Tagged: Louis Armstrong

Trumpet virtuoso, singer and bandleader Louis Armstrong propelled jazz onto the mainstream stage, shaping the music with his own distinctive style.  Jazz documentary producer Ken Burns says “Armstrong is to music what Einstein is to Physics, and the Wright Brothers are to travel.”

Yet,  the man behind the legend is less well known.  The Wilma Theater is now staging Satchmo at the Waldorf, a one-man show by Terry Teachout, who is also the Wall Street Journal drama critic and the author of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong.  Both the book and the play are informed by audio tapes Armstrong made of his private conversations with friends and family.

Susan Lewis talks with playwright Terry Teachout, actor John Douglas Thompson, and WRTI's Maureen Malloy about Armstrong and his life, and about how the tapes, the book, and the play reveal a different, lesser-known side of the jazz icon.

As The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia stages the Terry Teachout play about the legendary trumpet player Louis Armstrong, Susan Lewis explores the life and work of this musical icon.

Information about Satchmo At The Waldorf at The Wilma Theater through December 2nd.

The virtuosi of Canadian Brass have made the brass quintet an exciting vehicle for serious concert music. The quintet has a long history of recording classical repertoire. They have a special affinity for Baroque music, which requires the musical structure that has become the Canadian Brass' trademark.

Their more than 60 recordings include works by Purcell, Vivaldi, Gabrieli, Pachelbel, Beethoven and Wagner ? all in meticulously crafted transcriptions that are setting new musical traditions in brass performance. They are especially drawn to the works of J.S. Bach.

Part of WRTI's celebration of Black History month, Meridee Duddleston facilitates a glimpse of the ties between a jazz musician, a lyric structure, a playwright, and a poet.