playing that evening, but his appearance shook up the theater, causing management to put up a placard stating: “Coming Shortly— Louis Armstrong.”

…..On August 30, 1935, Armstrong finally graced the Apollo stage. There was much apprehension before his appearance. It was his first New York engagement in nearly two years. He hadn’t recorded in America since April 1933. He spent much of the first half of 1935 physically unable to play his trumpet. What kind of shape would he be in? Could he still hit his famed high notes? Should he retire? The black press whipped itself into a frenzy in previewing his return to Harlem. Armstrong himself knew this was a defining moment and took a snapshot of the marquee, keeping it for his personal collection.

…..Harlem turned out in full force for the comeback, which brought in over $10,000 for the week, shattering the theater’s box-office record. Armstrong opened with “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” the song that had made him a star on Broadway, immediately proving that he was back and, in the words of Abel Green in Variety, “better than ever.” Influential columnist Walter Winchell was there and dispensed one of his coveted “New Yorchids” to “Louis Armstrong’s horn-tootling at the Apollo.” Matters were even more ecstatic in the black press. “Any doubt that may have existed in the minds of people that Louis Armstrong’s recent illness has at all impaired his marvelous playing, his distinctive singing, and his magnetic stage personality, is being dispelled by the remarkable performance which he is giving at the Apollo Theatre this week,” gushed the New York  Amsterdam News. “It is indeed safe to say that Armstrong is at the peak of his career and that he has given perfect enjoyment to the record audiences which turned out to see and hear him this week.”

…..The love affair with Armstrong at the Apollo was only just beginning and showed no signs of letting up in ensuing years. When he returned in March 1936, Armstrong not only broke his own box-office record but, according to the Pittsburgh Courier, “special police reserves were called out to handle the square-long line of people storming to reach the theatre.” A return in September broke his own record for the second time. Armstrong returned in the middle of a history-making run as host of the Fleischmann’s Yeast radio show in 1937 and broke the box-office record yet again with an appearance at the end of 1938. “Apollo Is Packin ’Em In; Reason!—Louis Armstrong,” read a 1939 Pittsburgh Courier headline over a review by Isadora Smith. “Injecting the jazz-gay abandonment of his race into his version of modern swing and his own popular form of gyration, the great musician actor holds an entertaining spell over the community,” Smith wrote. “In the history of the musical world there have been few men with a more pleasing personality than Armstrong.”

…..Variety agreed when it reviewed Armstrong’s 1940 Apollo run, writing, “The showmanship is still there, however, in large doses, his gravel-throated vocals, etc., helping immensely.” The impact of Armstrong’s showmanship on the Apollo audience was most vividly captured by black writer Peter Suskind in the New Journal and Guide in 1942:

Louis takes a deep breath, shuts his eyes tight and everybody’s tense and ready. The drama in the situation pleases the master. In fact, it tickles him pink. He suddenly relaxes completely, destroying the mood and throws himself, his horn and his white handkerchief about in utter abandon. He roars in pleasure and the sweat pours on his shirt. He alternately wipes his horn and his forehead. The audience, in the meantime, is hilarious. Louis shouts back and forth to those in front and to those in the wings. What he says is meaningless, but the manner in which he says it is priceless. All this, and the world’s greatest trumpeter has yet to blow a solo note.

 

…..When Armstrong finally picked up the trumpet, Suskind assumed the results would be anticlimactic. “To the contrary, the wonder of it is that he is able to take them further and further up to a peak of hysteria and literally set them in the aisles,” he wrote.

…..The pattern continued throughout the 1940s, even with the burgeoning sound of bebop and the explosive popularity of romantic singers like Frank Sinatra and Billy Eckstine. Armstrong played to a standing-room-only crowd in April 1945, Variety noting that Armstrong provided “some of the heftiest applause fodder heard at this house in some time.”

…..Two years later, changing winds in the band business and pressure from many in the jazz world led Armstrong to disband his orchestra and form a small group with a traditional trumpet-trombone-clarinet setup. It was the end of an era, an era that needed a proper send-off; only one venue was deemed appropriate. “Indeed, it is rumored about that no stone was left unturned and many out-of-town dates were cancelled so that Armstrong and his band and show could appear at the Apollo,” reported the New York Age. Armstrong’s final big band engagement opened there on July 4, 1947, the day he celebrated his 47th birthday. The old magic was still there. “Many colored bands have played the house but few conjure up so much nostalgia as the ingratiating Armstrong,” reported Variety. Reviewing Buddy Johnson’s Apollo show the following week, Variety couldn’t help feeling, “Show this stanza is a letdown after Louis Armstrong.”

