The Year Was 1958

If Louis Armstrong is not the best Ambassador of Music to ever set on this earth, the word "Ambassador" should be removed from the dictionary.




Here he is, at the the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Excerpted from Jazz On A Summer Day, the performance was filmed well after sunset for what were believed to be contractual reasons known only to the Lewis Carroll School of Logic.



On that summer day in Newport, the Sun shone at its brightest. The big yellow ball, however, insisted that Mr. Armstrong's appearance be delayed until after sunset so that it would be finished shining. That is, the big yellow ball's work day would be over.

The Sun then assumed a human disguise and sat in a front row seat.

Some of us believe it was the guy with the big fat cigar. Others (myself included) think it was one of the many children privileged to be there on that summer day in 1958.