#scat woman New Orleans | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

faveficarchive · 2 years

Text

The Apartment

by Lena

Disclaimers: There are none. This is an original work by myself alone. These characters belong to me and, though they may hold a physical resemblance to certain characters we know, they are created from my own life's experiences and so has this story sprung from that well. Please do not plagiarize. This work comes straight from my heart and soul through a lot of sweat.

Warning: Contains references to a loving relationship between two adult women. If this type of relationship is illegal in your neck of the woods then.................SCAT!

Rating: I rate it PG14 for adult themes. This would likely be considered a Hurt/Comfort story.

DEDICATION: I dedicate this work to my friends, Liz and Val, who've always believed in me and truly loved me unconditionally, and to all my gal pals at Club Uber, especially Vi. My deepest gratitude to Jerry and Mom, without whose help and support I shutter to imagine where I'd be now. I love you all.

This story takes place in a small country town about 85 miles north of New Orleans.

"Second floor apt. avail., rent free, to responsible RN student"

for personal companion services. Must have good driving record and be available one day a week to drive me to my many and varied appointments. You must be able to do a little cooking and to help lift the heavy stuff. No smoking, drinking or partying. I would also like to speak to your parents so they are comfortable with the arrangement. I am a retired nurse and can help with your studies. I live less than five minutes from campus in a quiet area on several acres with a fishing pond. Lots of breathing space here. If you are qualified and interested, please contact me, Josie, at 555-1377 asap. HAVE A GREAT DAY.

"Good gravy, Beth, maybe this ad thing wasn't such a good idea. All I've gotten is calls from 18-year-old children who have never been away from their folks before and haven't got a clue about real life. I don't want some young impressionable girl living here. I am too old to change my manner of living, and speaking, to protect their virgin ears. All I need is some irate parent causing trouble cause the town dyke lured their unsuspecting child into her lair."

The petite brunette rolled her hazel eyes at her best friend of 25 years. "Jo, no one here knows you're gay and you are not exactly the SPIDER WOMAN. Maybe you need to be more specific in your ad as far as age and maturity. It couldn't hurt. Write a new ad and I'll stop by the campus on my way home and replace the old one. Let's just see what happens. You need help around this place, Josie. And, you can't be driving 50 miles, alone, just to see your Chiropractor and go to the mall. I know you do fine around here, but you just can't concentrate long enough for these trips you have to take into the city, not to mention the 85 miles you have to drive to see your Mom. This was a great idea and I still think it will work." Beth walked up behind her friend and placed both her hands on her tight shoulders. "Now go get me a flash card and let's get writing.

"Upstairs apt. avail. free to mature, female, RN student"

for PERSONAL COMPANION services. Must have good driving record and be able to drive me one day a week to all my varied appointments and shopping, do some lite cooking and cleaning, and help lift the heavy stuff. No smoking, drinking or partying. I am a retired nurse and would be able to help you in your studies. Would prefer a more mature woman. You youngsters are a bit much for me. My home is on several acres with fishing pond. Lots of breathing space here and only five minutes from campus. If you fit these qualifications, call Josie at 555-1377. ASAP HAVE A GREAT DAY

***

"Hi, I'm Sandra Abbott. I'm here to be interviewed about the companion position for Josie." The RN student stared uncertainly at the adorable blonde in the doorway. 'Maybe she's the daughter.' Sandy thought to herself.

"Oh, yes. You're the woman who called this morning. Come right in. Can I get you a cup of decaf? It's hazelnut. I grind the beans myself. Just made a pot." Josie gestured to the beauty to have a seat at the table while she slipped into the kitchen alcove to retrieve two cups of her aromatic blend.

"Thanks. Mmmmmm. That smells sinful." Sandra gratefully took the cup and devoted a few seconds to breathing in the intoxicating aroma.

"I see you are a true coffee enthusiast too. I was reared in New Orleans and drank caf' au lait with breakfast as a toddler. Been hooked ever since. People here usually don't appreciate a good cup of java. There are condiments on the table there. Just help yourself." Josie rattled on as she grabbed the notebook containing all the pertinent questions she wanted to ask the applicants and the information she needed to give them.

"Beautiful home." Sandra complimented, admiring the taste and warmth of the medium sized home. She noted how the 9-foot ceilings and polished cherry wood cabinets gave it a feel of the old city.

"Thanks, I designed it to fit my personal needs. I'm afraid I'd have a time reselling it because it only has two bedrooms and two baths, but the second floor is a separate apartment." The petite blond offered eagerly. "Now lets get down to the interview. Shall we."

Sitting down in her director's chair at the head of the dining table, Josie made a concerted effort to be professional about this, but her immediate harmony with the other woman made that difficult. "Now, you read the add and all that will be expected of you, right."

"Yes, I did. Do you want to go over that some more. And, I'd like to meet her. I think it is important that we can get along together. Your mom might not like me." Sandra said in all sincerity.

"My Mom?" Josie was puzzled.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed it was your mother I'd be caring for." Sandra was a little embarrassed.

"Oh boy.....uh..... No. You'd be a companion, kinda "girl Friday", to me." Josie stated hesitantly, looking into blue eyes full of confusion.

"I don't understand. Why would you need a companion? Are you having surgery are something?" The raven haired beauty tried to figure out what the heck was going on.

"No..... Listen, Sandra, I am ill and have been for a very long time. Some days are much worse than others, then sometimes I'll go into remission for weeks to a few months at a time. But, I literally don't know what I'm gonna be able to do, activity-wise, from one day to the next. I need some freedom to plan my week like everyone else does and to do that I need dependable help. And, I do mean dependable." Josie's sea green eyes held no room for doubt about the gravity of the situation.

"I'm sorry. It must be very hard on you. May I ask what kind of illness it is?"

"Don't worry. It's not catching." The fiery blond sat back in her chair her defensive wall slammed into place.

"I didn't mean it like that. If you don't want to tell me, that's your prerogative. It might help me to better care for you if I knew what to look for." Sandra tried to keep eye contact with her potential employer, but the intensity of her glare was too great.

"Well, I guess this didn't go so well..... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'll just go now. I hope you find the right person. Thanks for the brew." Sandra let out a sigh of defeat as she raised from her chair and walked to the front door.

"Wait." The word was barely a whisper.

Sandra eagerly turned toward the still seated blond waiting as she'd been bade.

"Would you like to see the apartment?" Josie asked looking at the grain in the wood of her table.

"Yes..... Yes, I would like that very much." Sandra felt her heart become lighter.

"Good. It's this way." Josie released an impish grin as she led her new employee to the garage stairs and up toward her new apartment.

***

"It's not very big but you have a full bath and kitchenette. The rest is all open with two dormer windows with seating area. I love to sit in the window to read or just daydream so I made certain the contractor put that in. If you don't have furniture, I could put a bed, desk and sofa in for you."

"No, I have furniture in storage in New Orleans that I might could have one of the students help me bring over. All these country-types have pickup trucks. It seems to be a requirement." Both women chuckled at that observation.

"So what do you think?" Josie asked hopefully, trying hard to hide the shortness of breath she was experiencing at the exertion of climbing the stairs.

"I think it's perfect. Just what I need. If you'll have me, I'd like the apartment and the job."

"Then, it's a deal." Josie offered her hand and they sealed their agreement.

***

The next two weeks were spent moving Sandra Abbott into her new home, then getting her oriented to Josie's routine. Sandy found it very easy to familiarize herself with where things were due to Josie's nearly religious devotion to the motto "a place for everything and everything in its place". Even with two little dogs running about, the house always seemed orderly. That was likely due to the fact that the larger member of her canine family was not allowed inside, except on the rear screened porch.

