Still going strong at the age of 95, Lawrence Cotton has played piano with Guitar Slim, Joe Turner, T-Bone Walker, Dave Bartholomew, and legendary trumpeter Wallace Davenport among many others. he is a regular at preservation hall and continues to perform with his own band, Lawrence Cotton Legendary Experience.

Author Keith Hatschek presents the story of the Brubecks’ jazz musical that starred Louis Armstrong and challenged segregation at the height of the civil rights movement. Its 1962 debut rocked the jazz world and proved that Satchmo was once again ready to lend his voice to the fight for equal rights.

Author Keith Hatschek presents the story of the Brubecks’ jazz musical that starred Louis Armstrong and challenged segregation at the height of the civil rights movement. Its 1962 debut rocked the jazz world and proved that Satchmo was once again ready to lend his voice to the fight for equal rights.

Listening to sound recordings and mosaic outakes, rehearsals for the Real Ambassadors

Jewel Brown was the female vocalist with Armstrong’s All-Stars from 1961 to 1968. Jewel continues to perform and has shared the stage with many artists over the years, including Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Arnett Cobb.

Louis Armstrong was music journalist and critic John Swenson’s North Star, and he wrote in his introduction to the Rolling Stone Guide to Jazz and Blues that most of the meaningful music in the late 20th century, from The Rolling Stones to The Sex Pistols, flowed from Satchmo. Swenson spent the last 20 years of his 50-plus year career in New Orleans covering the local scene, writing about local music, and considering the forces that shaped it. Armstrong was one of those forces. Writers Alison Fensterstock, David Kunian, Jennifer Odell and Alex Rawls will talk about Swenson’s work in and on New Orleans with an eye to Armstrong’s influence.

Ricky Riccardi and Maxine Gordon will discuss Velma Middleton on her final tour with Louis Armstrong in 1960-61.The presentation will include some rare new audio of Velma in concert in Paris with Louis Armstrong during the filming of Paris Blues that was done in a break from the African tour.

The purposes of this presentation are 1) to examine the relationship between Louis Armstrong and Peter Davis as student and teacher at the Waif's Boys Home; 2) to explore the life of Peter Davis as an unsung hero in New Orleans; and 3) to identify and discuss the accomplishments of selected students who studied music under Peter Davis and the potential impact that Louis Armstrong might have had on their contributions to music.

75 years ago, Louis Armstrong broke up his big band and formed a small group, the All Stars, that would serve as her main band for the rest of his career. Join Ricky Riccardi as he screens footage of the All Stars in action from the late 1940s through 1971, with appearances from Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Tyree Glenn, Billy Kyle and many more!