Louis Armstrong & Satchmo the Great! Celebrating International Jazz Day on Screen

• Film
• Performing Arts

Celebrate International Jazz Day with a 60th anniversary screening of the ultra-rare theatrical documentary Satchmo the Great!, created by famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. Murrow followed Louis Armstrong around the world, filming him in Paris, Sweden, Switzerland, England, and Africa, before the jazz legend returned to New York for an unforgettable performance of “St. Louis Blues” with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. This film captures “Ambassador Satch” at his 1950s peak, entertaining 100,000 fans in the Gold Coast of Africa, playing his big hit “Mack the Knife” in London, and humorously explaining the definition of a “cat” in a rollicking Paris interview with Murrow. Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections at the Louis Armstrong House Museum, will introduce the film, which has not been commercially available since its original release in 1956.