The Bat Segundo Show (Free subscription) | 12/04/2009
Terry Teachout is most recently the author of Pops. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Playing for handy water closets. Author: Terry Teachout Subjects Discussed: Managing professional duties, the exigencies of sifting through 650 reels of Louis Armstrong’s tapes, Armstrong’s encounters with the mob, Armstrong’s relationship with manager Joe Glaser, the aborted...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 12/05/2009
The more time you spend looking at Louis Armstrong on film and listening to him on record, the more you come to a single realization: Armstrong has done more than any other performer to shape America's collective personality. Virtually every entertainer from the late 1930s onward was influenced by Armstrong's folksy sense of humor, relaxed demeanor and high artistic standards. In turn, all of those...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009
Writer Terry Teachout, who spurred considerable controversy in certain circles this summer with a Wall Street Journal article about declining audiences for jazz, is coming to St. Louis on Wednesday, December 16 to speak at Maryville University about his latest book.From the news release:"Author, blo...
St. Louis Jazz Notes (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009
Writer Terry Teachout , who spurred considerable controversy in certain circles this summer with a Wall Street Journal article about declining audiences for jazz, is coming to St. Louis on Wednesday, December 16 to speak at Maryville University about his latest book. From the news release: "Author, blogger and critic Terry Teachout discusses his latest book, Pops: A...
Voices of New Orleans (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009
... which I wouldn't want to live, these would rank high among the top contenders. See the records Teachout chose and why at NPR . (There's also an excerpt of Pops.)
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009
Greatness always finds itself under siege. It can't be helped. Sooner or later an impatient rival comes along who wants the attention and adulation afforded the top dog. In the late 1940s, this natural course of events pitted Dizzy Gillespie against Louis Armstrong. Since his days in Cab Calloway's band, Gillespie worked hard to stand out, and when recognition wasn't forthcoming in 1941, he kept raising...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Wall Street Journal drama critic, author, blogger and arts essayist Terry Teachout has managed to do the impossible. For the past six years, Terry has worked steadily on Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, which was published a week ago to rave reviews. What's remarkable is not that Terry wrote the book on the side while pounding out weekly drama columns and arts essays for...
Power Line (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Writing on theater for the Wall Street Journal and on music for Commentary, Terry Teachout is my favorite working critic. He is also a gifted writer. When I learned that his new biography of Louis Armstrong was to be published today, I invited him to write about it for us. Commentary has posted Teachout's essay on "Armstrong and the Jews" in its November issue. Teachout...
Where's the Outrage? (Free subscription) | 12/06/2009
Why can’t we start our own stimulus package? So, without further ado, here for the Christmas season, I’m starting the Errington Thompson show’s own stimulus package. I’m giving away a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com and a copy of Terry Teachout’s new book Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong. Listen and get stimulated! My special guest, [...]
Cultural Offering.com (Free subscription) | 12/05/2009
The Economist has published its listing of the best books of 2009 . Among the favorites: Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong . By Terry Teachout. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 496 pages; $30. J.R. Books; £20 More than a trumpeter, the great Satchmo was both pioneer and innovator, with a voice and style that set their stamp on the development of jazz. Direct Red: A Surgeon’s Story...
Seattle Times (Free subscription) | 12/05/2009
"Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong," by author and cultural critic Terry Teachout, is a superb biography of Louis Armstrong, the jazz composer, singer and trumpeter whose positive attitude and mastery of music lifted him above grim beginnings and into the hearts of millions.
Says Simpleton (Free subscription) | 12/04/2009
Writer's block is the ultimate nightmare of anyone who lives by his pen. — Terry Teachout, " When Artists Dry Up: What makes great creators go silent? And is it always a bad thing? " WSJ (Nov 28, 2009). Thank you for Subscribing to Say Simpleton.
Rene's Apple (Free subscription) | 12/03/2009
Louis Armstrong and Bing Crosby swing "Now You Has Jazz", from High Society. Great music, lousy movie. Oh well. H/t: About Last Night. Terry Teachout has an acclaimed new bio of Armstrong on bookshelves even as I type.
Ivebeenreadinglately (Free subscription) | 12/02/2009
I just finished reading Terry Teachout 's wonderful new biography of Louis Armstrong , Pops , which is as good as its many rave reviews have said. Since everyone from the Times on down has weighed in with praise already, I'll just heartily second them, and share two things: 1 Throughout the book, Teachout keeps the music front and center, never letting us forget that that was what...
The Corner (Free subscription) | 12/01/2009
Today's NRO podcast is with Terry Teachout , on the subject of his new book, Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong . We discuss what made Armstrong a great jazz musician, how a black man in his day could become so popular with white audiences, and what he thought of rock and roll.