Her boss was up every morning before 0600 to walk the dogs and get her head cleared of the fog that dulled her mind and senses. The walks never lasted more than thirty minutes, then she soaked in her over sized tub and washed her short blond hair. Feeling rejuvenated, she was ready for coffee and breakfast, which took longer than most folks because of the large number of medications and vitamin pills she took every morning with her meal. It was her habit to read a good mystery novel during breakfast while she relaxed. This, Sandra was soon to learn, was her quiet time and she new to leave her alone. She'd call upstairs if she needed her.

Tuesdays were Sandra's easy days at school. There were two early morning classes, but no clinicals, so it was decided that Tuesdays would be Josie's errand day. Sandra's time and boundless energy was her's from 10am to 8pm for whatever Josie needed. A bulletin board was placed next to the staircase in the garage so they could communicate. Josie had an inexpensive intercom system put into the house so that Sandra didn't have to have the added expense of a phone. She let her use the phone in the house whenever she needed.

Things were working out to both women's satisfaction. The only sign of Josie's failing health was in her exhaustion when they'd return home on Tuesday evenings. Sometimes she'd fall asleep in the car on the way home and Sandra would assist her to the house, Josie's much smaller body leaning heavily against her arm. She'd deposit her boss on the bed, retrieve her evening meds and a large glass of milk, then tuck her in for a short nap.

Sandra enjoyed cooking for Josie on Tuesdays because she got to experiment with all kinds of delights in her state-of-the-art kitchen. Her boss had rather eclectic culinary tastes and, both being from New Orleans, were accustomed to the spicy flavors and lots of cayenne.

This particular night, she'd whipped up refried beans with low fat sour cream and jalapeno peppers on a whole wheat soft tortilla. The scent wafting from the kitchen awoke her charge and brought her tousled head shuffling into the living area in her bugs bunny slippers, and long sleep t-shirt with Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs dosing on the front. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes her companion thought she'd never seen anyone so adorable in all of her 33 years.

"Hey, did you bring your appetite with you? I've made some of your favorites." Sandra couldn't help the silly grin plastered on her face.

"What? What ARE you grinning at?" Josie inquired as her sleepy eyes focused on the sweetest little grin on that strikingly beautiful face.

"I can't help it. You just look so damned cute. Like a six year old." It was hard for the taller woman not to reach down and ruffle her boss' hair. But she didn't want to over step her bounds as an employee.

"Uh...huh. Will you stay and eat with me? It's such a nice night, why don't we eat out on the screened porch. I'll put the ceiling fan on." Josie asked hopefully as she pointed towards the back porch.

"Sounds good to me. Why don't you go get comfy and I'll bring this out to you."

"No. I want to help. Let me pour the Barq's and bring our drinks outside and you can bring the plates and napkins. Ok?" Josie said as she busied herself in the kitchen.

"Sounds good to me. Let's eat." Sandra gathered their plates and proceeded to follow her employer onto the porch where there was a small wicker table with four chairs for just such a meal.

The women ate in comfortable silence for a time until Josie asked, "Tell me about yourself. We spend all our time together with me drilling you on your studies in micro, anatomy, nursing diagnosis and interventions, but never do we talk about you. Where are you from originally, do you have any family, why is a beautiful woman like yourself alone, etc., etc., etc."

Sandra took a deep breath. She had learned to care for this little spit fire and wanted for them to become closer friends but didn't want to say or do anything to compromise her position. "Not much to tell. I'm originally from New Orleans, my parents are divorced, I'm close to my Mom and my little brother, but he got married to a girl he met while studying law at Loyola and moved to Wyoming so she could be close to her family. I don't get to see him cause I just can't afford to travel right now. But, hopefully, once I graduate and start making a descent salary I can go visit them a couple of times a year. I hope I'll be an Aunt by then." Sandra looked up into curious green eyes and smiled.

"Wouldn't that be great. You like kids?" Josie inquired around chewing.

"Yeah, I get a big kick out of the little rug rats. It's teenagers that I find a trial." She chuckled.

"You and the rest of the sane adults in this world. That's such a difficult time in everyone's life and the one time you are least likely to accept advice from an experienced adult. Go figure."

"Yeah. Go figure." Josie watched as a pall of grief passed over her companion's beautiful blue eyes for just a flicker of a candle's flame then was squelched by a noncommital small smile.

"So, go on." Josie urged. "Why is a beautiful woman like yourself alone?"

"I'm not alone. I'm here with you." Sandra smirked.

"You know what I mean." Josie rebuffed. 'This woman and I seem to share the same personality traits. That should be interesting.....not.'

"Yeah, I know. How's about a cup of decaf. I'll get your lap rug and we'll have a real talk. Ok." Sandra proffered as she collected their plates to put in the dishwasher. She didn't know how much about her past she wanted to share with her boss so she decided to just play it by ear. She wouldn't lie to her, but she wasn't gonna offer herself up for sacrifice either.

After cleaning the dishes and brewing some freshly ground coffee, Sandra rejoined Josie on the porch, then covered her up with a warm, soft chenille lap rug. "You warm enough? We could move this party inside, you know." Sandy asked concern written on her face.

"No, I love it out here. I'm fine, really." Josie pat her friends arm and noticed a feeling of warm pleasure. She liked it.

"So, you ask the questions and I'll do my best to answer them, unless I don't want to then I won't. But for every two questions you ask me I get to ask you one. I figured I'd give you the upper hand you being the boss and all." Sandy smirked.

"Fair enough. How old are you?"

"33 back in October."

"Have you ever been married?"

"Yes" Ok, my turn. At the risk of being redundant."

"I know..... I am 44 years old and divorced from a very kind moron..... My turn. Why'd you leave the big city to go to Nursing school in a small town?"

Sandy thought about this answer carefully before responding. "I wanted to get away from the dirt and the crime, not to mention the traffic and one way streets. Going to school here was much cheaper and it was much easier to get accepted. The RN programs in New Orleans are either very expensive or there's a huge waiting list. So, it's all working out and I think I made the right choice. Of course, I miss the food and the culture. You don't seem to have any culture here and not a decent creole restaurant for 50 miles." The tall beauty pouted.

"Oh yeah, I miss the food, the French Quarter, the museum and the zoo. Oh, and the beautiful architecture of the homes with their graceful Great Oaks." The little blond sighed. "But, there are always sacrifices for the things we want." Josie said with quiet conviction.

"Yes. That's true. Now, what made you leave the Big Easy for small town USA?" Sandra sat back with her coffee cup in both hands enjoying the aroma.

"That is a very long story best reserved for a more decent hour. I'm afraid it's passed my bedtime."

"Oh, I've kept you up too late. I'm so sorry. You must communicate with me. Tell me when you're tired. Tell me what you need." Sandra looked sincerely into the gentle green eyes. She felt her gaze captured then released.

Josie saw the concern in her companion's strikingly blue eyes and something else, something that drew her to the young woman. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm fine. Just tired. Tuesdays are a big day for me now and I do very much enjoy them, thanks to you. The women stood in close proximity of each other feeling slightly awkward like they should hug or something. Josie, being the more physically demonstrative of the two made the first move. Reaching her arms up to the much taller brunette she instructed, "Come give me a hug." Sandra was a little off balanced by her boss's affection but slid her long, graceful arms around the tiny woman's waist as she leaned down so Josie could hug her neck. "I'm glad you're here. Now go home. I'll talk to you tomorrow if I need anything." The smaller woman pulled away and began to turn toward her bedroom.

"I'll...uh...just lock up before I leave, Ok."

"Ok. Goodnight Sandy."

"Goodnight Josie."

***

The following week was pretty routine. There were no notes from Josie requesting Sandra's assistance and the only time the nursing student saw her boss was through her window each morning as she made sure she left for her walk and returned safely.

Returning from her clinicals on Friday there was a note on the bulletin board letting Sandra know that her boss was going to be volunteering her time, along with some other nurses and doctors, offering free vaccinations for the lower elementary school children. She'd been offered a ride by one of her friends and didn't know what time she'd return, but not to worry because she was in good hands.

