Free symposium: Mon, January 25, 7:30pm
The Beverly Arts Center is thrilled to be part of the Louis Armstrong Festival. It will be telling another version of Louis Armstrong's life with the assistance of the Louis Armstrong House Museum and archivist Ricky Riccardi. The archives, located at Queens College in New York, will be loaning components highlighting his gig at the Waldorf, Race and Civil Rights, Armstrong in Chicago, and finally, his relationship with manager Joe Glaser.
Along with the exhibit, the BAC will host a free symposium on Monday, January 25 at 7:30pm featuring Terry Teachout, playwright of Satchmo at the Waldorf, presented at Court Theatre, and Ricky Riccardi, Louis Armstrong House Museum archivist. Mr. Riccardi will also share some of the 700 reel-to-reel recordings made by Armstrong throughout his life.
A film festival will highlight Armstrong's work in February when the BAC will show three films of importance in Armstrong's life. High Society will kick things off on February 3 at 7:30pm. Then, February 5 at 7:30pm will feature Cabin in the Sky. Finally, Sunday, February 7 at 3pm, we will wrap the series with a special documentary loaned from the Armstrong archives. Satchmo the Great, made by Edward R. Murrow, is a 1957 biography film of the jazz great. He and his band tour the world as American goodwill ambassadors bringing jazz at its best to the world's people. Within the film, the life of Louis Armstrong is portrayed through music. One of the outstanding scenes in this "biography/docudrama" shows blind songwriter W. C. Handy, with tears streaming down his face, as Armstrong, backed by Leonard Bernstein, leading the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, play Handy's immortal "St. Louis Blues."
