More information is coming soon!

SPECIAL EVENTS

The 24th annual event returns with favorite traditions and added fun for the whole family:

• Roots of Music Satchmo Soundoff presented by Fidelity Bank | Saturday: Music fans of all ages can attend a special performance by some of the city’s youngest and most talented musicians. Roots of Music Satchmo Soundoff presented by Fidelity Bank will kick off this year’s festival on Saturday at 11:30 AM on Esplanade Ave., right outside the Museum gates. 

• Chill at the Fest, Powered by Entergy | Saturday and Sunday: Thanks to Entergy New Orleans, our popular chill tent will return, with complimentary neck chillers and misting fans throughout the festival site. 

• Satchmo SummerFest Jazz Mass | Sunday: The Jazz Mass at St. Augustine Church will begin at 10 AM where attendees can also enjoy a spirited performance by Treme Brass Band. Due to ongoing renovations at St. Augustine Church, mass will be held in the Parish Hall. Please note that seating is limited, so mass will be livestreamed at Facebook.com/saintaugchurch. 

• Satchmo Salute Parade presented by New Orleans Tourism & Cultural Fund (NOTCF) | Sunday: The Second-Line Parade, presented by New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund (NOTCF) will feature the Treme Brass Band leading attendees out of Sunday mass at St. Augustine Church at 11:15 AM in the Treme neighborhood and through the French Quarter in a Second-Line parade to the New Orleans Jazz Museum.

learn about louis! catch past presentations from the satchmo legacy stage at satchmo summerFest!

The Satchmo Legacy Stage features an impressive array of national and international speakers, including jazz scholars, people who knew and worked with Armstrong, historians, Armstrong House Museum faculty, and musicians.

Check out the French Quarter Festivals, Inc. YouTube Channel Playlists to view past presentations – and don’t forget to subscribe!

The Satchmo Legacy Stage in Memory of Joni Berry

The Satchmo Legacy Stage in Memory of Joni Berry features two days of fascinating discussions by renowned Armstrong scholars. Join us on the third floor of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint.

Saturday, August 5, 2023

12:00pm – 12:45pm
Deano Assunto & Jan Assunto interviewed by Sally Young – Louie & the ASSUNTO Dukes
Sally Young interviews Deano Assunto & Jan Assunto Robicheaux (Part 2, interview from 2019), son & daughter of Frank & Freddie Assunto, respectively, about their family’s history with Louis Armstrong through the Dukes of Dixieland, both personally & professionally, including the 1959 recording of the LOUIE & THE DUKES LP, released in 1960.

1:00pm – 1:45pm
Don Vappie interviewed by David Kunian- A Conversation with Don Vappie
Musician, composer, and educator, Don Vappie is a Steve Martin Banjo Prize winner, a Banjo Hall of Fame inductee, and has received awards for his contributions to the preservation of New Orleans Creole Culture through music and film. New Orleans Jazz Museum Music Curator, David Kunian, talks to Don about his life in music, & the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band Centennial.

2:00pm – 2:45pm
Ricky Riccardi & Maxine Gordon:: Velma Middleton – The Final Tour
Ricky Riccardi and Maxine Gordon will follow the map of the tour to Africa in 1960 of the Louis Armstrong All Stars. It was the final tour for Velma Middleton who suffered a stroke on January 16, 1961 and died in Freetown, Sierra Leone on February 10, 1961.

3:00pm – 3:45pm
Sam Irwin – Born on the 4th of July: What Independence Day Meant to Louis Armstrong
What did the ideals of the United States Declaration of Independence mean to the grandson of a slave? The 20th-century erosion of African American civil rights essentially disregarded the idea of Black patriotism. Louis Armstrong was deeper than most folks give him credit and a supposition can be made that Pops deliberately chose Independence Day as his birthday. Sam Irwin will cover the historical details he wrote about in the chapter “Born on the Fourth of July” in his new book “The Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age.” (History Press, January 2023.)

4:00pm – 5:00pm
Ricky Riccardi – 100th Anniversary Celebration of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band
On April 5, 1923, Louis Armstrong stepped into a recording studio for the first time to make his initial recordings as a sideman with King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. Over the next nine months, Oliver’s band would go on to record over 30 classic sides that have become known as perhaps the most significant recorded examples of early New Orleans jazz. For the special centennial anniversary, Ricky Riccardi will offer a multimedia celebration of these recordings with rare audio clips, interviews, and videos.

Sunday, August 6, 2023

12:00pm – 12:45pm
Ricky Riccardi & Chris Renshaw – A Wonderful World
A conversation between Ricky Riccardi and Director Christopher Renshaw about his musical which Premieres its pre-Broadway engagement at the Saenger Theatre, New Orleans in October 1st. This new musical tells the story of the Life and Loves of Louis Armstrong.

1:00pm – 1:45pm
Robert Cataliotti – “Whip Them Cymbals, Pops”: New Orleans’ Pioneering Drummers — Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, and Paul Barbarin

Robert Cataliotti presents the background on drumming and rhythm in New Orleans leading up to the invention of the drum set. The presentation examines 3 of the pioneers of the drum set, Dodds, Singleton, and Barbarin—all of whom played with Armstrong—and discuss their innovations, their impact on the evolution of jazz, and highlight their experiences with Armstrong. It concludes with an overview of how their legacy continues to the present day. The presentation is based on the Drumsville! Evolution of the New Orleans Beat exhibit at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint (co-curated by Cataliotti) and the accompanying LSU Press book (written by Cataliotti).

3:00pm – 3:45pm
Michael Persico – Classic Jazz Visions-the Photography of Jack Bradley
This is a collection of images of Louis Armstrong taken by Jack Bradley, with a biographical narration and recorded music.

4:00pm – 5:00pm
Ricky Riccardi – A Year in the Life of Louis Armstrong: 1933
Louis Armstrong kicked off the year of 1933 resting at home in Chicago, nursing bruised chops after injuring them while performing. He recovered to form a new band with youngsters such as Teddy Wilson and Budd Johnson and embarked on a stunning series of recordings for RCA Victor. On his way to Europe that summer, Armstrong gets in a fight with his manager Johnny Collins and spends the rest of the year overseas, where he was captured on film and recordings in Scandinavia. 90 years later, Ricky Riccardi will explore the high and low points of this action-packed year, climaxing with a screening of a new restoration of the famous film footage of Armstrong in Denmark.