Louis Armstrong News

40th Annual Jazz Record Collectors' Bash will be held this weekend, June 27th - 28th, 2014.

Last week, Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout received the Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. An abridged version of his acceptance remarks were printed by the Wall Street Journal and appear below!

Performance Artist and lover of tight jeans, James Jackson, Jr. has teamed with long time friend and hair-changing Diva-About-Town, LaDonna Burns (Rent Nat'l Tour, Seussical Nat'l Tour) for a show they've written based on the early years of their friendship and careers singing behind several New York City acts. The pair will bring THE BLACK UPS to Joe's Pub on Sunday, Aug. 10th @ 7PM (doors open at 6:00PM).

The New Alternatives for Homeless LGBT Youth event will be hosted by Jené Hernandez (Conviction, Cash Flow, The L Word) and Frankie Faison (Banshee, The Wire, Coming to America) and music direction by Nate Buccieri.

For those of you lucky enough to be in New York, actor and singer Keith David will be performing twice next week. He will be at Carnegie Hall on June 23rd for The Black Stars of The Great White Way Broadway Reunion. This will be an all-male tribute that honors a multitude of jazz musicians such as Luis Jordan, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, and others. The concert celebrates the artists' successes at Carnegie Hall, Broadway, television, and the international touring circuit, as well as in the recording and film industries. Keith will be doing an excerpt from his portrayal of Paul Robeson.

With an array of ideas and images at its source, Reggie Wilson's Moses(es) takes audiences on a captivating journey in six performances at Jacob's Pillow, July 9-13. Wilson's precise, energetic fusion of modern and African dance is remarkable; Brian Seibert of The New York Times comments, “The dance vocabulary is rich: wide squats, jumps that spin and kick, Egyptian poses, arms rippling like bulrushes, heavy steps.” The choreography is married to a diverse score including music by Louis Armstrong, The Klezmatics, Amahlokohloko, Ngqoko Women's Ensemble, MaZarher, Aly-Us, Tiger, Bi Kidude, Southern Sons, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and traditional African-American spirituals “Wade In the Water” and “Eli, Eli (Somebody Call Eli)” sung live by the artists of Fist & Heel Performance Group.

Performance Artist and lover of tight jeans, James Jackson, Jr. has teamed with long time friend and hair-changing Diva-About-Town, LaDonna Burns (Rent Nat'l Tour, Seussical Nat'l Tour) for a show they've written based on the early years of their friendship and careers singing behind several New York City acts.

It was the great Marcus Garvey who said 'Be as proud of your race today as our fathers were in days of yore. We have beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.'

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its July 2014 schedule, featuring Arturo O'Farrill, Loston Harris, Ben Allison Group, John Pizzarelli, Barbara Carroll, Rolando Morales-Matos, Linda Lavin, Jane Monheit, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and MORE!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 23 - June 29, featuring Tierney Sutton Quartet, Native Soul, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, Barbara Carroll, and more!

On June 11, Michael Feinstein, Ann Hampton Callaway, Kevin Mahogany, and Charenee Wade joined Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks at Lincoln Center. Together, they explored the music of Louis Armstrong, Mildred Bailey, Sophie Tucker, Fats Waller, Ethel Waters, and Lee Wiley. BroadwayWorld was there for the evening- check below for photos!

The producers have announced that the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway hit production of the new play, Satchmo at the Waldorf, written by Terry Teachout, will give its final performance Sunday afternoon, June 29, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. at The Westside Theatre (407 West 43rd Street). Starring John Douglas Thompson, recipient of the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, and directed by Gordon Edelstein, Satchmo at the Waldorf began performances on February 15, 2014, opening to rave reviews on March 4, 2014. Upon closing, Satchmo at the Waldorf will have played 18 previews and 136 regular performances.

Below, find the performance schedule for Vince Giordano, Grammy Award Winner, and the Nighthawks.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 16 - June 20, featuring Ravi Coltrane Quartet, The Ensemblist with Nikka Graff, Lanzarone & Mo Brady, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, and more!

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 9 - June 15, featuring Stacey Kent, Lorna Luft, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, and more!

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Artistic Director) presents the 23rd Annual HOT!, the NYC Celebration of Queer Culture. The world's longest-running LGBTQ Performance Festival, HOT! offers theater, music, dance, puppetry, performance art and homoeroticism for the whole family! HOT! is the pioneering festival of queer performance and culture - and the oldest annual festival of its kind in the world. Dixon Place is proud the HOT! serves as the model for other queer festivals across the globe and has become a performance destination for emerging talent in the LGBTQ community. This year's HOT!, featuring hundreds of participating artists presenting their newest creations, will run July 5th through August 2nd at Dixon Place, located at 161A Chrystie Street in New York City.

To celebrate the significance of the Louis Armstrong Archives, the Louis Armstrong House Museum debuts the new exhibit: 20 Years of the Louis Armstrong Archives. The exhibit features a selection of one-of-a-kind mementos from the different research collections many of which are on public display for the first time.

Birdland Jazz Club has announced its schedule for June 2 - June 8, featuring Freddy Cole, Jim Caruso's Cast Party with Special Tony Award Season Celebration, Rob Silverman Quartet, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Band, and more!

To celebrate the significance of the Louis Armstrong Archives, the Louis Armstrong House Museum debuts the new exhibit: 20 Years of the Louis Armstrong Archives. The exhibit features a selection of one-of-a-kind mementos from the different research collections many of which are on public display for the first time.

Following the record-breaking attendance of Festival 2013, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival announces the full 2014 Festival free and ticketed event schedule. Jacob's Pillow is a National Historic Landmark, home to America's longest-running dance festival, and a recipient of the National Medal of Arts. Noted dance writer Jennifer Dunning has called the Pillow "the dance center of the nation, possibly the world."