By The TimesLedger
Louis Armstrong liked to say he was born July 4,1900, but his baptismal certificate on file in New Orleans indicates he was born August 4,1901.
In between these two dates — on Friday,May 11 to be exact – the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts will celebrate the centennial of the legendary jazz man with a program of Armstrong remembrances in both words and music, called a”Satchmo”:Remembering the Life and Music of Louis Armstrong.”
The program, beginning at 8 p.m. in the newly-restored Flushing Town Hall Theatre on Northern Boulevard at Linden Place, will be the final event of this season's “Jazz and World Music” series, produced by Clyde Bullard.
Music made famous by Armstrong in concert and on records will be performed at by the Louis Armstrong Legacy Band, under the direction of bassist Arvel Shaw, who toured with the Louis Armstrong All-Stars from 1945 to 1951, intermittently from 1952 to 1957, regularly again from 1963 to 1965 and again intermittently until Armstrong's death in 1971. The Missouri-born bassist made every record that Armstrong did during those periods and appeared with “Satchmo” and his group in seven motion pictures
Under Armstrong's tutelage, Shaw acquired touches of showmanship to match his musicianship and became well-known as a raconteur of anecdotes about Satchmo, some of which he will intersperse throughout the Flushing Town Hall program
Preceding the Armstrong remembrance program, Carol Sudhalter and her quartet out of the Astoria Big Band will offer a spirited opening act.
Tickets for the May 11 concert are $20 (15 for members of the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts) and are available at the Flushing Town Hall Box.
They may also be ordered by phone with Visa, Amex or MasterCard by calling 718-463-7700, ext. 222.
