A new look at Louis Armstrong?

Armstrong enjoyed playing music for his audiences, but he also seemed to enjoy entertaining them by joking and clowning around. To a lot of the jazz musicians in subsequent generations — and modern audiences — it can feel like Armstrong never got past having to put on a minstrel show to appease white audiences. Yet it now seems that’s a misreading of what Armstrong was doing. Read complete story from Gatehouse News Service.


Artist Update:
From composer and percussionist Steve Habib:

I am involved with an all-drum group that's quite different called The Melting Pot Drum Group. 
In this group are all well-known drummers like Marvin Bugalu Smith, Thomas DeSteno and many others. 
We are generic in nature in that we harmonize and simulate a quartet or quintet with just drums.
Max Roach did some of this with M'BOOM years ago but he had other instruments. 
We simply use drums, the original form of communication.
This is not unique in Africa but in the U.S. few are doing this.
iCompositions has some of our stuff and on you tube at Vimeo. You can review some of the music videos of one of our drummers, Marvin Bugalu Smith, a true MASTER.
HABIB

Find Steve Habib on Facebook.




AUDIO AND VIDEO:




PERSONAL NOTE:
Time for me to listen to Heiner Stadler's "A Tribute to Monk and Bird" from 1978...before the Alabama-Texas game.

COMMENTS ON THE MARVIN "BUGALU"  SMITH VIDEO:

--Thank you very much for showing my teaching on your jazz net. You are a true jazz man and I love it, keep up the good work and I thank you again.  From Bugalu
   My pleasure, Mr. Smith. Thanks for the acknowledgment. Pete

-- It's inspiring to see some of our great jazz masters utilizing the internet to teach this beautiful art. The information/instructional product business is huge and in my opinion, here to stay. What a perfect opportunity for us jazz musicians to cash in on this lucrative market by self publishing. Later for the starving artist syndrome!
Andre Hayward, trombonist, educator and Internet marketer, http://jazzmusicianmarketing.com

-- Pete, I want to thank you for mentioning Marvin on your site and for linking people to us on facebook. Marvin's teachings on drums is second to none and he deserves all that you can do for him. He is part of the history of jazz and a "living legend." Steve Habib, composer and percussionist
 
Steve: Thanks for bringing Mr. Smith to my attention. This is what my blog is all about--spreading the word about incredibly-talented people. Keep the info. coming and thanks for the update. -- The Editor

-- No greater joy! - Pheeroan Aklaff, drummer





We welcome contributions from musicians who have something to say or want to promote their projects, and their fans who have their own stories to tell. Contact us at jazzstagenet@gmail.com for submissions or questions. Thank you.

Posted by Pete McConnell at 1/7/2010 2:29 PM
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: louis armstrong jazz blog steve habib marvin bugalu smith
 

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