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Louis Armstrong

 
Who2 Biography: Louis Armstrong, Jazz Musician
Louis Armstrong
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  • Born: 4 August 1901
  • Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Died: 6 July 1971 (heart attack)
  • Best Known As: The charismatic jazz trumpeter who recorded "Hello Dolly"

Louis Armstrong was the most famous jazz trumpeter of the 20th century. Like Jelly Roll Morton, Armstrong began playing in New Orleans clubs and saloons in his early teens. By the 1920s Armstrong was touring the country and leading his own band, the Hot Five (later the Hot Seven). He continued to tour and record throughout his life and was particularly famous for his innovative, loose-limbed improvisations; some call him the first great jazz improvisor. His gravelly voice and sunny persona were a hit with the non-jazz public, and later in his career he became a sort of cheerful ambassador of jazz, even appearing as himself (more or less) in movies like High Society (1956, with his good friend Bing Crosby and starlet Grace Kelly) and Hello, Dolly! (1969, with Barbra Streisand). The theme song from the latter film became his most widely-known recording.

Armstrong's nickname Satchmo was an abbreviation of "satchelmouth," a joke on the size of his mouth... He was also nicknamed Gatemouth, Dippermouth, Dip, and simply Pops... Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "early influence" in 1990... In 2001 the city of New Orleans renamed its airport as Louis Armstrong International Airport... Armstrong is credited with influencing trumpeters as diverse as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis.

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Music Encyclopedia: Louis Armstrong
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(b New Orleans, 4 Aug 1901; dNew York, 6 July 1971). American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader. His career began in clubs and Mississippi river-boat orchestras in New Orleans, but in 1922 he joined Joe Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. In 1924 went to New York, where he joined Fletcher Henderson. Returning to Chicago (1925), he began the recordings with his Hot Five and Hot Seven which confirmed his international reputation as the greatest jazz musician of his time. For almost 20 years he led a big band (usually that of Luis Russell), returning to a sextet in 1948 with the founding of his All Stars, which he led for the rest of his life. His best work dates from the period of the Hot Five, when he turned jazz from an ensemble to a soloist's idiom. His most notable recordings from 1925-7 include Potato Head Blues, Hotter than That and West End Blues.



Biography: Louis Daniel Armstrong
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Louis Daniel Armstrong (1900-1971) was an early jazz trumpet virtuoso, and he remained an important influence for several decades.

Louis Armstrong was born into a poor African American family in New Orleans on July 4, 1900. As a youngster, he sang on the streets with friends. In 1913 he was arrested for a prank and committed to the Waif's Home, where he learned the cornet and played in the band. On his release he began performing with local groups. Joe "King" Oliver, leader of the first great African American band to make records, befriended him, and Armstrong joined Oliver in Chicago in 1922, remaining until 1924, when he went to New York to play with Fletcher Henderson's band.

When he returned to Chicago in the fall of 1925, Armstrong began to cut one of the greatest series in the history of recorded jazz. These Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings find him breaking free from the conventions of New Orleans ensemble playing, his trumpet work notable for its inventiveness, rhythmic daring, improvisatory freedom, and technical assurance. In 1928 he started recording with drummer Zutty Singleton and pianist Earl Hines, the latter a musician able to match Armstrong in virtuosity. Many of the resulting records are masterpieces, the performances highlighted by complex ensembles, unpredictable harmonic twists, and rhythmic adventurousness. During these years Armstrong was working with big bands in Chicago clubs and theaters. His vocals, featured on most post-1925 records, are an extension of his trumpet playing in their phrasing and rhythmic liveliness, and are delivered in a unique guttural style.

By 1929 Armstrong was in New York leading a nightclub band. Appearing in the theatrical revue Hot Chocolates, he sang "Fats" Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'," Armstrong's first popular song hit. From this period his repertoire switched mainly to popular song material, which presented a new challenge because of the relative harmonic sophistication. Some notable performances resulted. His virtuosity reached a peak around 1933; then his style underwent a process of simplification, replacing virtuoso display by a mature craftsmanship that used every note to maximum advantage. He re-recorded some of his earlier successes to considerable effect.

Armstrong continued to front big bands, often of inferior quality, until 1947, by which time the big-band era was over. He returned to leading a small group which, though it initially included first-class musicians, became over the years a mere background for his vaudevillian talents. During the 1930s Armstrong had achieved international fame, first touring Europe as a soloist and singer in 1932. After World War II and his 1948 trip to France, he became an inveterate world traveler, journeying through Europe, Africa, Japan, Australia, and South America. He appeared in numerous films, the best a documentary titled Satchmo the Great (1957).

In his later years the public thought of Armstrong as a vaudeville entertainer - a fact reflected in the bulk of his record output. But there were still occasions when he produced music of astonishing eloquence and brilliance. He died in New York City on July 6, 1971.

Further Reading

Armstrong's autobiographical Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954) is informative and entertaining on his early years. Swing That Music (1936), though ostensibly by Armstrong, was almost certainly ghosted and is of limited interest. Max Jones and John Chilton, Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971 (1971), is a superb study and is particularly informative about his life during the 1930s. An outstanding critical study of Armstrong's records of the 1924-1931 period is in Richard Hadlock, Jazz Masters of the Twenties (1965). See also Louis Terkel, Giants of Jazz (1957).

Black Biography: Louis Armstrong
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jazz musician; trumpet player; singer

Personal Information

Full name, Daniel Louis Armstrong; nickname, "Satchmo"; born July 4, 1900, in New Orleans, Louisiana; died July 6, 1971, on Long Island, New York; son of Willie (a turpentine worker) and Mary Ann (a domestic servant) Armstrong; married Daisy Parker (divorced, 1917); married Lil Hardin (a jazz pianist), February 5, 1924 (divorced, 1932); married Lucille Wilson (a singer), 1942.

