Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was the founding father of jazz and one of this century's towering cultural figures yet the full story of his extravagant life has never been told.. Born in 1901 to the sixteen-year-old daughter of a slave he came of age among the prostitutes pimps and rag-and-bone merchants of New Orleans.  He married four times and enjoyed countless romantic involvements in and around his marriages.  A believer in marijuana for the head and laxatives for the bowels he was also a prolific diarist and correspondent a devoted friend to celebrities from Bing Crosby to Ella Fitzgerald a perceptive social observer and in his later years an international goodwill ambassador.. And of course he was a dazzling musician.  From the bordellos and honky-tonks of Storyville--New Orleans's red light district--to the upscale nightclubs in Chicago New York and Hollywood Armstrong's stunning playing gravelly voice and irrepressible personality captivated audiences and critics alike.  Recognized and beloved wherever he went he nonetheless managed to remain vigorously himself.. Now Laurence Bergreen's remarkable book brings to life the passionate courageous and charismatic figure who forever changed the face of American music.