An ‘Idiots’ Guide to a Warm and Witty Road Trip
By MARIO NAVES
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This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
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Louis Armstrong’s position in jazz may be, in Dizzy Gillespie’s famous phrase, “unimpeachable,” but there was a moment when, in the radical 1960s, Armstrong was actually denounced by some younger musicians — not for his music, but for his comedy and crowd-pleasing stage antics. The trumpeter Jimmy Owens, however, was one contemporary jazzman smart enough to see through the act. Once, at a concert during this period, my father commended Mr. Owens for his pro-Satchmo position, and the musician responded: “Louis Armstrong was never Uncle Tom to anybody who played the trumpet.”
By MARIO NAVES
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By DEAN KARAYANIS
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By MATTHEW RICE
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By MATTHEW RICE
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By BENNY AVNI
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By LUKE FUNK
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By A.R. HOFFMAN
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By VERONIQUE de RUGY
|Louis Armstrong’s position in jazz may be, in Dizzy Gillespie’s famous phrase, “unimpeachable,” but there was a moment when, in the radical 1960s, Armstrong was actually denounced by some younger musicians — not for his music, but for his comedy and crowd-pleasing stage antics. The trumpeter Jimmy Owens, however, was one contemporary jazzman smart enough to see through the act. Once, at a concert during this period, my father commended Mr. Owens for his pro-Satchmo position, and the musician responded: “Louis Armstrong was never Uncle Tom to anybody who played the trumpet.”
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