Product Details
Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong
By Steven Brower

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Product Description

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong is a biography in the form of an art book. It tells the story of Armstrong's life through his writings, scrapbooks, and artworks, many of which have never been published before. Armstrong was the single greatest creative artist in the history of jazz and the American popular song. A true American original, he was prolific in coining colorful expressions that entered the lexicon; he wrote long, colorful prose pieces about his experiences; and he made hundreds of collages using marvelous photographs that capture archetypal scenes in the life of a jazz musician. Everything he did was an extension of his artistry.
 
Satchmo is a vivid trip through American jazz at mid-century, to the beat of Armstrong's own jazzy words. The book also includes photographs of Armstrong and is framed by a text that describes his significance. It will be enjoyed not only by jazz fans but also by art lovers, who will welcome Armstrong into the pantheon of American visual artists.
 
"The Revolution initiated by Gore Vidal with his Empire series is continued and modernized by Steven Brower in Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong. It is a Revolution that challenges the way in which history is told, read, and accepted...Most importantly, however, Satchmo reminds us that the book as an object is indispensable in a time when the fate of the printed book is very much debated."—Rami Shamir, Evergreen Review

"Interspersed with vivid bursts of Armstrong’s own writings, what emerges is a portrait of such intimacy, it comes closest in the vast Armstrong bibliography to capturing the humble humanity and generosity of spirit of one of the great figures of the 20th century."—Stuart Nicholson, The Guardian
"Satchmo…had a way with yet another instrument: a pair of scissors. Between sets, he snipped words and images from ads and greeting cards, letters, telegraphs, and photos of friends and fans, then pasted them into jazzy, colorful collages. Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong collects these elegant riffs by the most artful of improvisers"—O, The Oprah magazine
 
"A beautifully illustrated new book. It combines an eloquently-written narrative about the trumpeter’s life and achievements with page after page of richly-detailed colour photographs depicting Armstrong’s tape box collages." (4 Stars)
—Charles Waring, The Record Collector 
 
"[Satchmo] perfectly complements and enhances the visual art of Louis Armstrong…a fascinating and handsome perspective on a particular aspect of the various talents with which Armstrong was blessed, one that had previously remained unexposed to the general public.  … a heartfelt tribute to the creative genius of Louis Armstrong."—Joe Lang, New Jersey Jazz Society
 
"A beautiful book puts together hundreds of notebooks of collages never seen before by LA."—Paola Genone , L’Express
 

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #15742 in Books
  • Published on: 2009-03-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 256 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
The wonderful, if typo-strewn, “official book” of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives (Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo, 2003) afforded glimpses of the collages of photos, clippings, and adhesive tape that the great jazzman composed on hundreds of boxes of reel-to-reel recording tape. Now Brower exposes this homemade artwork much more generously, mounting at 7-by-7-inch full scale well more than 100 collages as well as other photos and pages of Armstrong’s typed and handwritten personal recollections. Designer as well as author, Brower presents the pictorial material immaculately. As writer and documentalist, though, he is less able. His traversal of Armstrong’s life is sound but marred by much poor wording. Though nearly blooper free—alas, Paul VI is called Pius XII both times a pope appears—picture captions are often too meager or absent. The mercifully few descriptions of Armstrong’s music are nonsensical gush, and the reference notes are, to put it kindly, unorthodox. Louis lovers will forgive all this, however, and hail the book’s revelation of another attractive facet of one of America’s most prodigious talents. --Ray Olson

About the Author

Steven Brower is a seasoned writer and designer, and creator of the award-winning book Woody Guthrie Artworks. He currently teaches design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Hilton Als is a staff writer for the New Yorker. He is the author of The Women, and was the recipient of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism in 2002-03.

Customer Reviews

Fabulous!5
This is one of the most beautifully designed books I've seen. Steven Brower showcased Armstrong's lively collages with simple yet elegant organization. Brower's writing was brief, yet so concise and articulate.

Own it, and you'd enjoy it at all times!

Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong5
Purchased as a gift for a discerning fan of both art and Satchmo. The recipient thought it was unique and beautifully done.

amazon failed me1
I would be happy to review this excellent book , but, since Amazon completely failed me and never sent it, and also never followed up with the supplier and now thinks I received it, my review is of Amazon. Its service stinks, unless you buy directly from them. They dont seem to have any way of controlling outside sellers. When you sent them a letter complaining about a seller, they send it back to you to tell you what you wrote.
Beware!
But get this book (I did, from Barnes and Noble) it's a wonderful look at the extraordinary talent of the man we think of as a musician.