Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:11,606 --> 00:00:13,073
Good evening ladies and gentlemen.
2
00:00:13,141 --> 00:00:15,574
I am Mr. Armstrong,
3
00:00:15,643 --> 00:00:19,909
and let's play an old woman
and good music for you,
4
00:00:19,980 --> 00:00:23,574
a beautiful number:
"I Cover the Waterfront".
5
00:00:23,650 --> 00:00:25,242
"I Cover the Waterfront".
6
00:00:41,632 --> 00:00:43,963
When it is spoken
of Louis Armstrong,
7
00:00:44,034 --> 00:00:48,437
It talks about feelings
human beings
8
00:00:48,505 --> 00:00:51,996
and of the highest level
of musical sophistication.
9
00:00:52,074 --> 00:00:57,602
It's a rare occurrence
in the history of music.
10
00:01:01,583 --> 00:01:03,516
He was chosen
to bring
11
00:01:03,584 --> 00:01:04,573
the feeling, the message and
12
00:01:04,651 --> 00:01:07,518
the identity of jazz
for all.
13
00:01:07,588 --> 00:01:09,522
I brought them to everyone.
the musicians.
14
00:01:09,590 --> 00:01:12,854
It took them all over the world.
15
00:01:12,925 --> 00:01:14,893
He is the personification
of jazz.
16
00:01:44,286 --> 00:01:47,413
The twentieth century had not yet
completed two decades ago when
17
00:01:47,488 --> 00:01:51,924
the first jazz record
reached the public in 1917.
18
00:01:51,992 --> 00:01:55,985
But the world had already passed by
transformations that no one
19
00:01:56,062 --> 00:01:57,586
could have predicted.
20
00:01:58,631 --> 00:02:02,158
And the unmentionable carnage of the First
World War was just
21
00:02:02,234 --> 00:02:03,531
part of this change.
22
00:02:06,571 --> 00:02:11,531
In the new modern world,
humans could fly.
23
00:02:13,076 --> 00:02:14,543
Photographic records,
by the use of X-rays
24
00:02:14,611 --> 00:02:17,205
allowed to see, through the skin,
even the bones.
25
00:02:21,918 --> 00:02:25,217
Sigmund Freud, listening to his patients
lying on a div in your office
26
00:02:25,288 --> 00:02:28,484
discovered new ways
of understanding the human mind.
27
00:02:32,093 --> 00:02:35,459
Pablo Picasso painted his models
from all points of view
28
00:02:35,529 --> 00:02:36,962
at the same time.
29
00:02:38,599 --> 00:02:44,230
And Albert Einstein described
a continuous space-time.
30
00:02:45,605 --> 00:02:49,597
Jazz became the soundtrack
of this modern world.
31
00:02:56,047 --> 00:02:59,574
The music was still
closely linked to ragtime
32
00:02:59,650 --> 00:03:01,913
metallic and vigorous
33
00:03:04,554 --> 00:03:06,920
The soils were
practically nonexistent.
34
00:03:11,060 --> 00:03:13,995
But when World War I
World has come to an end
35
00:03:14,063 --> 00:03:16,155
and the Jazz Age
had its start in earnest
36
00:03:16,231 --> 00:03:19,029
music started to change
37
00:03:24,238 --> 00:03:29,140
The history of jazz became history
of two large American cities ...
38
00:03:29,909 --> 00:03:32,878
Chicago
where black musicians from New Orleans
39
00:03:32,945 --> 00:03:36,880
found fame and a
new public, white.
40
00:03:37,916 --> 00:03:42,012
And New York, where two neighborhoods
Times Square, Times Square
41
00:03:42,087 --> 00:03:46,489
and Harlem, housed a
dedicated group of musicians
42
00:03:46,557 --> 00:03:50,720
each struggling to
find his own voice.
43
00:03:54,097 --> 00:03:58,897
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C.,
Edward Kennedy Ellington, one thing
44
00:03:58,967 --> 00:04:02,767
middle class pianist
who had left school
45
00:04:02,838 --> 00:04:07,570
I was starting to write
their own compositions
46
00:04:07,642 --> 00:04:10,735
and wondered if he could
be successful as a musician
47
00:04:10,810 --> 00:04:12,539
broader horizons.
48
00:04:14,047 --> 00:04:17,345
And in New Orleans,
the cradle of everything
49
00:04:17,416 --> 00:04:22,945
a teenager was playing trumpet
in espeluncas, attracting many people
50
00:04:23,022 --> 00:04:26,616
and began to transform into art
the turbulent and almost always violent
51
00:04:26,691 --> 00:04:29,182
spinning world
around you.