'It's fucking 10p.m. No school inoculation program goes on this late. Where is she? She should have left me the number of her "friend" who was driving her.' Sandra mumbled to herself and she paced from window to window.

'Now don't panic, Abbott. What kind of trouble could she get into in this podunk town?..... A woman who looks like her....., plenty. Shit! I'm gonna find her.' Sandra grabbed her keys and headed out to the car determined to search the whole damned town if she had to, starting at the lower elementary school.

No one was at the school. In fact, no one was anywhere. The whole damned town was locked up and everyone had gone home. The eerily empty town just served to frighten Sandra more. 'Maybe I should just go home and sit by her phone in case she calls.' The worried beauty turned her car around and headed back to the house.

'I'll pass once through the park just in case.' Sandra thought just to soothe her mind that her friend hadn't been dragged off by some rapist into the many shadows of the small park and playground.

'What was that?' Sandra asked herself as her eye caught the glint of moon light off metal. She backed her car up to get a better look and could make out the outline of a vehicle tucked into the shrubbery. Obviously, somebody didn't want to be seen.

'Let me check this out.' Sandra said to herself as she left the protection of the vehicle and crept over to the rear of the concealed car. Her eyes had not yet adjusted well enough to the darkness to tell definite shapes but the golden hair of her missing boss' head was unmistakable. A white hot rage gripped the companion inspiring her to take action and she ran to the door nearest her friend and ripped it open with great force reaching in and grabbing the dumfounded woman and quite nearly dragging her to safety.

"Hey!!! Hey!!! Hey.....what are you doing? Let me go!" The terrified woman screamed at her assailant.

"Stop fighting me. I'm trying to save you from being raped, here."

Sandra was totally nonplused by her boss' reaction to her heroism.

Josie managed to squirm her little body away from her companion's grasp. "I don't need saving. Damn it all! I wasn't being raped. Now, let me go, Sandra." Josie had composed her voice to a hard command and Sandra let her go as an imposing looking redhead slid out of the back seat of the car tucking her Wynonna t-shirt into her jeans.

"You Ok, cher?" The redhead looked at the little blond who had just recently been making intense love to her. "Who is this crazy woman? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend now. You need to tell me these things so I don't get shot." She grinned.

Sandra just stood there trying to figure out what the hell was going on and who this woman was and what they were doing in the back seat of a car and 'OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!' "Oh shit, shit, shit....., I'm....., oh god....., so sorry. I thought, when you didn't come home, that something had happened to you and..... Oh shit! It never occurred to me that you were....." Sandra pointed back and forth between the two women. "Oh Shit!" The very embarrassed companion paced in a circle, running her trembling hands through her long black hair. "I'm really sorry. Oh shit!"

"You've said that. Let's all calm down. Kathy meet Sandra. She works for me, at least she did up until a few minutes ago. We may have scared her away with our antics. Kathy is a very old friend, a nurse I worked with for years who called to tell me about the drive and we kinda took advantage of the moment." Josie smirked

"You do have a house you know with a nice soft bed. You didn't have to park out here in the dark where lord knows what could happen." Sandra felt her anger rising again.

"Like getting attacked by a crazed nursing student?" Josie giggled. "Come on let's go home. Kathy, sweetheart, sorry for the interruption. Call me. Maybe you'll give me a rain check?"

"Anytime, ma cher. I think you and Xena here have a lot to talk about." With that she leaned down to kiss Josie's cheek and waved goodbye to the still stunned companion.

Josie looked up into vacant eyes and said, "Come on, I'LL drive YOU home." Sandra just nodded and followed her boss to the car.

Josie pulled into the garage and stopped the engine. "You want some brew and we can talk about this?" She lifted worried green eyes to study the stiffened features of her friend.

"No....." Sandra sighed then looked down at her hands surprised to find them wringing the tail of her shirt into a wrinkled mess. "I have to think. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Does that mean you'll be moving out?" Josie was very concerned she'd loose her companion and friend.

"No, no I'm not going anywhere....., unless you want me to leave." Sandra held her breath fearing the worst.

"No..... Stay. I want very much for you to stay." Josie softly responded.

"Good. Tomorrow then." Sandra practically dove out of the car and ran up the stairs to her apartment, locking the door behind her.

***

Saturday morning Sandra kept watch as she always did to make certain her boss safely returned from walking the dogs. She'd not known Josie to skip her morning walk, shorten it now and then, but never not walk her little buddies. They were like her children and she took excellent care of them. There was the big mongrel, Rover, who had just shown up one day after apparently being dumped and decided to stay and then there were the babies, two little sickly long-haired chihuahuas that she adopted from the vets because she felt her nursing skills could improve their quality of life. One had a heart condition and the other was born with a deformed rear leg. She named them Scooby and Doo after her favorite cartoon character, who just so happened to be a Great Dane. Scooby was totally devoted to her mistress as her mistress was to her.

'I'd better go check on her.' The companion decided not to just sit and worry when her boss could be in trouble.

She knocked for the 4th time with no response before using her key to unlock the kitchen door. Calling out her boss' name softly, so as not to frighten her, she walked in. Getting no response to her calls, Sandra quickly ran to her friend's bedroom, then through to the bath. Not finding her there, she turned back around into the living area. There she found the little blond sitting askew on the sofa next to the fireplace. The logs had burned down hours before. Her skin looked pale and waxy with a sweaty sheen covering her but her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Sandra released an audible sigh of relief.

"Josie.....?" Sandra came to sit next to her boss on the sofa and reached out to touch her forehead. It was burning up. "Come on now, boss, it's time to wake up." There was no response. Sandra became alarmed and took a small hot hand into her own, patting it and calling to her more assertively. "Josie, can you hear me. It's Sandy, honey. Please wake up. You're scaring me." The tiny woman stirred, eyelids fluttered to show blood shot green eyes that wouldn't quite focus.

"Sandy?" She slurred. Her tongue felt thick as the fog filling her mind.

"Yeah. It's me."

"Sandy? What's the matter? What time is it?" Josie tried to orient herself, but it was difficult to concentrate. She recognized the symptoms and new she was no longer in remission. She was sick, yet again, and would need her companion's assistance to function until she was able to arrest the symptoms one more time. She groaned with the knowledge of what lay in front of her. Then groaned again when she remembered the night before and what Sandy had seen and the talk she knew they had to have. "I'm sick, Sandy."

"I know, honey. Tell me what you need and I'll do it. Ok? Can you do that for me?" The sympathetic woman gently brushed the blond's bangs off of her wet forehead to comfort her.

"I need my morning meds and the prednisone that's in the medicine cabinet and bring me the tin that's in there too. I need a big glass of milk and some tin roof Sunday ice cream." She concluded her list with just a trace of a grin on her pale face.

"Ice cream?" Sandy looked at her friend in amusement.

"For medicinal purposes only. It'll help bring my temperature down faster..... Well, it will." Josie giggled, swallowed and made a face. "Gods, my throat hurts. Shit."

Sandra retrieved all the items requested as well as some tylenol and chloraseptic losenges she found in the cabinet. "Here, let me help you sit up and get comfortable. Now, take these." The companion handed her boss a few pills at a time and her milk. It took a while since there were about twenty regular morning vitamins and meds. "Now how much prednisone do you need to take?"

"Give me 10 mg for now. And, would you draw up 1000 mcg of the B12 that's in that tin, please?" The companion did as requested and injected the B12 into her boss' deltoid muscle. She didn't even flinch.

"You've had to do this often haven't you."

"Oh yeah. Too often."

"Why did this happen? What caused it?"

