Louis Armstrong House Museum to Host Garden Party, 5/5 & 6

Louis Armstrong House Museum is throwing a GArden Party on May 5 & 6, 2012 and all are invited. The GArden Party is a free event, family friendly and will be held rain or shine. The weekend GArden Party will be jam-packed with hot fun and cool jazz. Event hours are Saturday, May 5 and Sunday, May 6 from 12 Noon - 6pm. In addition, the GArden Party will include a satellite event: a free film screening on Saturday, May 12th from 6 pm - 8 pm.

The GArden Party on May 5th - 6th at Louis Armstrong House Museum features ongoing historic house tours led by trained docents, which are free during event hours. Hear Louis’s magical voice through rare recordings throughout the tour. It’s an intimate visit as if you can sit down and have a cup of coffee with Satchmo himself. Learn about Louis and his meteoric ride as one of the greatest musicians of our time.

Outside in the garden LAHM guests will enjoy live Jazz, sample red beans ‘n rice (Louis’s favorite recipe), swing dancing, raffles.

On Saturday, May 5th, the adventurous Mona's Hot Four with vocalist Tamar Korn will kick off LAHM’s live Jazz segment. Mona's Hot Four will jam bringing their late-night scene from the East Village to Louis’s Garden.

On Sunday May 6th, Queens College Hot 5, an ensemble made up of players from around the globe, will dazzle the crowd. Their passionate sound will set the mood with music spanning Louis’s early blues, through the "hot" era, and on to his treatment of popular music.

Emily Asher's GArden Party will then take the stage to charm the crowd. Asher's tenacious trombone and sweet vocals lead this group in a diverse repertoire from Louis Armstrong's explosive All-Stars and Duke Ellington's sophisticated melodies to the funky and soulful music of New Orleans brass bands.

As an extension to the GArden Party, LAHM will present the exclusive free film screening of Satchmo the Greaton Saturday, May 12th at 6:00 pm in the Garden. This film was released in 1957 and is now a collector’s item.

Satchmo the Great was produced and written by legendary newscaster Edward R. Murrow. It expertly captures the essence of Louis’s “Ambassador of Goodwill” period covering Armstrong’s 1956 tour of England, his first since 1932, and one of the highlights of Armstrong’s career: a three-day tour of Africa’s Gold Coast.  Back in America, Murrow filmed Armstrong at Lewisohn Stadium (a lost architectural gem of NYC) joining forces with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic for a symphonic version of St. Louis Blues. The film captures all aspects of Armstrong's greatness, both on and off the stage and will be a treat for all to see.  Seating is limited for this free screening and is available on a first-come basis.

LAHM’s GArden Party event partners include: Jet Blue Airlines, The Westin New Orleans Canal Place, The New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Museum of Moving Image, Z Hotel NYC, Bourbon Street Restaurant.

In a city as rich in art & entertainment as New York City, the Louis Armstrong House Museum stands as a modern living memoir of a true American Icon. Louis Armstrong House Museum is the only preserved home of a jazz legend in the world. LAHM, a non-profit 501c(3) organization, is a National Historic landmark and New York City landmark. All of its furnishings are original and have been preserved, giving visitors the feeling that Louis and Lucille just stepped out for a minute.

The Louis Armstrong House Museum holds several collections of photographs, sound recordings, letters, manuscripts, instruments and artifacts, making it the largest publicly held archival collection in the world devoted to a jazz musician.