Archives for December 2009

As Fats Waller would say, the joint is jumpin’! I’ll start with David Margolick’s two-page review of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong
in Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, which is not yet available on line but which I’ve just seen on paper. The money quote is in the lead:

One of the hardest parts of writing a biography is finding a fit subject, but sometimes they’re in plain sight. Despite his incalculable contributions to American culture, there has never been a fully adequate narrative biography of Louis Armstrong. Terry Teachout now fills that void with “Pops.”

In other news:
• Amazon has chosen Pops as one of its six “Best of the Month” picks for December. To read Dave Callanan’s review–and see the other five books–go here.
• National Review has posted an excellent podcast about Pops. You can download it here.
• The second installment of Marc Myers’ five-part interview with me can be read by going here.
Be sure to listen to me on NPR’s Talk of the Nation tomorrow!

Starting today, I’ll be doing numerous radio and TV appearances in support of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong. Here are the programs for which air times are confirmed:
• TODAY, CLEVELAND, NOON ET WCPN, Around Noon, 90.3 FM
• DECEMBER 2, SANTA FE, 9:10 A.M. MT KSFR, “Good Morning Jazz,” 101.1 FM
• DECEMBER 2, NPR, 3:00 P.M. ET/12:00 PT Talk of the Nation
• DECEMBER 3, BOSTON (TV), 8:45 A.M. ET New England Cable News
• DECEMBER 7, NEW YORK CITY, 2:00 P.M. ET WNYC, Soundcheck, 93.9 FM
• DECEMBER 9, BALTIMORE, 1:00 P.M. ET WYRP, Midday, 88.1 FM
• DECEMBER 10, PHILADELPHIA, 11:00 A.M. ET WHYY, Radio Times, 90.9 FM
• DECEMBER 10, ATLANTA, 12:15 P.M. ET WABE, Between the Lines, 90.1 FM
• DECEMBER 14, CHICAGO, 9:00 P.M. CT WGN, Extension 720, 720 AM
• DECEMBER 15, CHICAGO (TV), 11:35 A.M. CT WGN, Midday, Channel 9
• DECEMBER 16, ST. LOUIS, 10:30 A.M. CT KMOX, The Charlie Brennan Show, 1120 AM
All of these appearances are live. You can listen to the radio interviews on your computer in streaming audio by clicking on the links.
I’m also taping several shows for broadcast on other radio stations. I’ll try to post air dates as they become available.

To celebrate the publication this week of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, I’ll be posting Armstrong videos every day.
In today’s video, an excerpt from Edward R. Murrow’s Satchmo the Great, Armstrong and the All Stars perform “Mack the Knife” in 1956:

EDWARD R. MURROW Louie, I’ve been meaning to ask you this. What’s the meaning of a “cat”?
LOUIS ARMSTRONG Cat? Cat can be anybody from the guy in the gutter to a lawyer, doctor, the biggest man to the lowest man, but if he’s in there with a good heart and enjoy the same music together, he’s a cat.
Quoted in Terry Teachout, Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong