s
the 1940's drew to a close so did the popularity of the 'Big Band'. It became
increasingly difficult and expensive to keep a large group together and on the
road. Louis later in life commented "too many make bad friends". In 1947 promoter
Ernie Anderson presented him with a small band at New York's Town Hall. The response
this group achieved signaled the end of his big-band career. For the remaining
years of his life, Louis led his All Stars, a six-piece band which featured, to
begin with, Jack Teagarden, a long time friend on trombone, Earl 'Fatha' Hines,
from the Hot 5 band on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass, and Velma Middleton, continuing
to share the vocals with him. The personnel of the All Stars Band changed occasionally
but always had some of the finest instrumentalists' of the time including, Barney
Bigard and Ed Hall (clarinet), 'Big' Sid Catlett, who's solo on "Steak Face" on
the 'At Symphony Hall' album is one of the great drum events in jazz history (drums),
and, a strong right arm, Trummy Young (trombone). Recordings made with the All
Stars, such as Louis Armstrong Plays W. C. Handy, Satch Plays Fats, Louis Armstrong
And The All Stars At Symphony Hall, and Louis Armstrong And the All Stars
at the Crescendo, are Jazz classics today.
During the 1950's Louis found himself paired with many other singers, most notably Bing Crosby, Louis Jordan, and Gary Crosby, 
these sessions produced some pleasing recordings though not his best work. In 1956 & 57 he teamed up once again with Ella Fitzgerald, this time with the Oscar Peterson Trio providing the backing, this resulted in the cleanest sound of any of Louis' records. While working with Peterson in 1957, Louis took the opportunity to lay down other tracks that, are among his best. The ability to record an obscure song and catapult it to popularity is a true sign of musical genius. Until Louis recorded the song "Mack The Knife" from the German opera called "The Three Penny Opera", by Kurt Weill (music) and Bertold Brecht (libretto), in 1955, the song and the opera were unknown even to opera fans. Louis' recording made the opera known even to non-opera fans around the world. Lotte Lenya, the original performer of the song telephoned Louis to thank him for his wonderful rendition. Other unforgettable classics such as "A Kiss to Build a Dream On",
"When it's Sleepy Time Down South", "All of Me", "On the Sunny Side of the Street", "(What Did I Do to be so) Black and Blue", and "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans" were also recorded in the 1950's.
In 1961 'Satchmo' found
himself paired for a session with the great Duke Ellington to record some of Duke's
songs. Another classic Jazz album on the Roulette label was the result. While
spending many hours in the studio in the 1950's and 60's Louis also maintained
a crippling world wide touring schedule with the 'All Stars'. In 1963, he recorded
some songs in New York before leaving for an overseas tour. Months later in London
the band received many requests to play "Dolly". Louis asked his manager what
these people were talking about. It was at that time, he learned, the song "Hello
Dolly" (a song he didn't even remember recording in New York) was such a huge
international hit that it knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts in the
States. 'Satchmo's' popularity soared to its all-time peak, he was suddenly in
demand for every television venue available. Louis was a remarkable singer, his
throaty voice, lazy-sounding delivery, perfect timing and immaculate presentation,
were even more apparent in the later years when he could no longer blow his famous
horn. His style of delivery added texture, warmth, and understanding often far
exceeding anything that had been put there by the songs' writers. A fine example
of this is his last big hit, "What a Wonderful World" which in 1968 rose to the
number one spot in the UK, although, it didn't really leave its mark until its
inclusion in a popular film much later here in the United States.
The song "What a Wonderful World" in my humble opinion, is truly the perfect song for Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong to leave us with. Many others have put it much more eloquently than I am able to but I feel we all, especially those lovers of the music called Jazz, owe much to this man, not only as a pioneer of Jazz trumpet and vocals, but also as a very genuine human being. Anytime he appeared on film, played on stage, or performed on record, Louis Armstrong helped to make this 'A Wonderful World' for us all. He truly remains the 'King of Jazz'.
In the beginning Those early years
The bandleader The Big Band Era
The golden years
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