"I've been feeling really good so I've been doing more. Yesterday I went way over my limit in activity tolerance. I was on my feet for most of 12 hours, then I had sex, several times, which requires an amazing amount of energy and taps the bodily fluids. Then, getting upset does a real number on me. Add in the pretty good bet that I came in contact with a child who has a cold or pink eye and my immune system went bat shit and attacked." Josie stopped to catch her breath and closed her eyes to rest. Sandra went into the kitchen to fetch the ice cream as requested.

"Here ya go. Sugar free, huh? Any good?" Sandra noticed how badly the little blond's hands were shaking while trying to scoop some of the treat from the bowl. "Here, let me do that." The companion fed small bites of the frozen treat into her employer's mouth. Causing a small grin to crease her lips.

"Mmmmm." Josie purred.

"So, if you have an immune system to attack, then you don't have AIDS." Sandy said.

"AIDS? No I don't have AIDS. I have a form of CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, alias Chronic Epstein Barr. It's like having Mononucleosis one too many times and it decides to live in. Though I've had it for at least ten years now, it didn't get debilitating till about a year ago when I had to have some surgery. It became acute and caused me to quit working so I wouldn't permanently damage my liver and kidneys. Not everyone gets such an acute case. I'm one of the unlucky few. It's probably because I have diabetes too and it adds just so much more stress on my little body. Now that it is active again, my blood sugar is probably going banana's. I'll need you to check that for me now. My case is in that tin, also." Josie pointed to the small leather container inside the antique tin.

"I've done that for several patients already so I do know how." Sandy said as she opened the kit and set up her cotton, alcohol swipe, stick gun, test strips and accu-check machine. "Ok, I'm ready when you are." The nursing student took the finger offered her and proceeded to check the blood sugar.

"Josie, it's 350mg/dl. That's really high. Should I get you to a hospital?" Sandra looked at her patient with concern.

"No. It will be Ok. Give me 12 units of regular insulin. That along with my glucophage will keep me under control for now. I'll start taking 70/30 tonight. That covers me really well during these episodes. I'll have to check it three times a day to make certain I don't peak. I'll need you today and tomorrow to be close by. After that I should be able to monitor myself. Right now my head's too damned fuzzy to make sure I'm not giving myself the wrong dosages."

"But you are SURE you need 12 units, right?" Sandra asked reticent to trust her friends judgement under the circumstances.

"Yeah, I'm sure. What I meant was I can't focus my eyes well enough to gauge the dosage in the syringe." Josie pat her friends hand and smiled reassuringly.

Sandra gave her boss her insulin injection, then assisted her to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After helping Josie peel off the sweat soaked clothes and wash up a bit, the companion tucked her into bed in a fresh pair of PJ's. "You get some sleep. I'll walk the dogs and feed them. Ok?" She asked as she walked around the room, shutting off lights and closing the blinds so her boss could get some much needed rest.

"Ok. Thank you Sandy. We'll talk later, deal?"

"Deal."

Josie tried to keep her eyes open, but to know avail. Before Sandra could close her bedroom door she was soundly asleep.

***

"Come along, children, your "Auntie Sandy" is taking you out this morning. You'd better put your Rebock's on, cause I'm not your mom. I run." Sandra jogged out of the door and onto the walking track that Josie had created with her riding mower and a grating attachment. It wended through over twenty acres of land that she chose to share with her little canine family and one tall, beautiful nursing student.

***

Sandra had taken over the dining room table with all her books and notes for class so she could keep an eye on her patient and still get her school work done.

It had been three hours since Sandra had put her boss to bed and she was beginning to worry about her. As quietly as she could she opened up the bedroom door and peered in to find her charge still asleep with no visible signs of distress. 'She looks so small and helpless lying there. I've never wanted to protect someone so much in my life. What's going on with me?'

Sandra sat in the bedroom chair and was instantly joined by two equally distraught little fur balls, both perched on her knees staring over at their sleeping mistress. 'She's gonna be Ok , fellas. I promise. I'm gonna take good care of her.' That's when the decision was made to move her things into the guest room/exercise room and purchase a noise device so that Josie could get her attention when she needed her.

***

Sandra was busy cooking in the kitchen and reciting the names of all the bones of the human body, all 206 of them, when she was joined by her freshly scrubbed, clear eyed boss. "Hiya, I'm starving. What ya cooking there?"

"Oh, Jesus...! I didn't hear you walk up. How are you feeling? You look so much better. It's amazing." Sandra just kept letting her eyes rake over her patient's body in awe of her seeming recovery.

"It's the prednisone mostly and the B12, along with the myriad of other vitamins I take. The prednisone stops the inflammatory process and gives me a false sense of well being and energy. It makes me feel human again. I only take it during bad flare ups. I was able to take a bath and dress myself which I find very valuable in life. How's your studying going?" Josie asked as she plucked an artichoke heart from the salad Sandra was mixing.

"Great, I find I study really well at your table. I have no problem concentrating here at all." The tall beauty smiled.

"Good. I'm glad. When's dinner gonna be ready. I'm starved. Did I eat today? I can't remember." Josie looked slightly confused as she took a seat at the table.

"How much do you remember exactly?" Sandra went around the kitchen preparing a plate for her boss and herself to eat as she listened intently to her explanation.

"I remember you fed me ice cream." A contented smile creased her lips. "That was really sweet of you by the way. I remember you giving me my meds. My sugar was high and you gave me insulin. You washed me up and you helped me to bed. Thank you by the way for helping me get cleaned up. I am sure that was hard for you." Josie said as she stared at the grain in her table unable to make eye contact discussing something so personal.

"Not a problem. I've cleaned more than my share of bare behinds this past clinical. I don't get embarrassed anymore. I've never found flabby butts enticing." Sandra tried to lighten the mood with a little levity.

"So, then, mine was an improvement?" Josie gave her friend a lascivious grin.

The tall nursing student looked up and winked in retort.

"Do you remember how high your blood sugar was?" Sandra asked.

"No. I remember you took it, but none of the details. Short term memory loss is a problem with this disease and so is concentration." Josie stated matter-of-factly.

"You probably haven't eaten anything since supper yesterday, so let's eat." Sandra set their plates down and poured them both some Barq's.

***

"I want to talk to you about what happened last night and, please don't interrupt. I have limited stores of energy so I can only talk for so long before I peter out. Ok?" Josie stated as she arranged her food on the fork.

"Ok. But can't it wait till after you've eaten?" Her friend implored.

"No. I want to do it now and get it over with. Now don't argue with me." The older woman accentuated her point with her fork.

"Ok."

"I am a lesbian. In case you hadn't figured that one out yet. I was married, but for all the wrong reasons. He was in love with me but I didn't reciprocate. We had been friends for many years. He knew my history with women, but we were both willing to believe that I could change because I was so fond of him and I wanted children so desperately. It didn't work out. It's like being a heroin addict and just smoking pot. It will eventually bring you back to heroin because that's your drug of choice. When I started having sexual relations with my husband it left me feeling unfulfilled and brought me back to my first love.....women. We had as amicable a divorce as possible. But, it was still damned painful." Josie studied her companion's face looking for any signs of shock or disgust. Finding none, she continued.

"The woman you saw me with, Kathy, is a very old friend and occasional sexual partner. She is a very desirable woman. We thought we might fall in love once, but found we made far better friends than lovers. She knows about my health problems and hasn't let it negatively effect our relationship. We have a little roll in the hay once every few months when one of us gets a bit too randy or needy. There is no one else. Most women lose interest in someone who is sick all the time. They don't want to be a care taker or they resent the fact that I don't have to work to get the bills paid. Thank God I have enough income from my investments to pay the bills, at least, most of the time. I couldn't afford, however, to pay a companion, hence the apartment idea and an RN student. That would be you."

"I hope this won't effect our working relationship or our friendship. I also hope you will respect my privacy and keep my private life to yourself. I have to be very discreet living in a small town. I'd like to feel that I can trust you." The older woman looked tentatively at her employee and friend.