52
00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:39,527
His name was Louis Armstrong.
53
00:04:39,602 --> 00:04:42,833
And for many, your
extraordinary genius
54
00:04:42,905 --> 00:04:45,498
seemed to be a godsend.
55
00:04:55,583 --> 00:04:57,551
I do not believe that
Louis Armstrong
56
00:04:57,618 --> 00:04:59,209
was a real human being.
57
00:05:00,186 --> 00:05:04,486
I still believe that God
sent him to earth
58
00:05:04,557 --> 00:05:09,186
as a special messenger
to make people happy.
59
00:05:09,261 --> 00:05:12,024
The music therapy.
60
00:05:12,096 --> 00:05:15,896
For me, music
always been so intoxicating
61
00:05:15,967 --> 00:05:20,096
how much alcohol, a base
or any drug.
62
00:05:20,170 --> 00:05:23,264
Your sound may
stimulate in me
63
00:05:23,340 --> 00:05:28,675
love, happiness, creativity.
64
00:05:28,744 --> 00:05:31,178
I think Armstrong
was sent here
65
00:05:31,246 --> 00:05:34,339
as a messenger of God to
make people happy.
66
00:05:34,415 --> 00:05:36,849
And that's what he
dedicated his life.
67
00:05:39,220 --> 00:05:41,517
In a way, Armstrong
68
00:05:41,588 --> 00:05:45,957
the Bach, the Dante, the Shakespeare
of American music.
69
00:05:46,026 --> 00:05:48,653
It comes at a given point
of its history.
70
00:05:48,728 --> 00:05:51,891
Not at birth,
because it had existed for 30 years,
71
00:05:51,964 --> 00:05:55,126
but when it transforms
in an art form.
72
00:05:55,567 --> 00:05:57,797
He is the figure that codes,
73
00:05:57,869 --> 00:06:00,462
that assimilates everything that
there was before
74
00:06:00,537 --> 00:06:03,973
and shows the direction
of the future.
75
00:06:08,845 --> 00:06:13,475
SECOND EPISODE
A DIVA
76
00:06:52,049 --> 00:06:53,983
The trumpet is an instrument
sacrificial
77
00:06:54,051 --> 00:06:57,486
the most difficult of
wind instruments
78
00:06:57,553 --> 00:07:01,421
which requires more
and he played it
79
00:07:01,490 --> 00:07:05,425
with a vigor
never seen before
80
00:07:05,493 --> 00:07:06,926
nor after.
I do not say that
81
00:07:06,995 --> 00:07:08,929
do not play higher
than him.
82
00:07:08,997 --> 00:07:13,933
But with its strength and vigor?
No one.
83
00:07:14,001 --> 00:07:15,969
He was everything.
84
00:07:19,505 --> 00:07:22,440
Although I have always believed
who was born on July 4
85
00:07:22,508 --> 00:07:27,444
1900, Louis Armstrong,
actually came to the world
86
00:07:27,512 --> 00:07:31,447
August 4, 1901
in a violent area
87
00:07:31,515 --> 00:07:36,040
of New Orleans that was called
of "Field of Battle".
88
00:07:41,524 --> 00:07:45,459
His father, a day laborer
called William Armstrong
89
00:07:45,527 --> 00:07:49,964
I had left the family, and their
children rarely saw him.
90
00:07:50,032 --> 00:07:54,468
His mother, Mayann, had only 16
years when he was born
91
00:07:54,535 --> 00:07:57,504
and sometimes prostitute herself
to maintain the family.
92
00:08:01,975 --> 00:08:05,410
Armstrong said that, sometimes,
I did not know what I was going to eat.
93
00:08:05,478 --> 00:08:07,912
And that sometimes the level
of poverty
94
00:08:07,980 --> 00:08:09,743
it was so much that I did not know
which would follow.
95
00:08:09,815 --> 00:08:13,079
He had become accustomed to snoring
of the stomach.
96
00:08:13,151 --> 00:08:17,417
Fights with knives, firearms,
razors, this was the
97
00:08:17,489 --> 00:08:20,924
in which Louis Armstrong
grown up.
98
00:08:20,991 --> 00:08:23,425
He saw a certain side of life.
99
00:08:23,494 --> 00:08:26,087
But he saw everything on this side.
of life.
100
00:08:26,162 --> 00:08:28,756
No cliché
on which it is written.
