Louis Armstrong and His All Stars found themselves in the Gold Coast of Africa 1956

60 years ago this week, Louis Armstrong and His All Stars found themselves in the Gold Coast of Africa, soon to become the independent nation of Ghana. Edward R. Murrow had a camera crew filming Armstrong for the eventual theatrical documentary, “Satchmo the Great.“ The scene I’m sharing today is one of the highlights of that rare film. Armstrong and his entourage had just been entertained by local dancers and musicians and now it was their chance to play a number for the African audience. Armstrong called off “Royal Garden Blues“ at a fast tempo (too fast in the video; it should be in Bb, as heard on the Mosaic Records Armstrong box I co-produced). At first, the Africans seemed perplexed--until one ancient man got up and started shuffling around. Lucille Armstrong spotted him, ran out and showed him how to move to the American beat. As witness Robert Raymond wrote, “This was the turning point. As the American woman and the man of Africa danced, more and more people from around the arena got up and joined in. Soon a hundred African men and women were dancing to music and rhythms that they had never known. They danced in all kinds of ways. Some adapted the tempos of their own dances to suit the music of America. Others hopped, skipped on one leg, or just stood and shook their bodies. The unifying spirit was one of sheer enjoyment.“ The band you see here is my favorite edition of the All Stars with Louis, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Jack Lesberg and Barrett Deems absolutely tearing the song apart. Not only am I sharing this because this happened 60 years ago on May 25, 1956, but today is the two-year anniversary of the aforementioned Mosaic Records set I co-produced ( and next week is the five year anniversary of the publication of my book, “What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years“ (). For a LOT more on this African trip, please consult either one of those--and thanks to all who have supported those projects and all of my Armstrong endeavors over the past few years--more to come! And I think this is a pretty important video; if you think so, too, don’t forget to SHARE it!