[Dixielandjazz] what-louis-armstrong-taught-egypt-and-middle-east-about-itself

[ROBERT R. CALDER]

ONE OF THE LOUIS SOLOS NOT TO BE MISSED  

Snatch of article here, link to full thing below:


>>For a while, Armstrong ignored the rumours, but he drew the line
when Nasser himself added his weight to the senseless reports. In
1960, the Egyptian president went further and believed that one of Armstrong’s
“Scat singing” recordings was used by the artist to pass secrets during his
first 1959 tour of the Middle East. An outraged Armstrong, in Boston at the time,
mailed Nasser a copy of the suspected recording, with a note rebutting the
accusations:

“It’s all Greek to me. They claimed all that junk because I played in
Israel. I don’t have to be a spy to earn a living. I have enough money blowing
the horn and I have a very happy life doing it. Why don’t you tell these people
who are spreading all this stuff to come around. I’ll tell them a few good
traveling salesman jokes.”  <<


the full thing is at the link below -- 

unfortunately the title is far too optimistic !!!

RobertnR. Calder 


https://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/amro-ali/what-louis-armstrong-taught-egypt-and-middle-east-about-itself