101
00:08:28,831 --> 00:08:30,093
He did not see this side.
according to
102
00:08:30,166 --> 00:08:31,428
Someone from outside,
That say:
103
00:08:31,501 --> 00:08:34,435
"What a terrible thing!"
He saw the whole picture.
104
00:08:34,503 --> 00:08:39,439
The humor, the beauty,
the sordid, he saw everything.
105
00:08:39,507 --> 00:08:40,974
And he understood.
106
00:08:42,510 --> 00:08:46,445
At age seven, he went to work
for the Karnoffsky
107
00:08:46,513 --> 00:08:49,448
a family of Jewish immigrants
Russians who delivered coal
108
00:08:49,516 --> 00:08:51,450
Storyville prostitutes.
109
00:08:51,518 --> 00:08:55,954
Louis was riding along in the carriage,
playing a long, thin horn
110
00:08:56,021 --> 00:08:58,990
in order to advise customers of
Karnoffsky they were coming.
111
00:09:00,958 --> 00:09:02,755
It is
little boy who
112
00:09:02,827 --> 00:09:05,762
realizes that something is wrong.
113
00:09:05,830 --> 00:09:09,424
Do not know what
but you soon realize
114
00:09:09,499 --> 00:09:10,932
of which is the color of your skin.
115
00:09:13,470 --> 00:09:15,130
called "Creole",
116
00:09:15,204 --> 00:09:16,933
see a grown man
be called a "little boy"
117
00:09:17,006 --> 00:09:18,098
of depreciative form.
118
00:09:20,476 --> 00:09:23,273
Suddenly, in this
Middle, people arrive
119
00:09:23,344 --> 00:09:25,608
just as he will turn
120
00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:29,638
demean your acquaintances,
but who treat him well.
121
00:09:31,485 --> 00:09:33,453
They invite you
to your house.
122
00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:36,454
They try to take care of him.
and feed it
123
00:09:37,490 --> 00:09:41,550
It was then, with the Karnoffsky,
still a child, that he understood
124
00:09:41,626 --> 00:09:42,854
that we are all
human beings.
125
00:09:44,162 --> 00:09:49,428
Mrs. Karnoffsky insisted that he
had dinner well before returning home
126
00:09:49,500 --> 00:09:53,436
and Armstrong never forgot
of the goodness of the family.
127
00:09:53,504 --> 00:09:57,098
Throughout his life,
he would use the star-of-davi
128
00:09:57,173 --> 00:09:59,539
and the lullabies of Mme.
Karnoffsky would be expensive.
129
00:10:03,512 --> 00:10:06,447
One day, Louis discovered
a well beaten bugle
130
00:10:06,515 --> 00:10:08,449
in a store window
of pawns and asked
131
00:10:08,517 --> 00:10:11,485
to the Karnoffsky
five dollars to buy it.
132
00:10:23,028 --> 00:10:25,963
"After blowing it up for a little while,"
recalled Armstrong.
133
00:10:26,031 --> 00:10:29,966
I realized that I could play
Home Sweet Home.
134
00:10:30,034 --> 00:10:32,502
So the blues came. "
135
00:10:39,543 --> 00:10:41,477
I'm sure that,
from the 1st. Turn
136
00:10:41,545 --> 00:10:43,478
who picked up the trumpet,
he was great.
137
00:10:43,546 --> 00:10:47,482
He was one of these people
who have something supernatural.
138
00:10:47,550 --> 00:10:51,986
He had that understanding
which comes from the Creator of mankind.
139
00:10:52,053 --> 00:10:55,489
He knew it was good.
I really did.
140
00:10:55,557 --> 00:10:59,515
He claimed that his talent
it was a godsend.
141
00:10:59,593 --> 00:11:02,926
It said, "You
Imagine l no C u
142
00:11:02,997 --> 00:11:05,965
with the archangel Gabriel?
I'll send him to the corner. "
143
00:11:07,500 --> 00:11:10,936
Armstrong loved listening to jazz.
144
00:11:11,003 --> 00:11:15,440
A Kid Ory Band
Mutt Carey
145
00:11:15,507 --> 00:11:19,772
Bunk Johnson,
Freddy Keppard
146
00:11:19,844 --> 00:11:23,439
and Sidney Bechet.
147
00:11:23,514 --> 00:11:26,448
But of all bands
which Armstrong heard
148
00:11:26,516 --> 00:11:29,451
the one led by the cornetist
King Oliver
149
00:11:29,519 --> 00:11:31,487
was the one that touched him the most.
