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Louis Armstrong House Museum
“Walking into this house will be like going to Louis’ house for tea and discovering every corner of it. Armstrong loved to hoard memories, archiving them with passion, affectionately protecting postcards, diaries, notes and recordings.”
Michael Cogswell, jazz historian, instigator of the Louis Armstrong Museum
In 1943, Lucille and Louis Armstrong had been married for a year and were looking for a house. The already famous musician and his wife are looking for a small house in a quiet area of New York that they particularly like.
The trumpeter, a native of New Orleans, found his way back to the Big Apple, particularly in the Queens borough the same atmosphere as in his native South: neighbours talk to each other, children play on the pavement, the streets are peaceful and at the same time animated by an unparalleled joie de vivre… They set their sights on this house on 107th Street. Neighbour and intimate of the couple, Selma Heraldo told of the couple’s arrival in the neighbourhood in an interview with The Express: “Lucille arranged the house with great taste, thanks to the advice of an architect. Louis did not see the place until he returned from a tour. It was 4:00 a.m., and the taxi stopped in front of the house.”
The couple has loved each other, bickered, reconciled but always found each other. An impressive and inspiring happiness. In 1967, Bob Thiele, under the name of George Douglas, and George David Weiss composed What a Wonderful World, which they proposed to Louis Armstrong, sitting behind his desk, still visible today in the house. Seduced by the idea, the musician performed it and the song became a hit.
When the legend passed away on July 6, 1971, his widow decided to bequeath the premises to the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation in New York, as children had always been a priority for the couple. When Lucille died in 1983, the foundation in turn gave the house to the Ministry of Culture. It was not until 2003 and the determination of jazz historian Michael Cogswell that the house was transformed into the Louis Armstrong Museum. An opportunity to admire the splendid house at the centre of the “wonderful world” of the musical genius.
For three decades, Louis Armstrong gave nearly 300 concerts a year.
Louis Armstrong House Museum
Built in 1910 by architect Robert Johnson, the splendid two-story brick house now houses the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
Located near Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the house, known as the last residence of the famous musician, is also located a few miles from the Flushing Cemetery where “Satchmo” is buried. Louis Armstrong had the walls covered with brick in 1969. The musician had then proposed to his neighbors to finance the same kind of renovation for their houses, in order not to be considered the snob of the neighborhood.
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Cult! music: 100 mythical music places [French Edition]
Embark immediately on an exhilarating world tour with some of music’s most iconic bands and artists!
Head to Melbourne, Australia for a stroll along AC/DC Lane before crossing the iconic Abbey Road pedestrian crossing in the company of The Beatles. Visit Janis Joplin‘s home in San Francisco and find out how Johnny Cash ended up playing his greatest hits to a crowd of prisoners in San Quentin. Travel the winding roads of Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and stop in Japan to catch up with Deep Purple, Phil Collins and Daft Punk. Drive down the Tina Turner Highway before entering some of the most legendary studios in music history. Go back to the troubled origins of Billie Holiday and make a pact with Robert Johnson at the famous crossroads in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Embark immediately on an exhilarating world tour with some of music’s most iconic bands and artists! Relive the Jimi Hendrix concert on the Isle of Wight before paying tribute to Bob Marley in Jamaica.
Produced by a team of pop-culture specialists and enhanced by numerous anecdotes, Cult! musictells the secrets of the places that made the history of music.
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Discover all the places What a Wonderful World on our map
By Damien Duarte
Passionné par la culture pop depuis son enfance, ses références vont de Donald Duck à Batman en passant par Marty McFly. Fantripper dans l'âme, voyager sur les traces de Ghostbusters, James Bond ou des héros de romans comme Cotton Malone fait partie d'un séjour idéal et réussi !