More Than Meets the Eye
I just finished a fantastic biography about Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout. Meticulously researched, entertaining and well-written. Thanks to the wonder of the internet, I started messing around with Google maps trying to find a few places of interest from Armstrong's life. Unfortunately most of them are gone - his childhood home, the Savoy Ballroom, the Cotton Club, all of these places no longer exist.
But it did find one place that's still around and it's the most unassuming building imaginable. A hardware store. Meyer's Ace Hardware in Chicago, to be exact.
This seemingly ordinary building is anything but that. It used to be the Sunset Cafe, the place where Louis Armstrong really got his start playing professionally. It was here at Sunset Cafe where he was first billed as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player."
But there's more to it than that. This is also the place where Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and many other soon-to-be-jazz-legends got their start.
Why this place is not on the national historic registry or considered a national historic landmark is light years beyond me.
But you could walk right past it and not have any idea how important this building was in the history of American music. Makes you wonder what else your missing when you're out and about and too busy to stop and smell the roses, huh?
Here's a clip of Armstrong at the age of 32; he was in his prime here. No one has had a better feel for music before or since (in my opinion). It is interesting how he hams it up with his musicians and while he's a singing, but when it comes time to blow that horn, he is a study of concentration. And man can he wail...
But it did find one place that's still around and it's the most unassuming building imaginable. A hardware store. Meyer's Ace Hardware in Chicago, to be exact.
This seemingly ordinary building is anything but that. It used to be the Sunset Cafe, the place where Louis Armstrong really got his start playing professionally. It was here at Sunset Cafe where he was first billed as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player."
But there's more to it than that. This is also the place where Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa and many other soon-to-be-jazz-legends got their start.
Why this place is not on the national historic registry or considered a national historic landmark is light years beyond me.
But you could walk right past it and not have any idea how important this building was in the history of American music. Makes you wonder what else your missing when you're out and about and too busy to stop and smell the roses, huh?
 |
| Meyer's Ace Hardware, former site of the Sunset Cafe. Armstrong had to use the side entrance (to the left) because he was black, even though he was billed as "The World's Greatest Trumpet Player," and he was making the place a ton of money. Amazing, huh? |
Here's a clip of Armstrong at the age of 32; he was in his prime here. No one has had a better feel for music before or since (in my opinion). It is interesting how he hams it up with his musicians and while he's a singing, but when it comes time to blow that horn, he is a study of concentration. And man can he wail...