Career

Worked odd jobs as a boy, including delivering milk and coal and selling newspapers and bananas; played the cornet with various bands in the New Orleans area, c. 1917-22; played with King Oliver's Original Creole Jazz Band, c. 1922-24; played trumpet with Fletcher Henderson in New York City, 1924; played trumpet independently and fronted his own bands, including the Hot Five and the Hot Seven, 1925-71; recording artist beginning in the early 1920s. Appeared in Broadway shows, including "Hot Chocolates" and "Swingin' the Dream"; appeared in motion pictures, including Pennies from Heaven, Columbia, 1936, Every Day's a Holiday, Paramount, 1937, Going Places, Warner, 1938, Dr. Rhythm, Paramount, 1938, Cabin in the Sky, MGM, 1943, Jam Session, Columbia, 1944, New Orleans, United Artists, 1947, The Strip, MGM, 1951, Glory Alley, MGM, 1952, The Glenn Miller Story, United Artists, 1954, High Society, MGM, 1957, The Five Pennies, Paramount, 1959, A Man Called Adam, Embassy, 1966, and Hello, Dolly, 1969.

Life's Work

Louis Armstrong is frequently regarded by critics as the greatest jazz performer ever. With both his trumpet and his rich, gravelly voice, he made famous such jazz and pop classics as "West End Blues," "When It's Sleepy Time Down South," "Hello, Dolly," and "What a Wonderful World." Armstrong's influence on the jazz artists who followed him was immense and far-reaching; for instance, according to George T. Simon in his book The Best of the Music Makers, fellow trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie affirmed that "if it weren't for Armstrong there would be no Dizzy Gillespie." Reviewer Whitney Balliett declared in the New Yorker that Armstrong "created the sort of super, almost celestial art that few men master; transcending both its means and its materials, it attained a disembodied beauty." Apparently, fans all over the world agreed with this assessment, for during his lifetime Armstrong made extremely successful tours to several countries, including some in Africa and behind the Iron Curtain.

Armstrong was born July 4, 1900, in a poor black neighborhood in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents separated when he was five years old. His poverty has been described as a key factor in the discovery of his affinity for music, however, for he sang in the streets for pennies as a child. When Armstrong was 13 years old, he fired a pistol into the air to celebrate New Year's Eve and was punished by authorities by being sent to the Negro Waif's Home. This incident proved somewhat providential: the home had a bandmaster who took an interest in the youth and taught him to play the bugle. By the time of his release from the facility, Armstrong had graduated to the cornet and knew how to read music. Working odd jobs, he scrounged up the money to continue lessons with one of his musical idols, Joe "King" Oliver.

From 1917 to 1922, Armstrong played cornet for local New Orleans Dixieland jazz bands. He also tried his hand at writing songs, but was only partially rewarded--he saw his composition "I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate" published, but the company reportedly cheated him out of both payment and byline. Then Oliver, who led a successful band in Chicago, sent for Armstrong. As second cornetist for Oliver, the young jazzman made his first recordings. In 1924, Armstrong enjoyed a brief stint with bandleader and arranger Fletcher Henderson in New York City. By the time jazz pianist Lil Hardin, who would become the second of his three wives, persuaded Armstrong to work independently around 1925, he had switched from the cornet to the trumpet. During the next few years he made recordings fronting his own musicians; depending on the number assembled, they were known as the Hot Five or the Hot Seven. Around the same time, Armstrong is credited with the invention of the jazz technique of scat singing--legend has it that Armstrong dropped his sheet music during a recording session and had to substitute vocal improvisations until someone picked up the sheets for him. Also during this period, his experimentations led him to break free of the more rigid Dixieland style of jazz to pave the way for a more modern jazz genre.

But in 1930, Armstrong began taking yet a different direction with his career, performing with larger bands and recording more pop-sounding songs. Jazz purists fault him for this move, but others point out that he helped inspire the later swing sound. Nevertheless, Armstrong was still identified with jazz by the public, and on his extensive European tours was considered an "ambassador" of the genre. When he gave a concert in Ghana, he was considered a hero by its natives; he also performed a few times before the British royal family. It was in England that he won the nickname "Satchmo," a distortion of "satchelmouth," which described the extent to which his cheeks puffed out when he played the trumpet.

Armstrong also helped spread jazz's popularity throughout the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s by appearing in musical roles in several films, from Pennies from Heaven in 1936 to Hello, Dolly in 1969. He was probably included in the latter because his recording of the title song in 1964 sold over two million copies and momentarily displaced the then-phenomenal Beatles from the pop charts. Armstrong also made successful recordings of popular songs such as "Mack the Knife" and "Blueberry Hill" and, as late as 1968, scored a chart hit with the single "What a Wonderful World."

Armstrong filmed his guest appearance in Hello, Dolly in between visits to the hospital. For a brief period during 1970, he was forbidden to play his trumpet by his concerned doctor. Undaunted, he made a couple of purely vocal albums. Later in the year, Armstrong's physician lifted the ban on his instrument; he did a Las Vegas show with singer Pearl Bailey and played a benefit in London. After a few appearances in 1971, though, Armstrong suffered a heart attack in March and was hospitalized once again. He recovered sufficiently to be allowed to return to his home in May, but he died in his sleep on July 6, 1971.

Armstrong's fame and popularity, however, have continued long after his death. In 1975, a program dedicated to the jazz great's music by the New York Jazz Repertory Orchestra toured the Soviet Union as part of official cultural exchange between that country and the United States. A bust of Armstrong has been placed on the site of the Nice Jazz Festival in France. And one of his hit records even became a hit again during the late 1980s--"What a Wonderful World" was included on the soundtrack of the Robin Williams film Good Morning, Vietnam, received a great deal of airplay, and introduced Armstrong's music to a new generation of fans.

Awards

"West End Blues" was one of the first five records elected to the Recording Academy's Hall of Fame; won several periodical jazz polls, including those conducted by Esquire and Down Beat; honored by the American Guild of Variety Artists.

