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Jul 26, 01, 1:01 pm
'Big Easy' Celebrates Satchmo's 100th
Although three decades have passed since Louis Armstrong's death, his importance to this city only seems to be growing. So officials are making a big effort to mark the jazz legend's 100th birthday next month.
Armstrong, who spent much of his adult life in Chicago and New York, was born here Aug. 4, 1901. He always said his birthday was July 4, 1900, which is why Armstrong centennial festivals around the world began in earnest last year. A New Orleans researcher, Tad Jones, discovered baptism records that proved when he was really born.
``He was the most widely known New Orleanian in the world and certainly has been more instrumental than many in making New Orleans the popular and familiar place that it is,'' says Jackie Harris, director of the New Orleans Music and Entertainment Commission.
Once Armstrong left New Orleans, he rarely returned because he did not like the idea of having to play in segregated bands or for segregated crowds. The place he was born, along with the building he lived in as a child, have long since been razed -- and no plaques mark the spots.
But with New Orleans' population shrinking and its lagging economy ever more dependent on tourism, the city increasingly is playing up its role in the development of one of America's most popular cultural exports, jazz, and its No. 1 icon, Armstrong.
``They should recognize him because of who he was and what he did for New Orleans,'' says jazz star Wynton Marsalis, a New Orleans native.
Organizers of the four-day Satchmo Summerfest that runs here from Aug. 2-5 will open the events with a ceremony renaming New Orleans International Airport for ol' Pops.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-WKD-Satchmo-Centennial.html
Although three decades have passed since Louis Armstrong's death, his importance to this city only seems to be growing. So officials are making a big effort to mark the jazz legend's 100th birthday next month.
Armstrong, who spent much of his adult life in Chicago and New York, was born here Aug. 4, 1901. He always said his birthday was July 4, 1900, which is why Armstrong centennial festivals around the world began in earnest last year. A New Orleans researcher, Tad Jones, discovered baptism records that proved when he was really born.
``He was the most widely known New Orleanian in the world and certainly has been more instrumental than many in making New Orleans the popular and familiar place that it is,'' says Jackie Harris, director of the New Orleans Music and Entertainment Commission.
Once Armstrong left New Orleans, he rarely returned because he did not like the idea of having to play in segregated bands or for segregated crowds. The place he was born, along with the building he lived in as a child, have long since been razed -- and no plaques mark the spots.
But with New Orleans' population shrinking and its lagging economy ever more dependent on tourism, the city increasingly is playing up its role in the development of one of America's most popular cultural exports, jazz, and its No. 1 icon, Armstrong.
``They should recognize him because of who he was and what he did for New Orleans,'' says jazz star Wynton Marsalis, a New Orleans native.
Organizers of the four-day Satchmo Summerfest that runs here from Aug. 2-5 will open the events with a ceremony renaming New Orleans International Airport for ol' Pops.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-WKD-Satchmo-Centennial.html