150
00:11:33,522 --> 00:11:36,457
Joe Oliver was a
band-leader dur o.
151
00:11:36,525 --> 00:11:39,960
Hard as pig iron,
described a musician.
152
00:11:40,028 --> 00:11:42,963
He started his career.
as trombonist and then
153
00:11:43,031 --> 00:11:46,466
passed to the bugle,
becoming one of the favorite musicians
154
00:11:46,533 --> 00:11:48,467
in one of the most
city heavy goods
155
00:11:48,535 --> 00:11:51,470
Pete Lala's in Storyville.
156
00:11:55,041 --> 00:11:59,137
Armstrong was delivering coal
to a prostitute who lived
157
00:11:59,211 --> 00:12:02,407
next to Oliver
and took as long as he could
158
00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:04,778
just to listen
his dolo touch.
159
00:12:14,490 --> 00:12:17,948
King Oliver created
vocal effects like this.
160
00:13:02,798 --> 00:13:06,393
Oliver was a huge guy
it's impressive.
161
00:13:06,469 --> 00:13:08,402
His sound was fantastic.
He had authority
162
00:13:08,470 --> 00:13:10,404
and he knew how to set up a band.
163
00:13:10,472 --> 00:13:12,406
And Oliver obviously
I liked him.
164
00:13:12,474 --> 00:13:15,408
Armstrong could carry his
trumpet, which was an honor.
165
00:13:15,476 --> 00:13:19,105
Oliver, in a way,
sought to protect him.
166
00:13:20,481 --> 00:13:23,415
"I loved Joe Oliver,"
said Louis Armstrong.
167
00:13:23,483 --> 00:13:27,920
"He did more for young guys
than anyone you know. "
168
00:13:27,987 --> 00:13:31,422
Between one commitment and another,
Oliver sometimes stopped in the street.
169
00:13:31,490 --> 00:13:34,459
and gave advice to Armstrong
about how to play.
170
00:13:35,993 --> 00:13:39,429
We found J. Oliver
when we climbed Rampart Street
171
00:13:39,497 --> 00:13:41,931
and we got a lesson
relating to a music
172
00:13:41,999 --> 00:13:44,091
was bothering us.
173
00:13:44,167 --> 00:13:48,433
I said, "Papa Joe,
How do you share that? "
174
00:13:48,505 --> 00:13:50,938
It stopped, it does not matter where
was going, and showed us,
175
00:13:51,006 --> 00:13:53,941
while the others
musicians said:
176
00:13:54,009 --> 00:13:57,774
"No, I have to get there."
soon to the Eagle Saloon. "
177
00:13:57,845 --> 00:14:00,336
That's why everyone
We adored Joe Oliver.
178
00:14:00,948 --> 00:14:05,043
In 1918, the year in which the
Americans went to war
179
00:14:05,118 --> 00:14:09,384
King Oliver left New Orleans,
going to great Chicago
180
00:14:09,456 --> 00:14:13,721
and Armstrong replaced him,
playing trumpet in his ex band.
181
00:14:13,793 --> 00:14:17,387
His reputation has grown,
and soon he also had offers
182
00:14:17,462 --> 00:14:19,054
of work
of other cities.
183
00:14:19,130 --> 00:14:23,396
But Armstrong had no intention
some of leaving New Orleans.
184
00:14:23,468 --> 00:14:27,403
He was married now with
a former prostitute named Daisy.
185
00:14:27,471 --> 00:14:32,407
And, besides, it will already
too many musicians to fail.
186
00:14:32,475 --> 00:14:35,410
"No one will let me
New Orleans, "he said
187
00:14:35,478 --> 00:14:37,446
"not to be Papa Joe."
188
00:14:42,150 --> 00:14:45,414
In 1920, something happened.
Great for jazz.
189
00:14:45,486 --> 00:14:46,919
They enacted the law
stupid
190
00:14:46,987 --> 00:14:50,423
of US history:
The Dry Law.
191
00:14:50,491 --> 00:14:54,085
From a handful of salons
in the whole country
192
00:14:55,161 --> 00:14:58,426
thousands of
of clandestine bars.
193
00:14:58,498 --> 00:15:00,362
Especially in the
biggest cities.
194
00:15:00,432 --> 00:15:04,368
At one point, Manhattam,
in NY there were five thousand of them.
195
00:15:04,436 --> 00:15:08,030
And with the competition to attract
the people, there was the music.