Works

Selective Discography

  • Hello, Dolly, MCA.
  • At the Crescendo, MCA.
  • Best of Louis Armstrong, Audiofidelity.
  • Definitive Album, Audiofidelity.
  • Louis Armstrong with the Dukes of Dixieland, Audiofidelity.
  • Disney Songs the Satchmo Way, Buena.
  • I Will Wait for You, Brunswick.
  • Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, Archive of Folk & Jazz.
  • Mame, Pickwick.
  • Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography (four-album set), Decca, 1957.
  • The Best of Louis Armstrong, MCA, 1965.
  • What a Wonderful World, ABC, 1968, reissued, 1988.
  • Louis Armstrong with His Friends, Amsterdam.
  • July 4, 1900/July 6, 1971, RCA.
  • The Genius of Louis Armstrong, Columbia.
  • Louis Armstrong in the Thirties, RCA.
  • Louis Armstrong in the Forties, RCA.
  • Louis Armstrong, Bella Musica, 1990.

Further Reading

Books

  • Collier, James Lincoln, Louis Armstrong: An American Genius, Oxford University Press, 1985.
  • Jones, Max, and John Chilton, Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story, Little, Brown, & Co., 1971.
  • Simon, George T., The Best of the Music Makers, Doubleday, 1979.
Periodicals
  • Ebony, November, 1964.
  • New Yorker, January 15, 1966.

— Elizabeth Wenning

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Louis Armstrong
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Louis Armstrong.
(click to enlarge)
Louis Armstrong. (credit: AP)
(born Aug. 4, 1901, New Orleans, La., U.S. — died July 6, 1971, New York, N.Y.) U.S. jazz trumpeter and singer. As a youth in New Orleans, he participated in marching, riverboat, and cabaret bands. A childhood nickname, Satchelmouth, was shortened to Satchmo and used throughout his life. In 1922 he moved to Chicago to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band (see Dixieland). In 1924 he joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in New York City; the following year he switched from cornet to trumpet and began recording under his own name with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles. In these recordings the prevailing emphasis on collective improvisation gives way to his developing strength as soloist and vocalist. By the time of his "West End Blues" (1928), Armstrong had established the preeminence of the virtuoso soloist in jazz. His vibrant melodic phrasing, inventive harmonic improvisation, and swinging rhythmic conception established the vernacular of jazz music. His powerful tone, great range, and dazzling velocity set a new technical standard. He also was one of the first scat singers, improvising nonsense syllables in the manner of a horn. He became something more than a jazz musician: solo attraction, bandleader, film actor, and international star.

For more information on Louis Armstrong, visit Britannica.com.

US History Companion: Armstrong, Louis
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(1900-1971), trumpeter and singer. A product of New Orleans's rich musical culture, Armstrong took up the cornet in his early teens and was soon playing in parades with the Colored Waifs' Home band and in local nightspots. His tutor on the instrument was Joseph "King" Oliver, who later asked Armstrong to join his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago in 1922. Armstrong made his first recordings with this ensemble the following year, but since he played second cornet to Oliver's lead, he rarely can be heard soloing.

In 1924 Armstrong married pianist Lillian Hardin and went to New York to join Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. With this ensemble he established himself as a brilliant soloist whose virtuosity and rhythmic dynamism set new standards for instrumental jazz performance. His reputation increased through a series of recordings made in Chicago between 1925 and 1928 with groups of New Orleans musicians variously titled Louis Armstrong's Hot Five or Hot Seven. On such records as Struttin' with Some Barbecue, Potato Head Blues (both 1927), and West End Blues (1928), the young Armstrong displayed the hallmarks of a fully formed trumpet style and a mature musical conception; his purity of tone, dazzling speed, daring breaks, rhythmic drive, and startling imagination were unprecedented and, to some extent, remain unequaled.

Armstrong also emerged as a singer on the Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings, a role that he would assume more and more in the years ahead. When fronting his own orchestra in the 1930s and early 1940s, or when appearing with his All Stars, a small, New Orleans-styled combo, from 1947 until 1971, Armstrong alternated between singing in his characteristically husky voice and taking trumpet solos with the same penetrating sound and rhythmic assurance that marked his recordings of the twenties.

Gradually Armstrong--known to many by his nickname "Satchmo"--developed his stage persona as a genial performer of popular songs ("Mack the Knife," "Hello, Dolly") and New Orleans standards. This image eclipsed his earlier radical innovations in jazz. But Armstrong himself may not have seen a great dividing line in his career nor perceived a conflict between the roles of artist and entertainer. Coming from a city whose musicians traditionally valued direct emotional expression more than innovation for its own sake, and from a generation of jazz musicians who functioned, by and large, as popular entertainers, Armstrong carved out a career typical for his place and time. The extraordinary aspects came from the profound impact he made on other musicians, the joy he brought to listeners the world over, and the sincerity, dignity, and love of life he conveyed in all his performances.

Bibliography:

Louis Armstrong, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954; reprint, 1986); Max Jones and John Chilton, Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971 (1971).

Author:

Mark Tucker

See also Jazz; Music.


 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong
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Armstrong, Louis "Satchmo" (Daniel Louis Armstrong), 1901-1971, American jazz trumpet virtuoso, singer, and bandleader, b. New Orleans. He learned to play the cornet in the band of the Waif's Home in New Orleans, and after playing with Kid Ory's orchestra he made several trips (1918-21) with a Mississippi riverboat band. He joined (1922) King Oliver's group in Chicago, where he met and married the pianist Lilian Hardin. His early playing was noted for improvisation, and his reputation as trumpeter and as vocalist was quickly established. Armstrong was a major influence on the melodic development of jazz in the 1920s; because of him solo performance attained a position of great importance in jazz. He organized several large bands, and beginning in 1932 made numerous foreign tours. Armstrong appeared in Broadway shows, at countless jazz festivals, and in several American and foreign films. His archives are housed at Queens College, which also maintains the Louis Armstrong House.

Bibliography

See his memoir, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954, repr. 1986); his selected writings ed. by T. Brothers (1999); biographies by G. Giddens (1988) and L. Bergreen (1997); study by J. L. Collier (2 vol., 1983-86); J. Berrett, Louis Armstrong Companion (1999).

