[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong House Museum

[Robert Ringwald]

Louis Armstrong’s Queens Home Is Well Worth the Trip
by Michael Merschel
Dallas Morning News, November 21, 2014
NEW YORK -- It took a long morning of train-hopping and walking for me to finally
make it to Louis Armstrong’s place in Queens. It took all of two minutes for my breath
to be taken away.
America’s greatest musician had called the two-story brick dwelling home from 1943
until his death in 1971. I had wanted to visit since it opened as a museum in 2003,
but until this year, I had never quite made it there during several visits to the
city.
Why? For starters, it’s well off the beaten path of New York tourist sites, tucked
away in a lively Hispanic neighborhood in the Corona section of Queens. It’s not
difficult to get there (even though the most direct line from Manhattan was shut
down the day I visited), but it does take concerted effort.
I had also wondered, would it be worth it? Armstrong is one of my musical heroes,
but he didn’t make his music at this house. Which, I thought, could barely be called
his home, considering that he usually spent 10 months of each year out on the road.
Armstrong’s wife, Lucille, chose the place and lived there until her death in 1983.
Would her tastes overwhelm his spirit?
I shouldn’t have worried.
I arrived at the welcome center just in time to catch one of the tours, which begin
every 40 minutes. I caught the final moments of an introductory film, which had just
enough of Armstrong’s angelic playing to set the mood. (I would come back later to
stock up at the excellent gift shop, which sells delights such as a Frisbee that
looks like a 78 record of “West End Blues,” which I had to buy, and his beloved herbal
laxative Swiss Kriss, which I did not.)
We were led up to the front door. I was lucky to be in a small group when we entered
the house; I’ve been in motor homes that felt less cramped. And for just a moment,
surrounded by dated furnishings, I feared a Graceland-type experience, where you
end up laughing at the artist more than celebrating him.
And then, Louis came alive as our tour guide did two marvelous things. First, he
played a recording of Armstrong, chatting in that marvelous voice that’s equal parts
joy and gravel. Armstrong made hundreds of hours of private reel-to-reel tapes, and
the tour makes excellent use of them in every room. The effect is somewhat like being
at a party where the host is just out of sight around the corner.
After that, our guide pulled out a photo showing the Armstrongs sitting in the living
room, on the very same furniture we were staring at. The combination of recordings
and photos makes it feel less like a kitsch show -- this despite the bathroom with
gold-plated fixtures and the vibrant blue 1960s-era kitchen -- and more like a visit
to the house where a beloved grandparent once lived.
The effect was powerful enough that when we got to the bedroom and saw the bed where
Louis died in his sleep (after listening to a tape of his duets with Ella Fitzgerald
singing “Can’t We Be Friends” and “April in Paris”), I felt the loss personally.
Ah, but the house holds a tonic for such feelings: Louis’ den.
It’s the final room on the tour, and it’s definitely a case of the best coming last.
The tidy, wood-paneled office has a large desk, some reel-to-reel tape players and
several albums he owned. Our guide uses this moment to point out the extraordinary
range of music Armstrong consumed, from fellow jazz players to opera.
It’s the one room in the house that feels like a place Armstrong might have hung
out in. Apparently, that’s the way it felt when he was alive, too: As quoted by Terry
Teachout in his excellent biography, Pops, legendary producer George Avakian, a regular
guest to the house, said, “I could tell it was Lucille’s, not Pops’, except for one
room: his den. It had piles of stuff everywhere. Papers, letters, stacks of records
on the shelves and floor.”
It was also, our guide says, the one room where Lucille let Louis smoke marijuana.
Teachout also notes that even if Armstrong spent most of his life elsewhere, he loved
his house and the neighborhood. Here’s the trumpeter writing about the first time
he arrived there: “One look at that big fine house, and right away, I said to the
driver ‘Aw man quit Kidding and take me to the address that I’m looking for.’...
The more Lucille showed me around the house the more thrilled I got.... Yea you hear?
-- I got (tee hee.)”
People who grew up in the neighborhood still stop by sometimes, our guide said. I
can see why. Louis has not left the building.
__________
The Louis Armstrong House Museum is at 34-56 107th St., Corona, Queens, N.Y. It’s
about a 10-minute drive from LaGuardia Airport or a 10-minute walk from the 103rd
Street-Corona Plaza subway station. The grounds regularly host concerts and other
special events; construction on a new education center is underway. For details visit
louisarmstronghouse.org
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-Bob Ringwald
Bob Ringwald Solo Piano, duo, Trio, Quartet
Fulton Street Jazz Band
916/ 806-9551
Amateur (ham) Radio K 6 Y B V

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