[Dixielandjazz] Ricky Riccardi interviewed, Louis Armstrong

[Robert Ringwald]

Louis Armstrong Blogger Ricky Riccardi Among Speakers at the Satchmo SummerFest
by Brendan Twist
New Orleans Times-Picayune, August 2, 2011
This week in preparation for the Satchmo SummerFest, we talked to Ricky Riccardi,
a popular blogger and jazz pianist.
Who he is: The research archivist for the Louis Armstrong House Museum at Queens
College in New York.
Why you've heard of him: This weekend, the 30-year-old jazz expert will speak at
Satchmo SummerFest for the fourth consecutive year.
What he's up to: Last month, he published his first book, "What a Wonderful World:
The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years" (Pantheon). He also writes an Armstrong
blog.
Where to see him: Friday at 2 p.m., he will discuss his book with interviewer Michael
Cogswell. On Saturday at 5 p.m., he will screen Edward R. Murrow's 1957 documentary
"Satchmo the Great." On Sunday at 5 p.m., he will screen some of Armstrong's most
memorable movie scenes. All sessions will take place at Maison, 508 Frenchmen St.
Q: Can you tell me about the first time you ever heard Louis Armstrong?
A: I was 15 years old. It was 1995, and it was in the movie "The Glenn Miller Story."
I was just watching it because I was always an old movie buff -- any excuse to watch
a Jimmy Stewart movie was OK by me -- and midway through the movie Louis Armstrong
comes on. And there he was in beautiful Technicolor, singing "Basin Street Blues,"
playing, smiling -- the whole package. It was just so interesting, so invigorating,
that I immediately went to my local library and checked out a CD compilation of Louis'
1950s Columbia recordings. And that one CD completely changed my life. Right then
and there, I knew that I'd be spending the better part of my years dedicated to this
man's music.
Q: You have a master's degree in jazz history from Rutgers. With so many jazz greats,
why focus on the much-covered Armstrong?
A: Well, it goes back to that first day -- seeing Louis in "The Glenn Miller Story"
and then getting that CD of Louis' 1950s recordings. That's all music from a period
when Louis was kind of written off by the jazz press. They thought that by the 1950s
and '60s he had gone commercial, he was Uncle Tom, he wasn't the same serious musician
as when he was younger. And even though I eventually discovered young Louis Armstrong
and had my mind blown by his music at every turn, there was something that always
rubbed me the wrong way -- that people couldn't accept his entire career. Laurence
Bergreen wrote a biography on Louis that came out in 1997. He spent 424 pages on
Louis' life up to 1943, and then fast-forwarded through the last 28 years of Armstrong's
life in just 70 pages. From that moment, the seeds were planted that Louis' later
years deserved a story of their own. So it started out as my college thesis and just
grew and grew into the book that is out today.
Q: What can film teach us about Armstrong's place in jazz history?
A: Film is the best way to get the whole Louis Armstrong package in one bite. You
can listen to him all day -- he was marvelous on the radio, and his records are legendary
-- but you're only getting half the story. When you actually watch Louis, that's
when the real magic becomes readily apparent. Because, again, a lot of people in
the '50s and '60s were uncomfortable with his stage presence. But Louis never was.
He knew he was funny. He once referred to himself as "an old ham actor." He knew
how to sell a song, and the smile was so magnetic. So when you watch Louis, and you
see the intensity of his trumpet playing, you see the eyes roll back into his head,
and you see him sing -- you watch the mannerisms, the facial expressions while he
scats or when he puts over a joke -- he's one of the most entertaining figures that
this culture has ever produced. And that's the kind of impact you only get through
his films.
Q: Is New Orleans a special place for you? Do you learn more about Armstrong by coming
here?
A: Of course, yeah. I had never come to New Orleans until my first appearance at
the Satchmo SummerFest in 2008. Just getting off the plane, I felt like I was on
hallowed ground. Every year, I make time to talk to people who knew him, people who
were so touched by his music. There's no other place like it, where, for four days
a year, you get 10,000 Louis nuts crowding the streets. So it's really where, you
could say, I belong.
Q: Can you tell me about the museum and how it ended up in New York?
A: Louis Armstrong moved to Corona, Queens, with his fourth wife Lucille in 1943.
They lived in Corona from 1943 until Louis' death in 1971, and then Lucille kept
the house immaculate. She saved everything that Louis saved, and, trust me, he was
a packrat. Then she died in 1983 and left the house and all of the contents to the
city of New York, and the city worked out a deal with Queens College. The Louis Armstrong
House Museum is a two-fold operation. All the contents of the house -- Louis' scrapbook,
his reel-to-reel tapes, his photographs, his correspondence -- all went to an archival
facility at Queens College known as the Louis Armstrong Archive. It opened in 1994,
and that's where I work as the archivist. In 2003, 20 years after Lucille died, Louis'
actual home was opened as a house museum, and everything was restored to exactly
as it was when Louis and Lucille lived there. All the furniture is original; all
the wallpaper is original. People come and take 40-minute guided tours, and we usually
play samples of Louis' voice, and Louis having dinner, and Louis playing trumpet.
And by the end of the tour, people are usually in tears because they feel like they
really just spent 40 minutes in the presence of the man, at his house.
Q: What album or collection would you recommend to a newcomer who is just starting
to learn about Armstrong?
A: Well, for the newcomer with money, the Satchmo SummerFest is actually unveiling
a new box set by Universal called "Satchmo: Louis Armstrong, The Ambassador of Jazz."
It's been in the works all year, and the unveiling is during the keynote address
at the Satchmo SummerFest. It's a 10-CD box set. The first seven CDs are a complete,
career-spanning look at Louis' life, from 1923 to 1970. And Universal paid Sony so
they could use Columbia material and OKeh material and RCA material, so you really
get everything. Then there's three CDs of bonuses: an entire live concert from 1956;
one of Louis working out songs in the studio, rehearsing and alternate takes; and
a 75-minute interview recorded at Louis' home in 1965. So if it's a new Armstrong
enthusiast who wants a great chunk, and to hear the man in every light, the Universal
box is the way to go. If it's somebody just looking to dip their feet in, there's
a two-CD set called "The Essential Louis Armstrong" that Sony Legacy put out five
or six years ago, and that has a great track selection. If you're looking for individual
albums, anything with the Hot Fives and Hot Sevens is great. "Louis Armstrong Plays
W.C. Handy" is my personal favorite album. Really, if it has the words Louis and
Armstrong on it, it's bound to be entertaining.


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
Fulton Street Jazz Band
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