Fine Arts Dictionary: Armstrong, Louis
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A twentieth-century African-American jazz trumpet player and singer. His nickname, “Satchmo,” was short for “Satchel Mouth.” Armstrong, whose career spanned five decades, was celebrated for his trumpet solos and the gravelly voice in which he sang songs such as “Hello, Dolly” and “It's a Wonderful World.”

Word Tutor: Satchmo
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - United States jazz trumpeter and bandleader (1900-1971).

Quotes By: Louis Armstrong
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Quotes:

"What we play is life."

"There is two kinds of music the good and bad. I play the good kind."

"Man, if you gotta ask you'll never know."

"I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don't treat me right -- shame on you!"

Artist: Louis Armstrong
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Louis Armstrong

Similar Artists:

Influenced By:

Followers:

Performed Songs By:

Joe "King" Oliver, Charles Newman, Richard Sherman, C. Smith, Leonard Whitcup, Charles Warfield, Percy Venable, Joe VanWinkle, Jerry Seelen, Lloyd Garrett, Ben Ellison, Jim Eaton, Edgar Dowell, George Douglass, Harry DaCosta, Harry Creamer, Leonello Casucci, Lester Carr, Frank Biggs, Henri Betti, Phil Baxter, Edna Alexander, Sam Theard, Jacques Richmond, Mack David, Carroll Loveday, Einar A. Swan, Sunny Skylar, Larry Shay, Otis Rene, Clarence Muse, Sidney Mitchell, Murray Mencher, Artie Matthews, William Jerome, James F. Hanley, Clarence Gaskill, Ralph Freed, Paul Denniker, Ford Dabney, Gordon Clifford, Clifford R. Burwell, Brooks Bowman, John Blackburn, Louis Alter, Edgar Leslie, Gerald Marks, Walter Melrose, Seymour Simons, Harry Woods, Harry Akst, Al Hoffman, Kenneth Casey, Maceo Pinkard, Frank Eyton, Robert Sour, Ted Koehler, Sam Coslow, Billy Moore Jr., Joe Young, C. Williams, Fields, Dubose Heyward, Fred Ebb, Patrick Lewis, Arthur Johnston, John DeVries, Harry Brooks, Doc Dougherty, Ray Gilbert, Monaco, Ed Kirkeby, Hociel Thomas, Trixie Smith, Clara Smith, Carmen Lombardo, Carl Fischer, Mel Stitzel, Ike Smith, J. Palmer, G. Clarke, J. Oliver, Sam M. Lewis, Stuart Gorrell, M. Fisher, Victor Young, Spencer Williams, S. Williams, Clarence Williams, George David Weiss, Ned Washington, Harry Warren, T. Waller, Juan Tizol, Bob Thiele, Lovin' Sam Theard, Jule Styne, J. Stone, Larry Stock, Harry Beasley Smith, Carl Sigman, Larry Shields, Richard M. Sherman, Wilbur Schwandt, Elmer Schoebel, L. Russell, Bob Russell, Harry Ruby, Vincent Rose, Billy Rose, Ellis Reynolds, Leon René, Billy Reid, Don Raye, Zilner Randolph, Cole Porter, Mitchell Parish, Jack Palmer, Al J. Neiburg, Billy Moll, Velma Middleton, Johnny Mercer, Ballard MacDonald, Paul Mares, Fred Longshaw, Jerry Livingston, Al Lewis, Turner Layton, Jack Lawrence, Nick Kenny, Bert Kalmar, Gus Kahn, I. Jones, Andre Hornez, Edward Heyman, Lorenz Hart, Lil Hardin, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Walter Gross, Johnny Green, Roger Graham, Mack Gordon, Joe Goodwin, Haven Gillespie, Ira Gershwin, David Franklin, Mark Fisher, Dorothy Fields, Sammy Fain, Redd Evans, Al Dubin, Ervin Drake, Walter Donaldson, Tom Delaney, Gene DePaul, Eddie DeLange, Joe Davis, Henry Creamer, J. Fred Coots, Larry Conley, Saul Chaplin, Sammy Cahn, Irving Caesar, Johnny Burke, George Brunies, Lew Brown, Shelton Brooks, H. Brooks, Marty Bloom, Ben Bernie, Felix Bernard, Bennie Benjamin, Harry Barris, G. Austin, Boyd Atkins, Sidney Arodin, Lil Armstrong, Fabian Andre, Ma Rainey, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, John Kander, Jerry Herman, Andy Razaf, Jimmy Kennedy, Bertolt Brecht, Shorty Rogers, Slim Gaillard, Vernon Duke, Richard Rodgers, Edith Piaf, Harold Arlen, Vincent Youmans, Don Redman, Jimmy McHugh, W.C. Handy, Chick Webb, Edgar Sampson, Irving Mills, Nick LaRocca, Eddie Edwards, Joe Bushkin, Perry Bradford, Luis Russell, Charlie Shavers, Jack Teagarden, Ben Pollack, James P. Johnson, Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, Leonard Feather, Eubie Blake, Paul Barbarin, Hoagy Carmichael, Frankie Laine, Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Sigmund Romberg, George Gershwin, Marc Blitzstein, Sippie Wallace, Victoria Spivey, Steve Allen

Worked With:

Formal Connection With:

Relationship With:

Lil Hardin
See Louis Armstrong Lyrics
  • Born: August 04, 1901, New Orleans, LA
  • Died: July 06, 1971, New York, NY
  • Active: '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s
  • Genres: Jazz
  • Instrument: Trumpet, Vocals, Leader
  • Representative Albums: "The Definitive Collection," "The Best of Louis Armstrong: The Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings," "Hot Fives & Sevens, Vol. 3"
  • Representative Songs: "Basin Street Blues," "St. Louis Blues," "Struttin' With Some Barbecue"

Biography

Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920s studio recordings made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, emotionally charged improvisation. For this, he is revered by jazz fans. But Armstrong also became an enduring figure in popular music, due to his distinctively phrased bass singing and engaging personality, which were on display in a series of vocal recordings and film roles.

