Happy Birthday Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in Back of Town, New Orleans – a poor neighborhood and his father abandoned the family when he was an infant. Then his mother left him to live with his grandmother and uncle. Later he moved back with his mother, a prostitute, and relatives and saw his father only in parades. He had a rough beginning and was taken in by a Jewish family, the Karnofskys, who had a coal delivery business. He wrote a memoir about his life with them called Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907. The Karnofskys went on to found an organization to help other kids gain access to musical instruments.
When we got home from Spain, Tin was dying to watch his Louis DVD from 1959 where Armstrong’s band, the All Stars includes Danny Barcelona, Trummy Young, Billy Kyle, Peanut Hucko, and Mort Hebert. It’s a great DVD and every time we watch it, it is as magical as the first time we saw it. Armstrong’s presence comes across crystal clear – he was/is divine and just seeing his face, his smile, warms my heart. If this is Tin’s early childhood hero, he picked a good one.
Today is Louis Armstrong’s birthday and this weekend is the Satchmo Fest here in New Orleans that is filled with seminars, live music, and second line parades. St. Augustine will hold a mass honoring the man on Sunday. Such an incredible legacy Louis Armstrong left the world, and how lucky for us that he was born and rose above his challenging life to bring such joy to all of us. He once said about his difficult childhood, “Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans…It has given me something to live for.”
Happy Birthday Pops. Happy Birthday Satchmo. Happy Birthday Louis Armstrong.