New Orleans and Louis Armstrong

New Orleans, the cradle of jazz, is the city where an impressive number of musicians made their debut such as the unsurpassable trumpet genius Louis Armstrong. His career marks the beginning of a succession of talents who would go on to conquer the jazz scene. The most famous place in the Storyville district is the Mahogony Hall of Lulu White. Buddy Bolden, a barber who suffered from mental illness, was the first famous jazzman but sadly no recording exists of his music. When in 1898 the Spanish-American war ended, military musical instruments suddenly flooded the Southern markets. Even the poor could buy instruments. This historical fact about the beginning of instrumental jazz is little known. Bunk Johnson and King Oliver are the best-known musicians from that time, the latter becoming involved with Louis Armstrong at a later stage.

February 26, 1917: the Original Dixieland Jass Band releases the first jazz album. Livery Stable Blues is a huge success and marks the beginning of the history of jazz. Thanks to the invention of the disc, the new genre (in which improvisation plays a key role) continues to develop, to spread and to evolve stylistically from popular entertainment to art music. During these lectures, Marc Van den Hoof and Marc Danval talk about the three-minute masterpieces and the luxury compact disk: 100 years of jazz history.

Flagey

JAZZ 100 - Une histoire de jazz: New Orleans and Louis Armstrong

Jazz 100!