Armstrong had a difficult childhood. William Armstrong, his father, was a factory worker who abandoned the family soon after the boy's birth. Armstrong was brought up by his mother, Mary (Albert) Armstrong, and his maternal grandmother. He showed an early interest in music, and a junk dealer for whom he worked as a grade-school student helped him buy a cornet, which he taught himself to play. He dropped out of school at 11 to join an informal group, but on December 31, 1912, he fired a gun during a New Year's Eve celebration, for which he was sent to reform school. He studied music there and played cornet and bugle in the school band, eventually becoming its leader. He was released on June 16, 1914, and did manual labor while trying to establish himself as a musician. He was taken under the wing of cornetist Joe "King" Oliver, and when Oliver moved to Chicago in June 1918, he replaced him in the Kid Ory Band. He moved to the Fate Marable band in the spring of 1919, staying with Marable until the fall of 1921.

Armstrong moved to Chicago to join Oliver's band in August 1922 and made his first recordings as a member of the group in the spring of 1923. He married Lillian Harden, the pianist in the Oliver band, on February 5, 1924. (She was the second of his four wives.) On her encouragement, he left Oliver and joined Fletcher Henderson's band in New York, staying for a year and then going back to Chicago in November 1925 to join the Dreamland Syncopators, his wife's group. During this period, he switched from cornet to trumpet.

Armstrong had gained sufficient individual notice to make his recording debut as a leader on November 12, 1925. Contracted to OKeh Records, he began to make a series of recordings with studio-only groups called the Hot Fives or the Hot Sevens. For live dates, he appeared with the orchestras led by Erskine Tate and Carroll Dickerson. The Hot Fives' recording of "Muskrat Ramble" gave Armstrong a Top Ten hit in July 1926, the band for the track featuring Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lillian Harden Armstrong on piano, and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo.

By February 1927, Armstrong was well-enough known to front his own group, Louis Armstrong & His Stompers, at the Sunset Café in Chicago. (Armstrong did not function as a bandleader in the usual sense, but instead typically lent his name to established groups.) In April, he reached the charts with his first vocal recording, "Big Butter and Egg Man," a duet with May Alix. He took a position as star soloist in Carroll Dickerson's band at the Savoy Ballroom in Chicago in March 1928, later taking over as the band's frontman. "Hotter than That" was in the Top Ten in May 1928, followed in September by "West End Blues," which later became one of the first recordings named to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Armstrong returned to New York with his band for an engagement at Connie's Inn in Harlem in May 1929. He also began appearing in the orchestra of Hot Chocolates, a Broadway revue, given a featured spot singing "Ain't Misbehavin'." In September, his recording of the song entered the charts, becoming a Top Ten hit.

Armstrong fronted the Luis Russell Orchestra for a tour of the South in February 1930, then in May went to Los Angeles, where he led a band at Sebastian's Cotton Club for the next ten months. He made his film debut in Ex-Flame, released at the end of 1931. By the start of 1932, he had switched from the "race"-oriented OKeh label to its pop-oriented big sister Columbia Records, for which he recorded two Top Five hits, "Chinatown, My Chinatown" and "You Can Depend on Me" before scoring a number one hit with "All of Me" in March 1932; another Top Five hit, "Love, You Funny Thing," hit the charts the same month. He returned to Chicago in the spring of 1932 to front a band led by Zilner Randolph; the group toured around the country. In July, Armstrong sailed to England for a tour. He spent the next several years in Europe, his American career maintained by a series of archival recordings, including the Top Ten hits "Sweethearts on Parade" (August 1932; recorded December 1930) and "Body and Soul" (October 1932; recorded October 1930). His Top Ten version of "Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train," in the charts in early 1933, was on Victor Records; when he returned to the U.S. in 1935, he signed to recently formed Decca Records and quickly scored a double-sided Top Ten hit, "I'm in the Mood for Love"/"You Are My Lucky Star."

Armstrong's new manager, Joe Glaser, organized a big band for him that had its premiere in Indianapolis on July 1, 1935; for the next several years, he toured regularly. He also took a series of small parts in motion pictures, beginning with Pennies From Heaven in December 1936, and he continued to record for Decca, resulting in the Top Ten hits "Public Melody Number One" (August 1937), "When the Saints Go Marching in" (April 1939), and "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (April 1946), the last a duet with Ella Fitzgerald. He returned to Broadway in the short-lived musical Swingin' the Dream in November 1939.

With the decline of swing music in the post-World War II years, Armstrong broke up his big band and put together a small group dubbed the All Stars, which made its debut in Los Angeles on August 13, 1947. He embarked on his first European tour since 1935 in February 1948, and thereafter toured regularly around the world. In June 1951 he reached the Top Ten of the LP charts with Satchmo at Symphony Hall ("Satchmo" being his nickname), and he scored his first Top Ten single in five years with "(When We Are Dancing) I Get Ideas" later in the year. The single's B-side, and also a chart entry, was "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," sung by Armstrong in the film The Strip. In 1993, it gained renewed popularity when it was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle.

Armstrong completed his contract with Decca in 1954, after which his manager made the unusual decision not to sign him to another exclusive contract but instead to have him freelance for different labels. Satch Plays Fats, a tribute to Fats Waller, became a Top Ten LP for Columbia in October 1955, and Verve Records contracted Armstrong for a series of recordings with Ella Fitzgerald, beginning with the chart LP Ella and Louis in 1956.

Armstrong continued to tour extensively, despite a heart attack in June 1959. In 1964, he scored a surprise hit with his recording of the title song from the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, which reached number one in May, followed by a gold-selling album of the same name. It won him a Grammy for best vocal performance. This pop success was repeated internationally four years later with "What a Wonderful World," which hit number one in the U.K. in April 1968. It did not gain as much notice in the U.S. until 1987 when it was used in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, after which it became a Top 40 hit. Armstrong was featured in the 1969 film of Hello, Dolly!, performing the title song as a duet with Barbra Streisand. He performed less frequently in the late '60s and early '70s, and died of a heart ailment at 69.

Louis Armstrong was embraced by two distinctly different audiences: jazz fans who revered him for his early innovations as an instrumentalist, but were occasionally embarrassed by his lack of interest in later developments in jazz and, especially, by his willingness to serve as a light entertainer; and pop fans, who delighted in his joyous performances, particularly as a vocalist, but were largely unaware of his significance as a jazz musician. Given his popularity, his long career, and the extensive label-jumping he did in his later years, as well as the differing jazz and pop sides of his work, his recordings are extensive and diverse, with parts of his catalog owned by many different companies. But many of his recorded performances are masterpieces, and none are less than entertaining. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Discography: Louis Armstrong
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This Is Louis: Very Best

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Elizabethville Concert

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1950-1951

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Rare Batch of Live Satch

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High Society [Jazz Hour]

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20th Century Masters - The Christmas Collection: The Best of Louis Armstrong

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Essential Louis Armstrong [Emporio]

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Gold

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To Go: Stick It in Your Ear

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Great Satchmo

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Show More Albums

Birth of Jazz [2 CD]

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Colour Collection

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Sugar: The Best of the Complete RCA Victor Recordings

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C'est Si Bon: Satchmo in the Forties [Box]

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World of Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2

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Historic Collection

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Great American Songbook

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Great American Songbook

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Olympia: Live 4-24-62 [Trema]

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From the Big Band to the All Stars 1944-1951

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Gold Collection [Fine Tune]

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Forever Gold (Super Hits/St. Louis Blues) [Box]

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1949-1950

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Greatest Hits [Auvidis]

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Hot Fives & Sevens [JSP] [Box]

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Best of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars [Jazz Forever]

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Millenium Anthology

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Jazz Collector Edition

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Essential Collection [West End]

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Legends Collection: The Louis Armstrong Collection

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Christmas and Hits Duos

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Christmas and Hits Duos

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Live at the Westcoast

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That Lucky Old Sun

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Live at the University of North Carolina

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Glorious Big Band Years 1937-1941

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Jeepers Creepers [MCA]

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Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson

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Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson

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King Louis

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Ain't Misbehavin' and Other Hits

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Legendary Louis Armstrong [2003]

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Legendary Louis Armstrong [2003]

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What a Wonderful World [Universal Japan]

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See You Later

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Jazz and Blues in California

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I Like Jazz: The Essence of Louis Armstrong

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Oh Didn't He Ramble

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Satchmo at Symphony Hall

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Hello Dolly/Muskrat Ramble/When the Saints Go Marching In

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Big Band Recordings: 1930-1932

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Originals: Louis Armstrong

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Greatest Recording

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Kiss of Fire

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Kiss of Fire

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Pops Goes Pop

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At Symphony Hall [Dreyfus]

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Hello Dolly [Universal]

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Armstrong for Lovers

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1935-1942

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What a Wonderful World [Decca Japan]

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Complete Louis Armstrong, Vol. 4: West End Blues 1926-1928

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Alternative Takes, Vol. 2: 1935-1944

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Louis Armstrong and the Dukes of Dixieland: Complete

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Masters

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Louis Armstrong [Madacy 2004]

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Doctor Jazz

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Duets With Friends

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Christmas with Louis Armstrong and Friends

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Louis Armstrong and Friends [Cloud 9]

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Quintessence New York - Chicago - Boston, Vol. 3: 1947-1952

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Lover

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All of Me: Satchmo's Classics

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Blues Heritage

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Live in Zurich Switzerland: 18.10.49

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Revue Collection

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In Scandinavia, Vol. 3

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Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong

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Early Years: Recorded Live 1938-1949

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Ken Burns Jazz

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Definitive Louis Armstrong

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Legendary

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Alternative Takes, Vol. 1: 1926-1935

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Stardust

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Jubilee Shows No. 26 & 32, Vol. 8

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100 Years Anniversary Collection

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When You & I Were Young Maggie

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New Orleans Jazz

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20 Best of Louis Armstrong

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49 Original Satchmo Classics

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West End Blues: The Very Best of the Hot Fives & Sevens

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Hello Dolly [Four Star]

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2 [Documents]

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Wonderful Duets

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Selection of Louis Armstrong

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Selection of Louis Armstrong

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Jazz Indispensable

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Masters of Jazz, Vol. 8: 1925-1926

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Blueberry Hill [Milan]

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Complete Town Hall Concert

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Essentials

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Satchmo in Style

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Classic Concert Recordings

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Body & Soul

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BD Jazz

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Encore Series

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Hot Five 1925/1926

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Jazz Collection: Mack the Knife/Ain't Misbehavin' [#1]

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Jazz Collection: On the Road/Singin' & Playin' [2002]

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Hot Fives & Hot Sevens, Vol. 2 [JSP]

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Solo Lo Mejor De

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Blues Heritage/Two Shades of Blue

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1944-1949, Vol. 9

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Ultimate Legends: Louis Armstrong

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Star Power: Louis Armstrong

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Ain't Misbehavin' [Direct Source]

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That Rhythm Man

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Hello, Dolly! [Brentwood]

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Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1935-1939

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What a Wonderful World [Intercontinental]

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Hello, Dolly! [Universal Japan]

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1951-1952

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Sings Back Through the Years: A Centennial Celebration

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100th Birthday Anthology

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Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Verve]

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Original Artist Hit List

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Shooting High

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When You're Smiling

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American Original

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Best of Louis Armstrong: The Complete RCA Victor Recordings

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1947, Vol. 2

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Swing Legends: 24 Classic Hits, 1936-1950

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Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography [Japan]

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Early Satch: 1923-1929

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Jazz Masters

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Star Was Born [Nostalgia]

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2 [Absord]

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Gold Collection [Retro]

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Jazz Collection: On the Road/Singin' & Playin' [2000]

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20 Blues Classics

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In Scandinavia

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Legendary Satchmo, Vol. 1

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Legendary Satchmo: 100 Years Anniversary

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Thanks a Million

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Signature

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C'est Si Bon [Rajon]

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Big Band Sides 1930/32

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Best of the Best

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Louis Armstrong [Time Music]

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Essence Of ...