"You can depend on my discretion, Josie. What goes on in this house and in our lives goes no further. I've had a lot of experience keeping secrets. Believe me I have no problem with that, nor do I have a problem with your sexuality."

Sandra took a deep breath and looked at her friend for encouragement before continuing. "I have often wondered, myself, what it would be like to be with another woman. I have noticed in recent years that all my true friends have been women and I'd much rather spend my time with them than with any man I know. Maybe that's why my marriage failed. I just lost interest in him, especially sexually, to the point of being repulsed. That made me feel just awful. Then he began looking elsewhere for his satisfaction. Everyone felt badly for me because my husband was screwing around on me. But, it was my fault. I didn't want him anymore. In fact, I hadn't wanted him for a very long time. Ever since I got sober. I realized that I had to be drunk to make love to my own husband. I haven't made love at all since I divorced Jack Daniels along with Frank Abbott." Sandra took a shaky breath to settle her nerves. She hadn't spoken this openly about herself to anyone, ever. It felt really good, but scary.

"I'm so sorry, Sandy. How long have you been sober?" Josie reached over to touch her friend's forearm.

The companion searched her employer's eyes but found only compassion and understanding in them. "It's been over three years now."

"That's wonderful. You should feel very proud. It's quite an accomplishment. I'm so glad you told me. Thank you for trusting me and thank you for accepting me the way I really am. Now, why don't you go on home and get some rest. I'm just going to read until I fall asleep. If I need you I'll call you on the intercom." Josie began to get up from the table but was gently pushed back into her chair.

"Actually, boss, I moved myself into the guest room while you were sleeping. I'd feel much better if I was in close physical proximity of you for the next few days or until I am sure you are safe. If you need me I bought you a bicycle horn for you to summon me with." Sandy took the horn from the kitchen counter and handed it to her patient. "It's easy to use. Just squeeze the bulb and it makes quite a racket. See." Sandy squeezed the bulb and a loud "Ah...ooooo...gah" came out.

"Oh, my. Let's hope I don't need to use this too often. That's downright obnoxious." Both women giggled. "I am glad you'll be so close by for the time being, but please don't let it interfere with your school work. I haven't been putting you through all those drills for nothing you know. I feel like this is our degree and I intend to complete it. Deal?" She smiled.

"Deal. Now let me clean up and I'll get you your meds. I'll check your blood sugar just before supper." Sandra got busy in the kitchen as Josie curled up on the sofa with Scooby and Doo.

"You know, fellas. I am one lucky lady to have found that guardian angel in there. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2 OF THE APARTMENT

#xena #Xena Warrior Princess #Xena/Gabrielle #Xena/Gabrielle Fanfiction #fanfiction #xwp #mel/janice #mel/janice fanfiction #xena au

2 notes · View notes

blackkudos · 6 years

Text

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, or Pops was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in jazz. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing.

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era.

Early life

Armstrong often stated that he was born on July 4, 1900, a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date, August 4, 1901, was discovered by the researcher Tad Jones through the examination of baptismal records.

Armstrong was born into a poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was the grandson of slaves. He spent his youth in poverty, in a rough neighborhood known as the Battlefield, which was part of the Storyville legal prostitution district. His father, William Armstrong (1881–1933), abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and took up with another woman. His mother, Mary "Mayann" Albert (1886–1927), then left Louis and his younger sister, Beatrice Armstrong Collins (1903–1987), in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times his uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother, her relatives and a parade of "stepfathers".

He attended the Fisk School for Boys, where he most likely had early exposure to music. He brought in some money by selling newspapers, delivering coal, singing on the streets at night, and also by finding discarded food and selling it to restaurants, but it was not enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille. For extra money he also hauled coal to Storyville, and listened to the bands playing in the brothels and dance halls, especially Pete Lala's, where Joe "King" Oliver performed as well as other famous musicians who would drop in to jam.

After dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys who sang in the streets for money. He also started to get into trouble. Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong (then 11) to play by ear at Dago Tony's Tonk in New Orleans, although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. Armstrong hardly looked back at his youth as the worst of times but drew inspiration from it instead: "Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans... It has given me something to live for."

He also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk-hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him like family; knowing he lived without a father, they fed and nurtured him. He later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907. In it he described his discovery that this family was also subject to discrimination by "other white folks" who felt that they were better than Jews: "I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the White Folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for." Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination." The influence of Karnofsky is remembered in New Orleans by the Karnofsky Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to accepting donated musical instruments to "put them into the hands of an eager child who could not otherwise take part in a wonderful learning experience."

Armstrong developed his cornet playing skills by playing in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for firing his stepfather's pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration (it was only an empty shot, as police records confirm). Professor Peter Davis (who frequently appeared at the home at the request of its administrator, Captain Joseph Jones) instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader. The home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen-year-old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career. At fourteen he was released from the home, living again with his father and new stepmother, Gertrude, and then back with his mother and thus back to the streets and their temptations. Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponce's, where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night.

He played in the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and above all, Joe "King" Oliver, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young musician. Later, he played in brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as "going to the University," since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements.

In 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Ory's band; Armstrong replaced him. He also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band.

Career

1920s

Throughout his riverboat experience, Armstrong's musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could read music and started to be featured in extended trumpet solos, one of the first jazz men to do this, injecting his own personality and style into his solo turns. He had learned how to create a unique sound and also started using singing and patter in his performances. In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to join his Creole Jazz Band and where he could make a sufficient income so that he no longer needed to supplement his music with day labor jobs. It was a boom time in Chicago and though race relations were poor, the city was teeming with jobs available for black people, who were making good wages in factories and had plenty to spend on entertainment.

Oliver's band was among the most influential jazz bands in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the center of the jazz universe. Armstrong lived luxuriously in Chicago, in his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing nostalgic letters to friends in New Orleans. Unusually, Armstrong could blow two hundred high Cs in a row. As his reputation grew, he was challenged to instrumental "cutting contests" by hornmen trying to displace him. Armstrong made his first recordings on the Gennett and Okeh labels (jazz records were starting to boom across the country), including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923. At this time, he met Hoagy Carmichael (with whom he would collaborate later) who was introduced by friend Bix Beiderbecke, who now had his own Chicago band.

Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis' second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop his newer style away from the influence of Oliver. Lil had her husband play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skill and improve his solo play and she prodded him into wearing more stylish attire to make him look sharp and to better offset his growing girth. Lil's influence eventually undermined Armstrong's relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional moneys that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924. Shortly afterward, Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African-American band of the time. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence upon Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins, can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period.

Armstrong quickly adapted to the more tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and even experimenting with the trombone. The other members quickly took up Armstrong's emotional, expressive pulse. Soon his act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers. The Henderson Orchestra was playing in prominent venues for white-only patrons, including the famed Roseland Ballroom, featuring the arrangements of Don Redman. Duke Ellington's orchestra would go to Roseland to catch Armstrong's performances and young horn men around town tried in vain to outplay him, splitting their lips in their attempts.

During this time, Armstrong made many recordings on the side, arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams; these included small jazz band sides with the Williams Blue Five (some of the most memorable pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet) and a series of accompaniments with blues singers, including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter.

Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrong's career and income. He was content in New York but later would concede that she was right and that the Henderson Orchestra was limiting his artistic growth. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as "the World's Greatest Trumpet Player". At first, he was actually a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife. He began recording under his own name for Okeh with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, producing hits such as "Potato Head Blues", "Muggles" (a slang term for marijuana cigarettes: Armstrong used marijuana daily for much of his life), and "West End Blues", the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come.

The group included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), wife Lil on piano, and usually no drummer. Armstrong's band leading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him, and he was very broad-minded ... always did his best to feature each individual." Among the most notable of the Hot Five and Seven records were "Cornet Chop Suey," "Struttin' With Some Barbecue," "Hotter Than that" and "Potato Head Blues,", all featuring highly creative solos by Armstrong. His recordings soon after with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (most famously their 1928 "Weather Bird" duet) and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to and solo in "West End Blues" remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in jazz history. Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "whip that thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, do that clarinet, boy!"

Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate's Little Symphony, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as "Madame Butterfly", which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began to scat sing (improvised vocal jazz using nonsensical words) and was among the first to record it, on the Hot Five recording "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926. The recording was so popular that the group became the most famous jazz band in the United States, even though they had not performed live to any great extent. Young musicians across the country, black or white, were turned on by Armstrong's new type of jazz.

After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was soon renamed Louis Armstrong and his Stompers, though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends and successful collaborators.

Armstrong returned to New York, in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra of the successful musical Hot Chocolate, an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist/composer Fats Waller. He also made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'", his version of the song becoming his biggest selling record to date.

1930s

Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club, a venue for elaborately staged floor shows, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong also had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael. His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the new RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted a characteristic warmth to vocals and immediately became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby. Armstrong's famous interpretation of Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style and his innovative approach to singing songs that had already become standards.

Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated many features of his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is introduced by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh" ..."Sure" ... "Way down, way down." In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody entirely and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing".

As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation stone for the art of jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gravelly coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was much imitated and endlessly impersonated. His scat singing style was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s was especially hard on the jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral, and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Henderson's band broke up. King Oliver made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor, later moving to Paris and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens.

Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities. He played at the New Cotton Club in Los Angeles with Lionel Hampton on drums. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish night life, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame and was also convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence. He returned to Chicago in late 1931 and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, Armstrong visited New Orleans, had a hero's welcome and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as "Armstrong's Secret Nine" and had a cigar named after him. But soon he was on the road again and after a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, Armstrong decided to go to Europe to escape.

After returning to the United States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collins's erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. Finally, he hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, his mob troubles, and his debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result, he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again, including Crosby's 1936 hit Pennies from Heaven. In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first African American to host a sponsored, national broadcast.

1940s

After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing. He recorded Hoagy Carmichael's Rockin' Chair for Okeh Records.

During the subsequent 30 years, Armstrong played more than 300 gigs a year. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to support and finance a 16-piece touring band.

During the 1940s, a widespread revival of interest in the traditional jazz of the 1920s made it possible for Armstrong to consider a return to the small-group musical style of his youth. Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden, Armstrong's manager, Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947, and established a six-piece traditional jazz group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and Dixieland musicians, most of whom were previously leaders of big bands. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club.

This group was called Louis Armstrong and His All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems, Mort Herbert, Joe Darensbourg, Eddie Shu and the percussionist Danny Barcelona. During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine, on February 21, 1949. In 1948, he participated in the Nice Jazz Festival, where Suzy Delair sang "C'est si bon", by Henri Betti and André Hornez, for the first time in public.

1950s–1970s

June 26, 1950, Armstrong recorded the first American version of C'est si bon (Henri Betti, André Hornez, Jerry Seelen) and La Vie en rose (Louiguy, Édith Piaf, Mack David). When it was released, the disc garnered worldwide sales. In the 1960s, he toured Ghana and Nigeria, performing with Victor Olaiya during the Nigerian Civil war.

By the 1950s, Armstrong was a widely beloved American icon and cultural ambassador who commanded an international fanbase. However, a growing generation gap became apparent between him and the young jazz musicians who emerged in the postwar era such as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Sonny Rollins. The postwar generation regarded their music as abstract art and considered Armstrong's vaudevillian style, half-musician and half-stage entertainer, outmoded and Uncle Tomism, ". . he seemed a link to minstrelsy that we were ashamed of." Jazz publications of the 1950s widely referred to Armstrong's presence among the already emerged contemporary players as they would a dinosaur, and he answered back in his own form of chosen polemic: refraining from a direct epicurean denigration, "Bebop is Chinese music." While touring Australia, 1954, he modified his anatomical references for the sake of the gentle ears of his host country, "Bebop?" he husked. "I just play music. Guys who invent terms like that are walking the streets with their instruments under their arms "

After finishing his contract with Decca Records, he became a freelance artist and recorded for different labels.

Armstrong continued an intense international touring schedule, but in 1959 he suffered a heart attack in Italy and had to rest for a time.

In 1964, after over two years without setting foot in a studio, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!", a song by Jerry Herman, originally sung by Carol Channing. Armstrong's version remained on the Hot 100 for 22 weeks, longer than any other record produced that year, and went to No. 1 making him, at 62 years, 9 months and 5 days, the oldest person ever to accomplish that feat. In the process, he dislodged the Beatles from the No. 1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs. Armstrong made his last recorded trumpet performances on his 1968 album Disney Songs the Satchmo Way.

Armstrong kept touring well into his 60s, even visiting part of the communist bloc in 1965. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under the sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch" and inspiring Dave Brubeck to compose his jazz musical The Real Ambassadors. By 1968, he was approaching 70 and his health finally began to give out. He suffered heart and kidney ailments that forced him to stop touring. Armstrong did not perform publicly at all in 1969 and spent most of the year recuperating at home. Meanwhile, his longtime manager Joe Glaser died. By the summer of 1970, Armstrong's doctors pronounced him fit enough to resume live performances. He embarked on another world tour, but a heart attack forced him to take a break for two months.

Personal life

Pronunciation of name

The Louis Armstrong House Museum website states:

Judging from home recorded tapes now in our Museum Collections, Louis pronounced his own name as "Lewis." On his 1964 record "Hello, Dolly," he sings, "This is Lewis, Dolly" but in 1933 he made a record called "Laughin' Louie." Many broadcast announcers, fans, and acquaintances called him "Louie" and in a videotaped interview from 1983 Lucille Armstrong calls her late husband "Louie" as well. Musicians and close friends usually called him "Pops."

In a memoir written for Robert Goffin between 1943 and 1944, Armstrong states, "All white folks call me Louie," suggesting that he himself did not. That said, Armstrong was registered as "Lewie" for the 1920 U.S. Census. On various live records he's called "Louie" on stage, such as on the 1952 "Can Anyone Explain?" from the live album In Scandinavia vol.1. "Lewie" is the French pronunciation of "Louis" and is commonly used in Louisiana.

Family

On March 19, 1918, at the age of 16, Louis married Daisy Parker, a prostitute from Gretna, Louisiana. They adopted a 3-year-old boy, Clarence Armstrong, whose mother, Louis' cousin Flora, died soon after giving birth. Clarence Armstrong was mentally disabled (the result of a head injury at an early age) and Louis would spend the rest of his life taking care of him. Louis' marriage to Parker failed quickly and they separated in 1923.

On February 4, 1924, Louis married Lil Hardin Armstrong, who was Oliver's pianist and had also divorced her first spouse only a few years earlier. His second wife was instrumental in developing his career, but in the late 1920s Hardin and Louis grew apart. They separated in 1931 and divorced in 1938, after which Louis married longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith. His marriage to his third wife lasted four years, and they divorced in 1942. Louis then married Lucille Wilson in October 1942, a singer at the Cotton Club, to whom he was married until his death in 1971.

Armstrong's marriages never produced any offspring, though he loved children. However, in December 2012, 57-year-old Sharon Preston-Folta claimed to be his daughter from a 1950s affair between Armstrong and Lucille "Sweets" Preston, a dancer at the Cotton Club. In a 1955 letter to his manager, Joe Glaser, Armstrong affirmed his belief that Preston's newborn baby was his daughter, and ordered Glaser to pay a monthly allowance of $400 to mother and child.

Personality

Armstrong was noted for his colorful and charismatic personality. His autobiography vexed some biographers and historians, as he had a habit of telling tales, particularly of his early childhood when he was less scrutinized, and his embellishments of his history often lack consistency.

