One of Louis Armstrong’s last live trumpet recordings has been made public for the first time.
The jazz legend’s 1971 performance was released on Friday as a digital download and on CD by the Smithsonian Folkways, in collaboration with the National Press Club and the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation.
“There was just something kind of wrong about the idea that 300 people heard this record and heard the concert and then nobody heard it for 40 years,” said William McCarren, the press club's director, who prompted the move.
The album was recorded when Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, played at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. in January 1971, five months before he died of a heart attack, to celebrate the inauguration of the club’s new president.
A limited release of 300 vinyl LPs were provided that night for those who attended the show, but most of the copies had become largely forgotten for the next four decades.
The recording "Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours: Satchmo at the National Press Club" features 11 tracks of Armstrong's greatest hits such as "Hello Dolly" and "It's Alright with Me," as well as his favorite Louisiana recipes included in the liner notes.
In retrospect, the performance was the last goodbye of the “What a Wonderful World” singer in many ways. His only later performances on trumpet were quick TV snippets with Dick Cavett and Johnny Carson, according to the Associated Press.
The album became one of the top five best-selling jazz albums on iTunes and Amazon on Friday.
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