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Live in Japan

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Golden Legends [Direct Source]

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Best of Louis Armstrong [Delta]

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Best of Louis Armstrong [Delta]

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Katanga Concert

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Happy Birthday Louis

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Take It Satch: Best of Louis Armstrong

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1952-1953

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Hot Five & Hot Seven 1927

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Ambassador of Jazz [American Legends]

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Glory Years

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Royal Garden Blues

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C'est Si Bon [Tomato Music]

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Best of Louis Armstrong: When the Saints Go Marching In

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Complete New York Town Hall & Boston Symphony Hall Concerts

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100th Birthday Celebration

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Butter & Eggman

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Butter & Eggman

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Jazz in Paris: The Best Live Concert, Vol. 2

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Louis Armstrong and Friends [Columbia River]

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Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Mastersong]

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Best of Louis Armstrong: The Best of the Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings

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World of Louis Armstrong

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Louis Armstrong and Friends [DVD]

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Christmas in New Orleans

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Great Chicago Concert 1956

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Live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival

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Quintessence New York - Chicago: 1925-1940

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Vocalist

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Hallelujah!: Gospel 1930-1941

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Best of Louis Armstrong [Bluebird]

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West End Blues

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Ultimate Collection [Verve]

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Satchmo Grooves

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Let's Fall in Love

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Best of Louis Armstrong: The Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings

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Best of Louis Armstrong: The Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings

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Satch Blows the Blues

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Centennial Anthology [Deluxe Edition]

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New Orleans Master

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Life Is So Peculiar

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Great Summit: Complete Sessions [Deluxe Edition]

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What a Wonderful World [Jazz Hour]

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What a Wonderful World [Jazz Hour]

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Jazz Collection: The Jazz Collector Edition/Louis Armstrong & His All Stars

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Jazz Collection: Mack the Knife/Ain't Misbehavin' [#2]

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Jazz in Paris: Louis Armstrong and Friends

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Hello Louis [Universal/MCA]

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Pasadena

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Storyville Louis Armstrong

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Masters of Jazz [Storyville]

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1949: Live at the Hollywood Empire

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Vie en Rose/C'Est Si Bon

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Louis Armstrong [Delta]

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Louis Armstrong and His Friends [RCA/Bluebird]

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49 Original Recordings

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Legends: Louis Armstrong

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Louis Armstrong [Madacy 2006]

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Mack the Knife [Pablo]

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High Profile

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1954-1956 Classic Studio and Live Performances

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All-Time Greats: The Encore Collection

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All-Time Greats: The Encore Collection

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Louis Armstrong and His Big Band, Vol. 1, 1939-1940

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Happy Birthday, Louis! Armstrong & His All-Stars

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Celebrating the Best of Jazz

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Satchmo at Pasadena

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Satchmo Live

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Louis' Love Songs

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Definitive Collection

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Complete Louis Armstrong, Vol. 1: Chimes Blues 1923-1924

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Pete Fountain Presents the Best of Dixieland

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Love Songs

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1954

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In Concert/St. Louis Blues

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1955-1966

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Meets the Girls

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Ultimate Louis Armstrong

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Falling In Love With Louis Armstrong

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Great Summit: The Master Takes

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In Chicago Aug. 1, 1962

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Sings and Plays with Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday

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What a Wonderful World [In Concert]

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Mack the Knife [Goldies]

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Vocal Duets

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Hello Dolly [Legacy]

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Great Louis Armstrong, Vol. 1

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Great Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2

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Great Louis Armstrong [Platinum]

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Cocktail Hour

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Louis Armstrong [Eclipse]

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1925, Vol. 7

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1925, Vol. 6

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Golden Legends [Madacy]

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Louis Armstrong [Sound Dimesion]

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Pops [Passport]

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Complete Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2: Sugar Foot Stomp 1924-1925

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What a Wonderful World [Jazz World]

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Honorary President of HCF

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Louis Armstrong [Columbia River]

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Best of the Hot Fives and Sevens

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Best of the Hot Fives and Sevens

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Super Hits [Sony/Columbia]

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Best of Louis Armstrong [BMG International]

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You Rascal You [Empress]

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Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy [Sony Japan]

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Louis Armstrong Collection [Sony/BMG Import]

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Louis Armstrong Collection [Sony/BMG Import]

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Complete Decca Studio Master Takes 1940-1949

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Classic

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Struttin' [Drive Archive]

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One Hundred Anniversaire

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Live in Stockholm 1962

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Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Universal]

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Pops Satchmo

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Jazz Satchmo

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Golden Greats

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Essential Collection [Cleopatra]

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Golden Years of Louis Armstrong

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Universal Masters Collection

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Best of Louis Armstrong [EMI]

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Memories of New Orleans

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Essential Jazz

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Louis Armstrong [B.D. Jazz]

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St. Louis Blues [Mastersound]

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All of Me [Golden Options]

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Trios

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Greatest Hits [EPM Musique]

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 3: 1924

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Best of Louis Armstrong [Universal]

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Birth of Jazz

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24 Chefs d'Cueuvres

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20 Most Requested

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Evening with Louis Armstrong at Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Vol. 2

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My First Jazz

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Centennial Anthology

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Essential Recordings 1925-1940

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I Got Rhythm [Disky]

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Satchmo in the Forties

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Louis Armstrong [Direct Source]

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Planet Jazz

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Jazz Genius

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Jazz Biography Series

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Tiger Rag [Liquid 8]

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Jazz Legend [Direct Source]

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When the Saints Go Marchin' In [LRC]

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Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings [Columbia/Legacy]

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Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings [Columbia/Legacy]

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Satchmo [Sony DVD]

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Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings [Definitive Classics]

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Jazz Casual

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Platinum & Gold Collection

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Louis for Lovers

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Great Louis Armstrong [Goldies]

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I've Got the World on a String/Louis Under the Stars

