Louis Armstrong: American Icon with John E. Hasse

Date / Time: Thursday, February 18, 2010, 7:00 pm
Fee: $10.00* / $15.00
Age Recommendation: For all ages

Join John E. Hasse, Curator of American Music for the Smithsonian Institution, for an illustrated lecture on the life and music of Louis Armstrong.  A beloved entertainer, Armstrong was a genius whose trumpet playing and singing transformed American music.  Born in New Orleans, Armstrong revolutionized jazz and changed American music forever – teaching other musicians how to swing, scat and solo.  Duke Ellington said famously, “Louis Armstrong was born poor, died rich and never hurt anyone along the way.”  Hasse recounts Armstrong’s heroic journey, replete with colorful slides and stirring musical examples.

About John E. Hasse:  John Edward Hasse is a music historian, pianist, award-winning author and record producer.  Hasse serves as Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History where he was founding Executive Director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and where he founded the National Jazz Appreciation Month, celebrated every April throughout the U.S.

Hasse is the author of a critically acclaimed biography, Beyond Category: The Life and Genius of Duke Ellington, and the editor of a major illustrated history, Jazz: The First Century, with forewords by Tony Bennett and Quincy Jones.  Library Journal called the book, “a major contribution to the understanding of jazz.”

These workshops are in support of the concerts, The Louis Armstrong Hot Fives / Hot Sevens, the early music of Louis Armstrong.  The concerts will take place at the Lincoln Theatre on Friday & Saturday, February 19 & 20, 2010 at 8:00 pm.  For concert tickets or more information, click here.

For Teachers:
Smithsonian Jazz offers the “Louis Armstrong Education Kit,” a classroom curriculum guide for grades 5 – 12 on the website, www.smithsonianjazz.org/class/armstrong/kit/kit.asp.  The guide, which incorporates National Standards in Arts Education and U.S. History, contains lesson plans, biographical materials, a glossary, bibliography, discography, photo gallery and an accompanying CD for guided listening experiences.

This project has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of “American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius.”