196
00:15:08,106 --> 00:15:11,735
So suddenly there
work for jazz musicians.
197
00:15:14,444 --> 00:15:16,378
At the same time,
The Law Dries vineyard
198
00:15:16,446 --> 00:15:19,381
relaxing customs, producing
the opposite effect of the intended.
199
00:15:19,449 --> 00:15:22,383
For example, women
they did not drink in salons,
200
00:15:22,451 --> 00:15:25,045
but they certainly drank
in clandestine bars.
201
00:15:25,121 --> 00:15:27,384
Thus, the "Jazz Age"
became a
202
00:15:27,455 --> 00:15:30,390
symbol type
for all this relaxation,
203
00:15:30,458 --> 00:15:33,392
for all this drunkenness,
thanks
204
00:15:33,460 --> 00:15:35,394
when everyone drank
more than they should
205
00:15:35,462 --> 00:15:38,431
only to challenge a law
impossible to enforce.
206
00:15:42,468 --> 00:15:45,904
"In the midst of all this tumultuous
effervescence, jazz
207
00:15:45,972 --> 00:15:50,101
followed its course,
traveling exultant in the current.
208
00:15:53,478 --> 00:15:57,413
However, the end of civilization
has not arrived yet
209
00:15:57,481 --> 00:16:00,678
So, or jazz
be tamed and transformed
210
00:16:00,751 --> 00:16:04,345
in an artistic success,
or else it will disappear altogether
211
00:16:04,420 --> 00:16:07,014
of our environment as a living force.
212
00:16:07,090 --> 00:16:09,723
But even if it comes
to disappear totally,
213
00:16:09,724 --> 00:16:12,356
he will not have existed in vain,
214
00:16:14,350 --> 00:16:18,610
because your record will remain "
as an interesting human document
215
00:16:19,100 --> 00:16:24,366
the spirit of the written age
in the music of the people. "
216
00:16:24,437 --> 00:16:27,895
R.W.S. Mendel, in
"The Appeal Of Jazz"
217
00:16:30,776 --> 00:16:33,370
The United States was now
totally amazed by jazz.
218
00:16:33,445 --> 00:16:36,880
But the jazz by which most
of Americans went crazy
219
00:16:36,948 --> 00:16:41,385
was still primarily
a decorative music.
220
00:16:41,452 --> 00:16:44,887
Frantic, fun,
the perfect accompaniment
221
00:16:44,955 --> 00:16:49,391
for fast dance
and appropriate times.
222
00:16:49,458 --> 00:16:53,394
It would take the genius
of musicians like Louis Armstrong
223
00:16:53,462 --> 00:16:57,397
to broaden your message,
deepen your emotion
224
00:16:57,465 --> 00:16:59,695
and transform it into art.
225
00:17:03,404 --> 00:17:06,373
Blessed
226
00:17:23,921 --> 00:17:26,856
My story
It's very simple.
227
00:17:26,924 --> 00:17:28,858
You know, like,
Once upon a time
228
00:17:28,926 --> 00:17:32,019
beautiful lady and one
nice gentleman
229
00:17:32,095 --> 00:17:34,359
that they fell in love
and got married.
230
00:17:34,431 --> 00:17:36,695
And God blessed them with
a wonderful little boy.
231
00:17:37,766 --> 00:17:40,360
They held him by the hand
232
00:17:40,436 --> 00:17:44,872
they took care of him and spoiled him
up to 7 or 8 years of age.
233
00:17:44,939 --> 00:17:47,703
So they put their
by the floor
234
00:17:47,775 --> 00:17:51,370
and as soon as they did, he left
running through the front door
235
00:17:51,445 --> 00:17:54,380
passed the lawn
and crossed the street.
236
00:17:54,448 --> 00:17:57,042
And on reaching the other side,
Someone said:
237
00:17:57,117 --> 00:17:59,050
"Hey, Edward, this way."
238
00:17:59,118 --> 00:18:02,315
The kid, there, was me.
239
00:18:02,388 --> 00:18:04,322
At the next corner,
they said:
240
00:18:04,390 --> 00:18:06,823
"Edward, to the right.
Then turn left.
241
00:18:06,891 --> 00:18:08,324
There's no mistaking it. "
And this comes
242
00:18:08,393 --> 00:18:10,657
occurring since then.
That
243
00:18:10,729 --> 00:18:12,355
the history.
It's my bio.