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Silver Collection

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Mr. Jazz

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Timeless Classics

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Best of Sings and Plays

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Louis Armstrong in Scandinavia, Vol. 2: 1952-1955

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18 Greatest

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Sings and Swings

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Hello Satchmo Again

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Satch Plays Fats: The Music of Fats Waller [Bonus Track]

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Essential Louis Armstrong [Columbia\Legacy]

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Complete RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1930

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Forever Gold

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Forever Gold

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Swing That Music [Disky]

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Best of Louis Armstrong [Direct Source]

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Master of Jazz, Vol. 1: Live in Chicago

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Hello Dolly (& Other Hits)

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Complete Collection

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Complete 1950-1951 All Stars Decca Recordings

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Live in Australia [DVD]

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Best of Louis Armstrong: Green Series

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Essential [EMI]

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Essential [EMI #2]

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High Society [Tradition]

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Man with the Trumpet

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Essential Louis

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Anthology 1945-1955

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Vie en Rose [Import]

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Paris Jazz Concert 1962

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Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Vol. 2

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Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Vol. 3

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Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings, Vol. 1

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Mahogany Hall Stomp []

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Jazz Moods: Hot

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Platinum Classics: The Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Cleopatra]

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Satchel Mouth Swing

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Swing That Music [Simply the Best]

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I Got Rhythm [Simply the Best]

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Louis Armstrong [Allegiance]

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In Scandinavia, Vol. 1: 1933-1952

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Blues for Yesterday [Avid]

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Jazz Festival, Vol. 1

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Complete Louis Armstrong, Vol. 3: Cornet Shop Suey 1925-1926

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Jazz in Paris: The Best Live Concert, Vol. 1

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C'est Si Bon [Body & Soul]

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Jazz Goes Hawaiian

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Golden Jazz

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Hello Dolly [Membran]

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Vie en Rose [Membran]

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Good Book

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Jazz After Hours

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Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions (1935-46)

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Intégrale Louis Armstrong, Vol. 5 (1928-1931)

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Rudy Vallee's Fleischmann's Yeast Show/Louis' Home-Recorded Tapes

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Itineraire d'Un Genie

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In Scandanavia, Vol. 4: 1959-1967

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Original Hot Five Recordings of Louis Armstrong

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Jazz Icons: Live in '59

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Louis Armstrong Collection [Music & Melody]

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Blues for Yesterday [Pazzazz]

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Hello Dolly [DVA]

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World on a Swing

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Essential Louis Armstrong, Vol. 3

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Essential Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2

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Essential Louis Armstrong, Vol. 1

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Jazz Is Back in Grand Rapids

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Georgia on My Mind

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C'est Si Bon: New Orleans Function

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C'est Si Bon: A Band Was Born

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C'est Si Bon: Rockin' Chair

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C'est Si Bon: Coal Cart Blues

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Tiger Rag [Laserlight]

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Song Was Born

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Legends Collection

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Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual [DVD]

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Historic Barcelona Concerts

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Gut Bucket Blues

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Among My Souvenirs

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Historic Barcelona Concerts at the Windsor Palace

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Satchmo's Classic Vocals

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Sunny Side of the Street

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Lazybones

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How High the Moon

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What a Wonderful Christmas

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Best of Louie Armstrong [Intersound]

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Kiss to Build a Dream On

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Louis Armstrong [Madacy 1999]

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Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone

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This Is Jazz, Vol. 1

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Master of Jazz: Live In Chicago 1962 [Mobile Fidelity Gold Disc]

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You Rascal You [Half Moon]

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 1: 1923

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2: 1923-1924

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On the Sunny Side

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Very Best of Louis Armstrong [Crimson]

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Portrait of Louis Armstrong

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Satchmo [Columbia River Group]

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V-Disc Recordings

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 2 [Columbia River]

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 1 [Columbia River]

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Platinum Collection

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West End Blues 1926-1933 [18 Tracks]

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Christmas Through the Years [Delta]

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Golden Hits [Intercontinental]

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Louis Armstrong [Laserlight]

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Incomparable [Laserlight 3 Disc]

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Louis Armstrong Songbook

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Incomparable [Public]

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Jazz Festival

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Forever Satchmo

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Louis Armstrong & Nat "King" Cole

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Vintage Mellow Jazz

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16 Most Requested Songs

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Super Hits [Prime Cuts]

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Gospel According to Louis

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Guvnor

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Hello Dolly [Prime Cuts]

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Majestic Years

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Jazz de A A Z

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In Concert: What a Wonderful World

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Swing That Music [Drive]

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What a Wonderful World [Excelsior]

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St. Louis Blues [Prime Cuts]

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Giants of the Big Band Era: Louis Armstrong

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1925, Vol. 5

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C'est Si Bon [MCA]

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Louis Armstrong Saga

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Essential Satchmo

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C'est Si Bon [Rhino]

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Louis Armstrong Live

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All Time Best of Louis Armstrong

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Legendary Louis Armstrong [1995]

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56 Great Jazz Performances

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What a Wonderful World [Project 3]

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Great Original Live Performances

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Jazz Collection [Object]

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Best of Louis Armstrong [1975 Vanguard]

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Louis Armstrong and His Friends [GNP]

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What a Wonderful World [RCA]

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What a Wonderful World [RCA]

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Christmas Through the Years [Laserlight]

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Louis Armstrong's Greatest Hits Live

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Disney Songs the Satchmo Way

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Disney Songs the Satchmo Way

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What a Wonderful World [MCA]

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What a Wonderful World

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When the Saints Go Marchin' In [Laserlight]

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I Love Jazz!

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Hello Louis! [Metro]

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Great Performances

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Best Live Concert: Paris 1965 [Accord]

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Swingin' Hits

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Best of Louis Armstrong [1998 Vanguard]

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Hello, Dolly!

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Together for the First Time/The Great Reunion

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Louis Armstrong All Stars

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Louis Armstrong, Vol. 5: Blueberry Hill

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Complete Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington Sessions

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Complete Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington Sessions

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Satchmo Plays King Oliver