Louis Armstrong: Black and Blues, A Very Human Genius:

Louis Armstrong is an artist whose musical genius, expressed with his trumpet, his voice and his personality, rarely fails to bring a smile to whoever is listening. However, as Sacha Jenkins’ new documentary, Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues (available on Apple Tv+) makes clear, Armstrong’s persona at times was seen as cringe-worthy by younger Black artists and as conciliatory rather than outspoken on Civil Rights and Racism in the United States.

Louis Armstrong, a creature of the road and the performing stage, settled in a home in Queens, NY, that is today a museum. Armstrong was an early adopter of reel-to-reel recording and in his home, he often made recordings of conversations, random thoughts, music he played and listened to, creating a sonic diary. Jenkins was given access to this trove of material, and the Armstrong that emerges in this private view is profane, speaking in a patois of his own (sometimes intelligible sometimes not); on occasion angry, but always appreciative — of King Oliver, of weed which he consumed regularly, and of various products to which he was devoted.

Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues makes the case that what others took to be a minstrel-like shuck and jive was authentic to Armstrong and that he lived the arc of civil rights from post-Civil War and Reconstruction New Orleans through Jim Crow to the present and that he, as much as any other Black notable advanced the cause of civil rights in the US and to the world.

Wynton Marsalis, who has a similar inclusive and beautiful spirit, appears throughout the documentary to give context to Armstrong’s playing, public persona and reception, and legacy.

The tapes themselves, however, do not really show us an Armstrong we didn’t know existed. They are at times hard to understand and provide no revelations shocking or otherwise. What they do is remind us of Armstrong’s spirit, the way that like his trumpet blaring clear and true, he was a beacon of light to all who heard him.

View this article at Forbes.