…..Now at the helm of an integrated small group, the All Stars, Armstrong returned to the Apollo in 1948 and 1949 and again for Christmas week in 1952, receiving much publicity in the black press and doing well each time, according to Variety, which remarked on the large crowd in 1952, “House hasn’t had as potent a draw in some time.” The reviewer made it clear that Armstrong was still a favorite there, writing, “His musical patterns are simply embroidered, and in this Harlem house, he registers a maximum response.”

…..Yet, even though a “potent draw” who received “maximum response,” Armstrong never played the Apollo again in the last 19 years of his career.

…..“Sometimes even a superstar is rejected,” Jack Schiffman, son of longtime Apollo owner Frank Schiffman wrote in 1971, the year of Armstrong’s death. “Louis Armstrong may be a prime favorite among white audiences, but you could clear the house today in short order by putting on a Dixieland show at the Apollo  Why? My own view is that Dixieland harks back to a day black people would just as soon forget, a day of pickaninnies, Uncle Tom, Marsa Joe, and Yassuh—harks back to Dixie, in short.” That opinion is not reflected in the contemporary reviews of the All Stars at the Apollo between 1948 and 1952, but clearly there was no more room for Armstrong’s “Dixie” band.

…..In 2010, the Apollo instituted a Walk of Fame; Armstrong was finally inducted in 2014. Upon his induction, I received an email from a prominent jazz writer and historian stating, “Louis was NOT a major star of the Apollo, he only played there a few times. The Walk of Fame is mainly for stars of the Apollo, it’s not the institution for all of black music.” Armstrong was a fixture there for 17 years, breaking the box-office record multiple times, but because many jazz people only know his innovative recordings of the 1920s or the later hits of the All Stars era, Armstrong’s big band years are taken for granted. But it was in this 1929–1947 period that Armstrong influenced more musicians and listeners than at any other time in his life. He met popular music head-on, adapting the sounds favored by white listeners, and completely transformed them into something new, something exciting, something black, something swinging. Every trumpet solo seemed to contain enough ideas for scores of new compositions and arrangements. Every vocal was a personal statement, blowing up the way singers approached pop tunes forever more. Dozens of songs he recorded in this period became standards. His stagecraft, featuring daring displays of high note prowess and climax-building solos, had audiences screaming and cheering decades before rock ’n’ roll. And he was funny, proud of his comic prowess and ability to make anyone, black or white, laugh.

…..Yet this is the period that is ignored or misrepresented by so many in the jazz world. It was the jazz world that put pressure on Armstrong to break up the big band and form a small group—and then ditched him when the small group didn’t reflect the latest trends. But it didn’t matter. Armstrong was bigger than jazz.

.

___

.

From Heart Full of Rhythm: The Big Band Years of Louis Armstrong by
Ricky Riccardi. Copyright © 2020 by Ricky Riccardi and published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

.

.

.

 

Editors Note:  Ricky Riccardi’s blog “The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong,” is an absolute treasure and can’t be missed.  Of special  interest are several Spotify playlists he assembled:

Click here to be taken to a page that features a playlist of music for every chapter in the book.  If ever you wanted to hear every major recording of Armstrong’s career, put together by the prominent Armstrong scholar, now is your chance.  It is also a great companion while reading the book.

Click here to be taken to a page that features a ten-hour playlist that has almost every side of Armstrong recorded between 1929 – 1934, and each one is preceded by multiple contemporary versions of the same songs by many of the white dance bands and crooners.  Armstrong’s genius leaps out of the speakers.

Click here to be taken to a page that features a playlist of Armstrong’s 1935 – 1947 output, preceded by dance band versions of each song.  The contrast between these tracks and what Armstrong records is striking, and obvious evidence of his brilliance.

.

.

.

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

“Mirabella,” by Samuel Lind
“Queen” by Emily Jon Tobias

Poetry

The poet Connie Johnson in 1981
In a Place of Dreams: Connie Johnson’s album of jazz poetry, music, and life stories...A collection of the remarkable poet's work is woven among her audio readings, a personal narrative of her journey and music she considers significant to it, providing readers the chance to experience the full value of her gifts.

Community

Nominations for the Pushcart Prize XLVIII

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Poetry

"Jazz Diva" by Marsha Hammel
A brief collection of poetry devoted to jazz…and love...Seven poets combine the music of jazz with an act of love…

Poetry

photo of Bill Evans by Veryl Oakland
Six poets, six poems on Bill Evans...A poetic appreciation for the work of the legendary pianist

Feature

Joel Lewis
True Jazz Stories: “Well You Needn’t: My Life as a Jazz Fan” by Joel Lewis...The journalist and poet Joel Lewis shares his immensely colorful story of falling in love with jazz, and living with it and reporting on it during his younger days in New Jersey and New York

Poetry

"The Dancer" by Elaine Croce Happnie
“The Dancer” – a poem by Zoya Gargova

Playlist

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“A Baker’s Dozen Playlist of Ella Fitzgerald Specialties from Five Decades,” as selected by Ella biographer Judith Tick...Chosen from Ella’s entire repertoire, Ms. Tick’s intriguing playlist (with brief commentary) is a mix of studio recordings, live dates, and video, all available for listening here.

Poetry

painting by Henry Denander
A collection of jazz haiku...This collection, featuring 22 poets, is an example of how much love, humor, sentimentality, reverence, joy and sorrow poets can fit into their haiku devoted to jazz.

Community

Nominations for the Pushcart Prize XLVIII...Announcing the six writers nominated for the Pushcart Prize v. XLVIII, whose work was published in Jerry Jazz Musician during 2023.

Poetry

photo of Sarah Vaughan by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
”Sarah” – a poem by Connie Johnson

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Photography

photo of Anthony Braxton by Giovanni Piesco
The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Anthony Braxton...Beginning in 1990, the noted photographer Giovanni Piesco began taking backstage photographs of many of the great musicians who played in Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, that city’s main jazz venue which is considered one of the finest in the world. Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish portraits of jazz musicians that Giovanni has taken over the years. This edition is of the saxophonist Anthony Braxton, taken in January, 2015.

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Poetry

photo by Ric Brooks Knoxville, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
“Four Sides Live” – a poem by Justin Hare

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Poetry

photo of Cab Calloway by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Zoot Suit Times (Rhythms From the Past)” – a poem by Oliver Lake

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 17: “All I know about music is not many people ever really hear it”

Short Fiction

photo via joogleberry.com
“A Song and Dance Proposition” – a short story by Richard Moore...Because of his childhood experiences, the story’s narrator loses his singing voice and as an adult neither sings nor dances. But when his marriage falls apart he meets a ‘song and dance man’ who turns out to be Iris, a woman with multiple sclerosis. With her help, he comes to grip with his inhibitions.

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Jazz History Quiz #168

photo of Coleman Hawkins by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Jazz History Quiz #168...In addition to being a top bassist between 1945 – 1960, he was the first major jazz soloist on the cello. He also played on Coleman Hawkins’ 1943 recording of “The Man I Love,” and appeared with Hawkins and Howard McGhee in the film The Crimson Canary. Who is he?

Short Fiction

Tents at Nuseirat, southern Palestine, UNRRA's biggest camp for Greek refugees/via United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
“Remember to Forget” – a short story by Amadea Tanner...Ms. Tanner's story, a finalist in the recently concluded 63rd Short Fiction Contest, is about a war correspondent's haunting revelations after she comes across musicians in a refugee camp.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Interview with Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950’s Quartets...Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

Short Fiction

Mary Pickford, 1918/trialsanderrors, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Bashert” – a short story by Diane Lederman...This story, a finalist in the 63rd Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest, looks at the hopes one man has that a woman he meets the night before he leaves for Camp Devens will keep him alive during World War I so he can return and take her out for dinner

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

“In the Church Library” – a short story by Zary Fekete

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Contributing Writers

Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song;...An interview with Gary Carner, author of Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer; A new collection of jazz poetry; a collection of jazz haiku; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works…

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.

Site Archive