Louis Armstrong was a: jazz legend, marijuana supporter (he smoked every day), slang inventor (he is cited as the first to use the terms cats, chops, daddy, jive, mellow, pops, scat, solid), actor (he appeared in over thirty films), writer, barrier-crosser, and, as author Steven Brower points out in the introduction to Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong (Abrams, 256 pages, $35), a talented and dedicated collagist. (more…)
ALARM contributor Michael Dunaway spent much of last Thursday driving to New Orleans from Atlanta. Once in town, he witnessed an inspirational night of music for the reopening of the Mahalia Jackson Theater — and he also got a quote from the embattled city’s mayor. 
