What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years Review

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What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years ReviewWhile my personal opinion is that there could never be enough books on Louis Armstrong, by anyone's standards this is a supremely important addition to the body of attention focused on Pops. If good art makes us see something new, and great art makes us see in a new way, this book is both good and great in bringing even the experienced reader and listener to a new relationship with the depth of Armstrong's art and humanity.
If it is fair to judge a person by the standards of the times in which he lived, Pops was well ahead of the social curve of racial justice in America - much of the view of him as a Tom was made through a generational lens by younger musicians for whom he was a father figure who must be superseded. What he did behind the scenes in his own way is revealed in this book, and it should put to rest the notion that Pops was merely a genial entertainer, bowing and scraping before the White Establishment (what he really called Orval Faubus in 1957 - instead of "an uneducated plowboy" as the press rewrote his remarks - is instructive).
Whatever your take on the music some call jazz, at some point in the middle of the last century it came to be acknowledged as an art form. That this made some of its greatest musicians begin to think of themselves differently was a natural development, and over time the message of the music came to mirror more and more the message of mid-twentieth century art in general - it showed the changes in the human spirit inflicted by one of humanity's most brutal centuries. A crisis in faith, an increase in alienation, a dessication of sincerity in the face of monstrous cynicism - all these elements may be found in the music of the generations who followed Pops. Yet even though he came up under crushing circumstances, had to fight his way in a business where white criminals were your only potential protectors, had to endure indignities and injustice in order to keep his livelihood, mastered his own form of expression to a level none other reached yet was still misunderstood and undervalued by the white race and even his own during his lifetime, what do we remember above everything else? His unique distillation of joy in the midst of a precious yet flawed world, and his unrivaled power in the expression of personal freedom in music. His was a spirit of such towering strength that he could look at life in all its limitations and still make a joyful noise. That's why his music will be a beacon to humanity hundreds of years from now, in whatever condition of life it finds itself.
In the end it's the revelations Riccardi is able to make about Armstrong the musician that are the most telling. The vast resources available to him at the Armstrong Archives and from experts and private collectors around the world support his contentions that Pops was himself - singing, creating, perfecting, entertaining - from the beginning of his career, and he continued to be himself until its end. The proof is in the documentation, and even more in the music itself, which is why Riccardi's invaluable Armstrong blog The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong ([....]) is the natural complement to this book. In its priceless audio and video clips, and Riccardi's knowing and sharp-eared essays, you'll hear the most detailed study of Pops' musical legacy yet assembled for the public.What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years Overview

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