In addition to an entertainer, Armstrong was a leading personality of the day. He was beloved by an American public that gave even the greatest African American performers little access beyond their public celebrity, and he was able to live a private life of access and privilege afforded to few other African Americans during that era.

He generally remained politically neutral, which at times alienated him from members of the black community who looked to him to use his prominence with white America to become more of an outspoken figure during the Civil Rights Movement of U.S. history. However, he did criticize President Eisenhower for not acting forcefully enough on civil rights.

Lip problems

The trumpet is a notoriously hard instrument on the lips, and Armstrong suffered from lip damage over much of his life due to his aggressive style of playing and preference for narrow mouthpieces that would stay in place easier, but which tended to dig into the soft flesh of his inner lip. During his 1930s European tour, he suffered an ulceration so severe that he had to stop playing entirely for a year. Eventually he took to using salves and creams on his lips and also cutting off scar tissue with a razor blade. By the 1950s, he was an official spokesman for Ansatz-Creme Lip Salve.

During a backstage meeting with trombonist Marshall Brown in 1959, Armstrong received the suggestion that he should go to a doctor and receive proper treatment for his lips instead of relying on home remedies, but he didn't get around to doing it until the final years of his life, by which point his health was failing and doctors considered surgery too risky.

Nicknames

The nicknames Satchmo and Satch are short for Satchelmouth. Like many things in Armstrong's life, which was filled with colorful stories both real and imagined, many of his own telling, the nickname has many possible origins.

The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy dancing for pennies in the streets of New Orleans, who would scoop up the coins off of the streets and stick them into his mouth to avoid having the bigger children steal them from him. Someone dubbed him "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. Another tale is that because of his large mouth, he was nicknamed "satchel mouth" which became shortened to Satchmo.

Early on he was also known as Dipper, short for Dippermouth, a reference to the piece Dippermouth Blues. and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure.

The nickname Pops came from Armstrong's own tendency to forget people's names and simply call them "pops" instead. The nickname was soon turned on Armstrong himself. It was used as the title of a 2010 biography of Armstrong by Terry Teachout.

Race

Armstrong was largely accepted into white society, both on stage and off, a privilege reserved for very few African-American public figures, and usually those of either exceptional talent or fair skin tone. As his fame grew, so did his access to the finer things in life usually denied to African-Americans, even famous ones. His renown was such that he dined in reputable restaurants and stayed in hotels usually exclusively for whites. It was a power and privilege that he enjoyed, although he was very careful not to flaunt it with fellow performers of color, and privately, he shared what access that he could with friends and fellow musicians.

That still did not prevent members of the African-American community, particularly in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, from calling him an Uncle Tom, a black-on-black racial epithet for someone who kowtowed to white society at the expense of their own racial identity. Billie Holiday countered, however, "Of course Pops toms, but he toms from the heart." He was criticized for accepting the title of "King of The Zulus" for Mardi Gras in 1949. In the New Orleans African-American community it is an honored role as the head of leading black Carnival Krewe, but bewildering or offensive to outsiders with their traditional costume of grass-skirts and blackface makeup satirizing southern white attitudes.

Some musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences, and for not taking a strong enough stand in the American Civil Rights Movement. The few exceptions made it more effective when he did speak out. Armstrong's criticism of President Eisenhower, calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 made national news. As a protest, Armstrong canceled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying: "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell" and that he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people.

The FBI kept a file on Armstrong for his outspokenness about integration.

Religion

When asked about his religion, Armstrong would answer that he was raised a Baptist, always wore a Star of David, and was friends with the Pope. Armstrong wore the Star of David in honor of the Karnofsky family, who took him in as a child and lent him the money to buy his first cornet. Louis Armstrong was, in fact, baptized as a Catholic at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans, and he met popes Pius XII and Paul VI, though there is no evidence that he considered himself Catholic. Armstrong seems to have been tolerant towards various religions, but also found humor in them.

Personal habits

Armstrong was concerned with his health. He used laxatives to control his weight, a practice he advocated both to acquaintances and in the diet plans he published under the title Lose Weight the Satchmo Way. Armstrong's laxative of preference in his younger days was Pluto Water, but he then became an enthusiastic convert when he discovered the herbal remedy Swiss Kriss. He would extol its virtues to anyone who would listen and pass out packets to everyone he encountered, including members of the British Royal Family. (Armstrong also appeared in humorous, albeit risqué, cards that he had printed to send out to friends; the cards bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet—as viewed through a keyhole—with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!'") The cards have sometimes been incorrectly described as ads for Swiss Kriss. In a live recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Velma Middleton, he changes the lyric from "Put another record on while I pour" to "Take some Swiss Kriss while I pour."

Armstrong was a heavy marijuana smoker for much of his life, and spent nine days in jail in 1930 after being arrested for drug possession outside a club. He described marijuana as "a thousand times better than whiskey".

The concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake", "Cornet Chop Suey," though "Struttin' with Some Barbecue" was written about a fine-looking companion, not about food. He kept a strong connection throughout his life to the cooking of New Orleans, always signing his letters, "Red beans and ricely yours..."

Armstrong was also a heavy advocate of major league baseball and founded a team in his hometown of New Orleans, that was formally known as the "Raggedy Nine" and transformed the team into his Armstrong's "Secret Nine Baseball."

Writings

Armstrong's gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly, sharing favorite themes of his life with correspondents around the world. He avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, recording instant takes on music, sex, food, childhood memories, his heavy "medicinal" marijuana use—and even his bowel movements, which he gleefully described. He had a fondness for lewd jokes and dirty limericks as well.

Social organizations

Louis Armstrong was not, as is often claimed, a Freemason. Although he is usually listed as being a member of Montgomery Lodge No. 18 (Prince Hall) in New York, no such lodge has ever existed. However, Armstrong stated in his autobiography that he was a member of the Knights of Pythias which is not a Masonic group.

Music

Horn playing and early jazz

In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. Along with his captivating songs with the clarinet, he also captivated audiences with his iconic rhythmic "swing", which was a complex concept involving upbeats, upbeat to down beat slurring, and complementary relations through many rhythmic patterns. The most lauded recordings on which Armstrong plays trumpet include the Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions, as well as those of the Red Onion Jazz Babies. Armstrong's improvisations, while unconventionally sophisticated for that era, were also subtle and highly melodic. The solo that Armstrong plays during the song Potato Head Blues has long been considered his best solo of that series.

Prior to Armstrong, most collective ensemble playing in jazz, along with its occasional solos, simply varied the melodies of the songs. Armstrong was virtually the first to create significant variations based on the chord harmonies of the songs instead of merely on the melodies. This opened a rich field for creation and improvisation, and significantly changed the music into a soloist's art form.

Often, Armstrong re-composed pop-tunes he played, simply with variations that made them more compelling to jazz listeners of the era. At the same time, however, his oeuvre includes many original melodies, creative leaps, and relaxed or driving rhythms. Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In his records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what had been essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression.

Armstrong was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.

Vocal popularity

As his music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it with the first recording on which he scatted, "Heebie Jeebies". At a recording session for Okeh Records, when the sheet music supposedly fell on the floor and the music began before he could pick up the pages, Armstrong simply started singing nonsense syllables while Okeh president E.A. Fearn, who was at the session, kept telling him to continue. Armstrong did, thinking the track would be discarded, but that was the version that was pressed to disc, sold, and became an unexpected hit. Although the story was thought to be apocryphal, Armstrong himself confirmed it in at least one interview as well as in his memoirs. On a later recording, Armstrong also sang out "I done forgot the words" in the middle of recording "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas."

Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet.

Composing

Armstrong was a gifted composer who wrote more than fifty songs, which in a number of cases have become jazz standards (e.g., "Gully Low Blues," "Potato Head Blues," and "Swing That Music").

Colleagues and followers

During his long career he played and sang with some of the most important instrumentalists and vocalists of the time; among them were Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith and perhaps most famously Ella Fitzgerald. His influence upon Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music: Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz describes Crosby's debt to Armstrong in precise detail, although it does not acknowledge Armstrong by name:

Crosby... was important in introducing into the mainstream of popular singing an Afro-American concept of song as a lyrical extension of speech... His techniques—easing the weight of the breath on the vocal cords, passing into a head voice at a low register, using forward production to aid distinct enunciation, singing on consonants (a practice of black singers), and making discreet use of appoggiaturas, mordents, and slurs to emphasize the text—were emulated by nearly all later popular singers.

Armstrong recorded two albums with Ella Fitzgerald: Ella and Louis, and Ella and Louis Again for Verve Records, with the sessions featuring the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummers Buddy Rich (on the first album), and Louie Bellson (on the second). Norman Granz then had the vision for Ella and Louis to record Porgy and Bess which is the most famous and critically acclaimed version of the Gershwin brothers' work.

His recordings for Columbia Records, Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy (1954) and Satch Plays Fats (all Fats Waller tunes) (1955) were both being considered masterpieces, as well as moderately well selling. In 1961 the All Stars participated in two albums - "The Great Summit" and "The Great Reunion" (now together as a single disc) with Duke Ellington. The albums feature many of Ellington's most famous compositions (as well as two exclusive cuts) with Duke sitting in on piano. His participation in Dave Brubeck's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors (1963) was critically acclaimed, and features "Summer Song," one of Armstrong's most popular vocal efforts.

In 1964, his recording of the song "Hello Dolly" went to number one. An album of the same title was quickly created around the song, and also shot to number one (knocking The Beatles off the top of the chart). The album sold very well for the rest of the year, quickly going "Gold" (500,000). His performance of "Hello Dolly" won for best male pop vocal performance at the 1964 Grammy Awards.

Hits and later career

Armstrong had nineteen "Top Ten" records including "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "You Rascal You", and "Stompin' at the Savoy". "We Have All the Time in the World" was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and enjoyed renewed popularity in the UK in 1994 when it featured on a Guinness advert. It reached number 3 in the charts on being re-released.

In 1964, Armstrong knocked The Beatles off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song "Bout Time" was later featured in the film Bewitched.

Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare" alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul. In February 1968, he also appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian RAI television channel where he performed "Grassa e Bella," a track he sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label.

In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month. The single did not chart at all in America until twenty years later, when it was used in the 1987 film Good Morning Vietnam (Ruhlman). Armstrong appeared on the October 28, 1970, Johnny Cash Show, where he sang Nat King Cole's hit "Ramblin' Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel No. 9".

Stylistic range

Armstrong enjoyed many types of music, from blues to the arrangements of Guy Lombardo, to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera. He incorporated influences from all these sources into his performances, sometimes to the bewilderment of fans who wanted him to stay in convenient narrow categories. Armstrong was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence. Some of his solos from the 1950s, such as the hard rocking version of "St. Louis Blues" from the WC Handy album, show that the influence went in both directions.

Literature, radio, films and TV

Armstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a bandleader or musician. His most familiar role was as the bandleader cum narrator in the 1956 musical, High Society, in which he sang the title song and performed a duet with Bing Crosby on "Now You Has Jazz". In 1947, he played himself in the movie New Orleans opposite Billie Holiday, which chronicled the demise of the Storyville district and the ensuing exodus of musicians from New Orleans to Chicago. In the 1959 film, The Five Pennies (the story of the cornetist Red Nichols), Armstrong played himself as well as singing and playing several classic numbers. With Danny Kaye Armstrong performed a duet of "When the Saints Go Marching In" during which Kaye impersonated Armstrong. Armstrong also had a part in the film alongside James Stewart in The Glenn Miller Story in which Glenn (played by Stewart) jammed with Armstrong and a few other noted musicians of the time.

He was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s. In 1969, Armstrong had a cameo role in the film version of Hello, Dolly! as the bandleader, Louis, to which he sang the title song with actress Barbra Streisand. His solo recording of "Hello, Dolly!" is one of his most recognizable performances.

He was heard on such radio programs as The Story of Swing (1937) and This Is Jazz (1947), and he also made countless television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortázar's short stories. Cortázar once called Armstrong himself "Grandísimo Cronopio" (The Great Cronopio).

Armstrong appears as a minor fictionalized character in Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory Series. When he and his band escape from a Nazi-like Confederacy, they enhance the insipid mainstream music of the North. A young Armstrong also appears as a minor fictionalized character in Patrick Neate's 2001 novel Twelve Bar Blues, part of which is set in New Orleans, and which was a winner at that year's Whitbread Book Awards.

There is a pivotal scene in Stardust Memories (1980) in which Woody Allen is overwhelmed by a recording of Armstrong's "Stardust" and experiences a nostalgic epiphany. The combination of the music and the perfect moment is the catalyst for much of the film's action, prompting the protagonist to fall in love with an ill-advised woman.

Terry Teachout wrote a one-man play about Armstrong called Satchmo at the Waldorf that was premiered in 2011 in Orlando, Fla., and has since been produced by Shakespeare & Company, Long Wharf Theater, and the Wilma Theater. The production ran off Broadway in 2014.

A fledgling musician named "Louis," who is obsessed with Buddy Bolden, appears in two of David Fulmer's Storyville novels: Chasing the Devil's Tail and Jass.

Death

Against his doctor's advice, Armstrong played a two-week engagement in March 1971 at the Waldorf-Astoria's Empire Room. At the end of it he was hospitalized for a heart attack. He was released from the hospital in May, and quickly resumed practicing his trumpet playing. Still hoping to get back on the road, Armstrong died of a heart attack in his sleep on July 6, 1971, a month before his 70th birthday. He was residing in Corona, Queens, New York City, at the time of his death. He was interred in Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, in Queens, New York City. His honorary pallbearers included Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson and David Frost. Peggy Lee sang The Lord's Prayer at the services while Al Hibbler sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and Fred Robbins, a long-time friend, gave the eulogy.

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.

Grammy Hall of Fame

Recordings of Armstrong were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least 25 years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed Armstrong's West End Blues on the list of 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.

Inductions and honors

In 1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a Louis Armstrong 32 cents commemorative postage stamp.

Film honors

In 1999 Armstrong was nominated for inclusion in the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Stars.

Legacy

The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. Yet, his irrepressible personality both as a performer, and as a public figure later in his career, was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer.

As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation. Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. Additionally, jazz itself was transformed from a collectively improvised folk music to a soloist's serious art form largely through his influence. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him.

Though Armstrong is widely recognized as a pioneer of scat singing, Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddins and others. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith's 'big' sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing. Even special musicians like Duke Ellington have praised Armstrong through strong testimonials. Duke Ellington said, "If anybody was a master, it was Louis Armstrong." In 1950, Bing Crosby, the most successful vocalist of the first half of the 20th century, said, "He is the beginning and the end of music in America."

In the summer of 2001, in commemoration of the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans's main airport was renamed Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925–1928) were preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.

The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site.

Today, there are many bands worldwide dedicated to preserving and honoring the music and style of Satchmo, including the Louis Armstrong Society located in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the 2009 movie The Princess and the Frog, he is referenced by Louis along with Sidney Bechet, in the song "When We're Human".

Home turned into National Historic Landmark

The house where Armstrong lived for almost 28 years was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is now a museum. The Louis Armstrong House Museum, at 34-56 107th Street (between 34th and 37th Avenues) in Corona, Queens, presents concerts and educational programs, operates as a historic house museum and makes materials in its archives of writings, books, recordings and memorabilia available to the public for research. The museum is operated by the City University of New York's Queens College, following the dictates of Lucille Armstrong's will. The museum opened to the public on October 15, 2003. A new visitors center is planned.

Wikipedia

#Louis Armstrong #08-04 #07-06

12 notes · View notes