Louis In London – a new double LP of Louis Armstrong’s stellar summer of 1968 London concerts – will be released on Verve on 12 July. (Jazzwise reports)
In the summer of 1968, Louis travelled to England just weeks after knocking The Beatles off the number one spot in the UK charts with ‘What A Wonderful World’ and entered the BBC’s London studios to record a performance, that was “full of vitality and joy”, that manifested some of the most inspired singing and trumpet playing of his career.
First broadcast on 22 September 1968 as BBC TV’s Show Of The Week – Louis Armstrong, the session poignantly proved to be Armstrong’s last great performance. From the moment Armstrong received a copy of the 1968 London recording, he became determined for the world to hear this music, affixing a note to the outside of the tape box on which he wrote, “For The Fans.”
Recently the Louis Armstrong Estate has shared a music video for Louis Armstrong’s classic holiday tune “White Christmas,” which features never-before-seen images of Satchmo and his wife Lucille provided by the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
The track is featured on Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule, which was released last year and presents Armstrong’s holiday recordings as a cohesive body of work, marking his first-ever official Christmas album.
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This definitive documentary, directed by Sacha Jenkins, honors Armstrong's legacy as a founding father of jazz, one of the first internationally known and beloved stars, and a cultural ambassador of the United States. The film shows how Armstrong’s own life spans the shift from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, and how he became a lightning rod figure in that turbulent era.
Directed and produced by Emmy-nominated Sacha Jenkins, produced by Imagine Documentaries, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes and Julie Anderson along with executive producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. The film is produced in association with Universal Music Group’s Polygram Entertainment with Michele Anthony and David Blackman serving as executive producers.