244
00:18:17,067 --> 00:18:22,333
On April 29, 1899,
at 1212 T Street
245
00:18:22,405 --> 00:18:25,340
in a comfortable black neighborhood
of middle class,
246
00:18:25,408 --> 00:18:30,709
in northwest Washington D.C.,
Edward Kennedy Ellington was born.
247
00:18:34,415 --> 00:18:37,350
One day he would be exalted
as the greatest of all
248
00:18:37,418 --> 00:18:42,354
the American composers
the most prolific and least
249
00:18:42,422 --> 00:18:44,890
recognizable jazz genius.
250
00:18:48,927 --> 00:18:52,863
His father, James Edward Ellington,
he was a butler
251
00:18:52,931 --> 00:18:55,865
and sometimes served in the White House.
252
00:18:55,933 --> 00:18:58,868
He was a man of few resources,
but who created your family?
253
00:18:58,936 --> 00:19:03,963
said his son,
as if it were a millionaire.
254
00:19:04,041 --> 00:19:08,306
Your mother, Daisy, was entirely
dedicated to the child.
255
00:19:08,377 --> 00:19:12,814
And she was always the person
most important in your life.
256
00:19:12,882 --> 00:19:16,817
"As if I were a child
very special, "he recalled.
257
00:19:16,885 --> 00:19:20,343
"my mother would say: Edward,
you are blessed. "
258
00:19:21,388 --> 00:19:24,323
I asked him
How was your childhood?
259
00:19:24,391 --> 00:19:26,825
if he was taken,
was ready
260
00:19:26,894 --> 00:19:29,327
if he was scolding,
what kind of boy was he?
261
00:19:29,395 --> 00:19:31,829
He said: "I was treated
the p o-de-l .
262
00:19:31,898 --> 00:19:34,867
My mother
was very careful. "
263
00:19:35,901 --> 00:19:39,337
Daisy stood at the foot of the bed.
every time he got sick.
264
00:19:39,738 --> 00:19:42,331
Every Sunday, she would take him
twice the Baptist church
265
00:19:42,406 --> 00:19:46,706
of 19th Street, and took care that he
had regular piano lessons.
266
00:19:48,912 --> 00:19:52,006
My grandmother must have
demonstrated some
267
00:19:52,082 --> 00:19:55,347
exceptional quality since
the beginning to their parents.
268
00:19:55,418 --> 00:19:58,352
And I think your mother
he really paid attention.
269
00:19:58,420 --> 00:20:03,356
She identified something
different in it.
270
00:20:03,424 --> 00:20:06,018
She would provide him with
all
271
00:20:06,094 --> 00:20:11,030
opportunities to use
this something different
272
00:20:11,098 --> 00:20:12,690
and take advantage of it.
273
00:20:12,766 --> 00:20:15,030
My mother bought it.
sheet music
274
00:20:15,102 --> 00:20:18,366
unbound
and played them at the piano.
275
00:20:18,437 --> 00:20:19,699
And I will always remember
her playing
276
00:20:19,772 --> 00:20:21,865
"Meditations".
It made me cry.
277
00:20:21,941 --> 00:20:26,707
L , on that wall, h
a picture from my mother
278
00:20:26,778 --> 00:20:28,746
It was painted after
she moved to NY.
279
00:20:31,448 --> 00:20:35,384
Daisy told her son that he did not
he should let nothing stop him.
280
00:20:35,452 --> 00:20:39,319
Unpleasant facts and barriers
should be
281
00:20:39,389 --> 00:20:44,883
simply be ignored. He could
do anything else he did.
282
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,919
And because she believes it,
Ellington would always believe.
283
00:20:52,967 --> 00:20:55,185
Your teacher
of the fourth year of high school,
284
00:20:55,186 --> 00:20:57,404
on William L. Garrison
Junior High School,
285
00:20:57,471 --> 00:21:00,837
emphasized good oratory
and good manners.
286
00:21:00,907 --> 00:21:04,842
"As representatives of the black race,
we should get respect
287
00:21:04,910 --> 00:21:07,344
for our people, "
Ellington remembered.
288
00:21:07,413 --> 00:21:10,712
"They were proud of Queen L .
An enormous pride of the race. "
289
00:21:12,750 --> 00:21:15,014
The ways that were
taught had much
290
00:21:15,086 --> 00:21:18,021
to do with
racial prejudice.
291
00:21:18,089 --> 00:21:22,354
They taught us that
our modes,
292
00:21:22,426 --> 00:21:25,020
our sense of what
we can do it
293
00:21:25,095 --> 00:21:28,860
would allow us to transpose
contempt and insults.
