Louis Armstrong

The man with the golden trumpet, the quintessential jazzman, Louis Armstrong-Satchmo-was the father of so much that is jazz today. This book follows in his footsteps, from 1901, when he was born the grandson of a slave, to his death in 1971, and the beginning of his immortal fame. Evocative photography documents his early town-to-town travels, his celluloid years in Hollywood, his stints in Chicago, New York, and Paris, and his embrace of the Africa of his roots.

Year by year, here are his travels and awards, gigs and recordings, great times and protests. Comments by his admirers, among them Roy Eldridge and Diz, Earl Hines, Buck Clayton, Jean Renoir, Wynton Marsalis-and Satchmo himself- make this a spunky and reverent homage to one of the great creators of jazz.