Mutt Carey in New Orleans - early 20th Century

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, page 47:

Louis [Armstrong] sings just like he plays. I think Louis proves the idea and theory which holds that if you can't sing it you can't play it. When I'm improvising, I'm singing in my mind. I sing what I feel and then try to reproduce it on the horn. Then Louis' tone is so big and he fills all those notes--there is no splitting them when he plays [trumpet]. There's nothing freakish about Louis' horn. He fingers what he wants to play, and there are no accidents in the notes he brings out. You know, it's a pleasure just to hear Louis tune up. Why, just warming up he blows such a variety of …   more >>

cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 47. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1433676980681 accessed: 28 March, 2024

location of experience: New Orleans

Listeners

Mutt Carey
Musician

Listening to

hide composers
New Orleans jazz performed by Louis Armstrong

Experience Information

Date/Time early 20th Century
Medium live

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Sun, 07 Jun 2015 12:36:20 +0100
Approved on Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:58:32 +0100