294
00:21:28,931 --> 00:21:31,365
It was always up to us to act
in a way
295
00:21:31,434 --> 00:21:33,401
superior to them,
because, in fact, we were.
296
00:21:35,770 --> 00:21:41,366
But Ellington was also having
another type of education.
297
00:21:41,442 --> 00:21:44,878
It may have been created in a
respectable middle-class family,
298
00:21:44,945 --> 00:21:48,038
but at the age of fourteen he began
to attend secretly
299
00:21:48,114 --> 00:21:52,380
the billiard room of Frank Holiday,
in the Sete Street with the T,
300
00:21:52,452 --> 00:21:56,080
and went to the Gayety Burlesque Theater
after classes
301
00:22:00,391 --> 00:22:03,360
Ragtime pianists
they became his heris.
302
00:22:07,230 --> 00:22:10,324
Ellington spent hours working
on the piano,
303
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:12,368
with ears in p ,
according to him.
304
00:22:15,904 --> 00:22:18,839
He loved to play the piano,
because the girls looked like
305
00:22:18,907 --> 00:22:22,865
be attracted by pianists,
and he was attracted to the girls.
306
00:22:24,412 --> 00:22:27,847
Ellington started to dress
with such elegance that both
307
00:22:27,914 --> 00:22:32,374
The family how much friends have spent
to call him Duke the Duke.
308
00:22:33,753 --> 00:22:37,347
And he also started composing
his own music.
309
00:22:37,423 --> 00:22:40,722
His first piece was called
"Soda Fountain Rag".
310
00:22:45,430 --> 00:22:49,365
He soon left school.
and formed his own group:
311
00:22:49,433 --> 00:22:52,368
The Duke's Serenaders.
312
00:22:52,436 --> 00:22:55,871
Whenever he was going to perform at a club
or in a dance hall,
313
00:22:55,938 --> 00:22:59,396
He was sending a friend to the front.
to open the door and announce:
314
00:22:59,475 --> 00:23:03,968
"Get out of the way,
because here comes Duke. "
315
00:23:04,045 --> 00:23:06,980
Your elegance and your ability to
autopromoo got you
316
00:23:07,048 --> 00:23:11,984
a lot of work. He played ragtime.
and soft music to dance in clubs,
317
00:23:12,052 --> 00:23:15,351
embassies and the most elegant
White Washington parties.
318
00:23:21,394 --> 00:23:26,990
In January 1923, Duke Ellington,
now married and with a small son,
319
00:23:27,065 --> 00:23:31,000
bought a ticket in the section
segregated from the Howard Theater
320
00:23:31,068 --> 00:23:33,866
to hear the master of New Orleans,
Sidney Bechet.
321
00:23:36,907 --> 00:23:38,875
Ellington never forgot
of what he heard that night.
322
00:23:40,911 --> 00:23:44,869
"It came from the soul," he said,
"everything came from within."
323
00:23:47,917 --> 00:23:52,012
"No matter what I touched,
Bechet seemed to be calling someone.
324
00:23:52,086 --> 00:23:54,219
It was my first date.
325
00:23:54,220 --> 00:23:56,352
with the style of New Orleans, "
Ellington remembered.
326
00:23:56,424 --> 00:23:59,483
"It was a sound and a conception
entirely new to me. "
327
00:24:02,362 --> 00:24:04,955
As the fervor
of the Jazz Age increased,
328
00:24:05,031 --> 00:24:08,296
the career of Ellington
he began to take off.
329
00:24:08,367 --> 00:24:11,301
But he felt frustrated
playing the type of music
330
00:24:11,369 --> 00:24:15,305
that Washington society
wanted to hear.
331
00:24:15,373 --> 00:24:20,309
He longed for something more,
I knew I had something to say
332
00:24:20,377 --> 00:24:23,346
and started looking for new
worlds to conquer.
333
00:24:28,384 --> 00:24:30,852
CHICAGO
334
00:24:31,387 --> 00:24:34,981
Louis Armstrong was a
of my first idols.
335
00:24:35,057 --> 00:24:38,822
I idolized him and wanted to
be like him.
336
00:24:38,893 --> 00:24:41,327
I read the story of how
King Oliver had
337
00:24:41,395 --> 00:24:45,331
called to Chicago
to play with it.
