Classic Jazz: A Personal View of the Music and the Musicians

8. The Seven-Year Challenge to Complete the Louis Armstrong Statue

A Fund Is Created in Old New Orleans My last conversation with Louis Armstrong, like my first, took place on his birthday: in this case, July 4, 1971. Lucille and I phoned him at his home in New York to extend our usual birthday greeting. He was very cheerful; his health was improving, he said, and the doctor had allowed him to blow his horn again after a long hiatus. Louis was looking forward to getting back on stage; he already had several jobs booked in the New York area. Two days after that happy conversation, Louis was dead, and I was en route to New York to attend his funeral. I was sad for myself, for his wife, for his many friends, and for music lovers around the world. My only consoling thought was that, before he died, Louis was able to see how much his fans and many friends loved him. On his seventieth birthday, a year and two days before his death, we had staged a tribute concert in Los Angeles titled “Hello Louis!” This special event had a dual purpose: to honor and thank a man who had given us so much joy through his music; and to launch a campaign to raise money for a permanent statue of the great man. 8 THE SEVEN-YEAR CHALLENGE TO COMPLETE THE LOUIS ARMSTRONG STATUE This chapter has been adapted from various articles written during the Armstrong statue fund-raising campaign. One, entitled “A Fund Is Created in Old New Orleans,” originally appeared in the December 1969 issue of Second Line and was widely reprinted; another , titled “For the Love of Louis,” was written by Ned Brundage in 1972. The tall bronze statue that now stands proudly in New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong Park is a loving gift from jazz fans throughout the world. The arduous fund-raising effort constitutes an extraordinary saga that has never before been disclosed. The idea for the statue originated in the summer of 1969, during the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. We were relaxing with musicians and members of the press at Pete Fountain’s plush club, Storyville , being feted by local jazz enthusiast and businessman Joe Gemelli. A very distinguished group had been invited to this informal luncheon. I recognized such stalwarts as Clark Terry, Danny Barker, James Stuber, Blue Lu Barker, Don Albert, Benny Carter, Sharkey Bonano , Roland Kirk, Stanley Dance, Dan Morganstern, Helen and Don Perry, and Ira Gitler. After lunch, we boarded an air-conditioned bus for a tour of the Crescent City. Our guides, Danny Barker and Scoop Kennedy, pointed out many landmarks that evoked memories of the colorful era that spawned the music we call jazz. With his remarkable memory and thorough knowledge of New Orleans history and lore, Barker took us back half a century, to his early teens. He showed us Back O’Town and vividly recalled The Battlefield, where toughs like drummer Black Benny reigned. From his articulate description, we visualized the brawling saloons with blood-splattered walls, the pimps and prostitutes. When we passed Jane Alley, the site of Louis Armstrong’s birth, Danny Barker lamented that important historic buildings were being razed to make room for modern municipal structures. He said, “Politicians have never been interested in jazz history.” As we drove along Robert E. Lee Boulevard, Barker, looking up at a large statue of Lee, commented, “This is the only city that builds monuments to generals who lost a war! Someday, perhaps, there will be a collection to create a tribute here to a real hero, Louis Armstrong.” From a few rows forward, Clark Terry leaped to his feet and shouted, “Let’s start that collection now—here’s the first dollar.” I handed him the second. As the bus continued to roll through the fashionable residential district of the city, Terry gathered money from everyone on the bus. Each vowed to return to his community and spread the word about our idea to create an enduring tribute to jazzdom ’s greatest artist. A few weak protestations about the awkwardness of building a monument to a living person were quickly brushed aside. This tribute was too important to be made posthumously. 288 The Seven-Year Challenge to Complete the Louis Armstrong Statue Benny Carter, leading much of the discussion, suggested that funds be solicited from Louis’ fans around the world. It seemed like such a simple undertaking to...