The story of Louis Armstrong’s later years is the great untold tale of postwar jazz. Now Ricky Riccardi has told it to perfection. What a Wonderful World is a unique and indispensable landmark in Armstrong scholarship, a weathervane that will point the way to all future writings on his life and work.
—Terry Teachout, author of Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong
Please join us for a presentation and booksigning with Ricky Riccardi featuring his recent book WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years.
Much
has been written about Louis Armstrong, but the majority of it focuses
on the early and middle stages of his long career. Now, Ricky
Riccardi—jazz scholar and musician—takes an in-depth look at the years
in which Armstrong was often dismissed as a buffoonish, if popular,
entertainer, and shows us instead the inventiveness and depth of
expression that his music evinced during this time.
These are
the years (from after World War II until his death in 1971) when
Armstrong entertained crowds around the world and recorded his
highest-charting hits, including “Mack the Knife” and “Hello, Dolly!”;
years when he collaborated with, among others, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke
Ellington, and Dave Brubeck; when he recorded with strings and big
bands, and, of course, with the All Stars, his primary recording
ensemble for more than two decades. Riccardi makes clear that these were
years in which Armstrong both burnished and enhanced his legacy as one
of jazz’s most influential figures.
Eminently readable,
informative, and insightful, here, finally, is a book that enlarges and
completes our understanding of a peerless musical genius of commanding
influence as both an instrumentalist and a vocalist.
Click here to hear Fred Kasten's "Sound of Books" interview of Ricky Riccardi.
Click here to listen podcast of Ricky Riccardi's guest appearance on "The Reading Life" with Susan Larson.
Event date:
Event address:
Prodigiously researched and richly detailed, this is a comprehensive account of the remarkable final twenty-five years of the life and art of one of America’s greatest and most beloved musical icons.
