The extract looks great, I'll have to pick up the 3 books he mentions --- I love Armstrong.
One thing that always amazed me about these jazz performers was how much they toured, even at the peak of their popularity. They went everywhere. A couple years ago I sat down with my grandfather when his health was fading and asked him to tell me his life-story, recording it for my father so that he would always have a record of his father's voice. My grandfather grew up in a middle of nowhere Canadian town, but it did have a pavilion in its town park. I just about lost it when my grandpa casually mentioned that he'd seen Armstrong play there 4 times(!) over the years. Nowadays, you'd be lucky if any band or act came to play in that town. But Armstong and his band came.
Yeah its funny, there was a brief period in history where artists and labels made money on recordings and performances were a sideline but before that and arguably now too the only money to be made is in touring and merchandise for everyone except the 0.1%.
Being a musician, even a famous one, meant hard work night after night.
> After catching up on some sleep, Armstrong took advantage of his new private bath, got dressed, and went out for a long walk, stunned by the beautiful African American neighborhood he found himself in. “The reason why I was so amazed over South Parkway is because, such a street in New Orleans, with all those highpowered homes and apartments, nothing but white folks lived on a street like that... And nothing but the Filthy Rich ones at that,” he wrote. “I just could not get [over] the idea, that it was a little difference between the north and the south (a little differnt [sic] anyway) and the colored people were a little more respected and appreciated.”
Gioia's own books are fantastic too. I highly recommend them all. "West Coast Jazz" is probably my favourite, a fantastic guide and history to so many great players who didn't get their due by dint of being on the "wrong coast".
"How to Listen To Jazz" and "History of Jazz" are fantastic, more general starting points.
He and Garry Giddens are my two favourite jazz writers, hands down.
It's so great how he has created enormous success for himself on substack. Everyone always says jazz is dead and there is no audience; his writing proves the naysayers are wrong.
I don't know that people say 'jazz is dead', but it's certainly a shell of its former self. Wanna make a living playing jazz in 2025? The odds are stacked, massively, against you. Wanna earn enough to buy food for your dog? The odds are slightly better.
Armstrong is, among other things, basically the original shit-hot electric-blues/rock guitarist. Wait for his solo after the sung section and Dodds’ clarinet part: https://youtu.be/iZLlJ9crI4s
The extract looks great, I'll have to pick up the 3 books he mentions --- I love Armstrong.
One thing that always amazed me about these jazz performers was how much they toured, even at the peak of their popularity. They went everywhere. A couple years ago I sat down with my grandfather when his health was fading and asked him to tell me his life-story, recording it for my father so that he would always have a record of his father's voice. My grandfather grew up in a middle of nowhere Canadian town, but it did have a pavilion in its town park. I just about lost it when my grandpa casually mentioned that he'd seen Armstrong play there 4 times(!) over the years. Nowadays, you'd be lucky if any band or act came to play in that town. But Armstong and his band came.
Yeah its funny, there was a brief period in history where artists and labels made money on recordings and performances were a sideline but before that and arguably now too the only money to be made is in touring and merchandise for everyone except the 0.1%.
Being a musician, even a famous one, meant hard work night after night.
Also that hard work and touring often took a heavy toll on them. Some musicians didn’t survive that life unfortunately
Absolutely especially when rail was the method of travel. They weren’t flying in on jets and sleeping in nice hotels as a rule!
Some musicians opted to travel via small aircraft. The following musicians died due to crashing small aircraft:
Otis Redding John Denver Jim Croce Buddy Holly Ricky Nelson Stevie Ray Vaughan
With AI generated music coming out, I can see a resurgence in live performance.
The guys got three other books on Armstrong too
> After catching up on some sleep, Armstrong took advantage of his new private bath, got dressed, and went out for a long walk, stunned by the beautiful African American neighborhood he found himself in. “The reason why I was so amazed over South Parkway is because, such a street in New Orleans, with all those highpowered homes and apartments, nothing but white folks lived on a street like that... And nothing but the Filthy Rich ones at that,” he wrote. “I just could not get [over] the idea, that it was a little difference between the north and the south (a little differnt [sic] anyway) and the colored people were a little more respected and appreciated.”
This part of Chicago peaked at a population of nearly 80,000 in 1950; it's now around 20,000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas,_Chicago#Bronzeville
Gioia's own books are fantastic too. I highly recommend them all. "West Coast Jazz" is probably my favourite, a fantastic guide and history to so many great players who didn't get their due by dint of being on the "wrong coast". "How to Listen To Jazz" and "History of Jazz" are fantastic, more general starting points.
He and Garry Giddens are my two favourite jazz writers, hands down.
It's so great how he has created enormous success for himself on substack. Everyone always says jazz is dead and there is no audience; his writing proves the naysayers are wrong.
I don't know that people say 'jazz is dead', but it's certainly a shell of its former self. Wanna make a living playing jazz in 2025? The odds are stacked, massively, against you. Wanna earn enough to buy food for your dog? The odds are slightly better.
My two favorite Americans are Louis Armstrong and George Washington. Glad to see this on Hacker News!
Armstrong is, among other things, basically the original shit-hot electric-blues/rock guitarist. Wait for his solo after the sung section and Dodds’ clarinet part: https://youtu.be/iZLlJ9crI4s
One of my favorite videos of Louis Armstrong performing: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_CnEotIqMKg