Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Louis Armstrong — The Man, the Myth, the Legend by TOM HENNESSY July in my mind always belongs to Louis Armstrong. He passed away July 6, 1971, two days after he celebrated his 71st birthday. Even though histori- ans have proven he wasn’t really born on July 4, he celebrated that as his birthday for so long at Newport Jazz Festivals and in other ways that July is still clearly Satchmo’s month. Although he’s been gone for almost 40 years, Armstrong is still a vibrant pres- ence in American culture. He has appeared in more than 40 movie or television soundtracks since 2000 including WALL-E, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and two House M.D. episodes. Armstrong emerged as the first important soloist in jazz in the 1920s with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz band in Chicago and Fletcher Henderson’s Orchestra in New York. His recordings as a leader with his Hot Five and Hot Seven really showed off Louis’s innovations as the first great improvising soloist in recorded jazz. His improvising skills moved jazz in places it had not been before. His virtuoso command of the trumpet on pieces like “West End Blues” and “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” set the pattern for high note “screech” and jazz men to the present. Armstrong sang on a few of these recording including the legendary “Heebie Jeebies” of February 1926. While a few artists like Cliff Edwards had sung wordless vocals before, Armstrong’s “scat” chorus opened new vistas of what you could do with the human voice. Some of those continue in today’s rap music. Still, Armstrong’s recognition was limited to certain circles until he came Louis Armstrong changed the face of music. His impact is still being felt today. back to New York in 1929 with Carroll Dickerson’s band. Armstrong played in the band for the Broadway show Hot Chocolates, a version of the revue at Connie’s inn in Harlem. Louis’s playing and singing of Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” stopped the show. Armstrong recorded it with Dickerson’s band in July 1929. The 78 rpm recording, “Okeh 8714” with “What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue?” as the flip side, sold like hot cakes even in the early months of the Great Depression. These two vocals established Armstrong as a crossover star as none of his instrumentals had. He quickly began recording vocals of popular songs such as “ Some of These Days,” When You’re Smiling “After You’ve Gone,” and “I Ain’t Got Nobody.” These were also successful and cemented his fame. Early in the 1930s, Armstrong began to appear in short films, cartoons, and feature films. In a period where positive black role models were invisible in Hollywood, he often played stereotyped roles or had a musical number that could be cut out of the film but his strength still showed through. From 1947 until a few months before his death in 1971, Armstrong returned to the small group format with his All-Stars. This sextet did not go in the cutting edge direction of the new bop sounds of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. It still focused on entertaining people and it still succeeded. He became a fixture of the Newport and other jazz festivals. He toured the world extensively and continued to record. He was touring so much that it took awhile to find out that in 1964 at age 63 he had replaced the Beatles at num- ber one on the pop charts with his single of “Hello, Dolly.” He kept touring regularly almost up to his death in 1971. His music and impact continues today. TOM HENNESSY, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 editor@upandcomingweekly.com 18 UCW JULY 28-AUGUST 3, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM CHARLIE MIKE’S PUB 195 Star Point Road • 826-6453 Tues. Open Jam — Bring your own instrument Sat. Open mic THE DOGHOUSE 3049 Owen Dr. • 910-826-9761 www.thedoghousegroup.com July 28 Mike Odonell July 31 All My Rowdy Friends Aug. 1 Johnson Kinlaw HUSKE HARDWARE- HOUSE 405 Hay Street • 437-9905 www.huskehardware.com Thurs. 80’s Ladies Night Fri. & Sat. Live DJ and Dancing July 28 Kenny Huffman IT’Z ENTERTAINMENT CITY 4118 Legend Ave. • 910-826-4635 www.itzentertainmentcity.com July 28 Coastline July 31 The Fifth Aug. 1 DL Token Aug. 7 Love Tribe Aug. 8 DL Token JESTER’S PUB 6577 Fisher Road • 910-426-5800 www.jesterspub.com July 29 Cool Kid Collective July 30 Gutter Glitter/Beard Eats Face/ Several Devils July 31 Super BoB/The Omega Project/ New MAchine/Chris Cox Aug. 7 Sick Puppies LIDOS — THE EURO SPOT 102 Person St. • 222-8237 Wed. Karaoke Thurs. Live Music Fri. & Sat. Top 40 Dance Club July 29 Christ Hurst PADDY’S 2 606B Raeford Rd. • 910-677-0055 www.paddygibneypub.com Wed. Steel Tip Dart Competition Thurs. Autumn Nicholas, Paddy & Bill Fri. Paddy & Bill POINDEXTER’S SALOON 115 Dunn Rd. • 433-2089 Wed. Bike Night with live music THE ROCK SHOP MUSIC HALL 128 S. King St. • 910-321-ROCK www.therockshoplive.com July 28 The Vicious Guns/Dave & John July 30 Dear Enemy/Driven/New Era Project/Beautiful Rage July 31 Kaustic/Bound n Gagged/ Prologic 13/Rumor Has Wings Aug. 1 Battle of the Bands/Aquience/ Fearless in Red/Nightmare Apparatus/ Ghandi’s Never Wrong Twice SOUTHERN STYLE SALOON 4939 Bragg Blvd. • 860-1787 THE STRIKE ZONE 3319 Raeford Rd. • 677-9900 THEE BACK DOOR BAR & GRILL 3109 N. Main St., Hope Mills • 429-9913 CALLING ALL LOCAL BANDS Fayetteville wants to know you! So here’s your opportunity. We will feature all local bands in our Concert Connection, but it’s going to take a little effort on your part. 1. E-mail Stephanie@upandcomingweekly.com for our Q&A. 2. Fill it out and e-mail it back to us. 3. Send a recent, high-resolution photo of your band. 4. Look for your article in an upcoming issue.