338
00:24:45,399 --> 00:24:47,332
Therefore, always
that practiced,
339
00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:50,335
I did it
with my trumpet
340
00:24:50,403 --> 00:24:52,666
pointed out
from the window,
341
00:24:52,738 --> 00:24:55,832
in the hope that
Louis passed,
342
00:24:55,908 --> 00:24:57,341
listen to me and
hired me to
343
00:24:57,409 --> 00:25:00,809
play in your band.
But Louis never passed
344
00:25:03,181 --> 00:25:07,116
On August 8, 1922,
Louis Armstrong boarded
345
00:25:07,184 --> 00:25:11,621
in "Central Illinois" in New Orleans,
bound for Chicago.
346
00:25:11,688 --> 00:25:15,623
He was 21 years old,
I was separated from the woman
347
00:25:15,691 --> 00:25:19,320
and finally he was going to join
to his dolo, King Oliver.
348
00:25:21,363 --> 00:25:23,297
The only person who
would make him leave
349
00:25:23,365 --> 00:25:25,629
New Orleans was King Oliver.
350
00:25:25,700 --> 00:25:27,963
Thus, when receiving
Oliver's telegram for
351
00:25:28,035 --> 00:25:32,972
who met him in Chicago,
his mother made him a sandwich,
352
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:34,836
he took the train and left.
353
00:25:35,875 --> 00:25:38,810
He carried with him only
the case with the horn
354
00:25:38,878 --> 00:25:43,314
and an old case, which contained
his shabby, patched tuxedo.
355
00:25:43,382 --> 00:25:47,818
Your mother, Mayann, made sure
of which he would wear ceroulas.
356
00:25:47,885 --> 00:25:51,321
She knew that the place to
it was very cold,
357
00:25:51,389 --> 00:25:53,016
even in the summer.
358
00:25:55,392 --> 00:25:59,351
Armstrong was joining
to the fleeing blacks
359
00:25:59,429 --> 00:26:02,920
suffocating poverty and repressive
segregation laws
360
00:26:02,998 --> 00:26:06,263
who continued to rule
in the South of the country.
361
00:26:06,335 --> 00:26:08,768
Since the start of the
First World War,
362
00:26:08,836 --> 00:26:11,771
hundreds of thousands of men
and women had boarded
363
00:26:11,839 --> 00:26:16,775
on trains looking for work
and freedom.
364
00:26:16,843 --> 00:26:19,778
This became known as
"The Great Migration,"
365
00:26:19,846 --> 00:26:22,473
and most of the rails
led to Chicago.
366
00:26:25,685 --> 00:26:28,779
He arrives in Chicago,
get off the train
367
00:26:28,854 --> 00:26:30,946
and everyone started
to giggle
368
00:26:31,022 --> 00:26:32,284
when you see him, then
he looks like
369
00:26:32,357 --> 00:26:33,949
with a gravedigger.
He wore a
370
00:26:34,025 --> 00:26:36,788
thick black coat,
a suit and your hair
371
00:26:36,860 --> 00:26:38,794
was combed
foward.
372
00:26:38,862 --> 00:26:40,295
I did not understand the
customs of the city.
373
00:26:40,364 --> 00:26:42,628
It took 2min to
become the king of
374
00:26:42,700 --> 00:26:44,166
city, but that's one
another story.
375
00:26:45,868 --> 00:26:48,803
With Armstrong in the group,
Creole Jazz Band
376
00:26:48,871 --> 00:26:50,838
of King Oliver never
He played so well.
377
00:26:54,876 --> 00:26:57,810
The two men perfected
a duet style in which
378
00:26:57,878 --> 00:27:00,745
Armstrong seemed to know
by instinct exactly
379
00:27:00,815 --> 00:27:05,774
what your boss would play
and always had the perfect complement.
380
00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,777
Nothing like it had ever been
heard in Chicago before.
381
00:27:12,825 --> 00:27:14,759
Ran from mouth to mouth
that Joe Oliver
382
00:27:14,827 --> 00:27:18,262
had a second cornetist,
and that the two were
383
00:27:18,329 --> 00:27:21,264
making breaks
and other things.
384
00:27:21,332 --> 00:27:23,266
Which were imperishable.
385
00:27:23,334 --> 00:27:26,769
I listened to Joe Oliver
and knew how he played.
386
00:27:26,837 --> 00:27:28,771
I knew practically everything
What was he doing.
387
00:27:28,839 --> 00:27:30,773
So I added notes
and surprised him.
388
00:27:30,841 --> 00:27:33,308
I could do duets
for anything.
389
00:27:37,346 --> 00:27:39,779
I was doing a duet for this.
390
00:27:39,848 --> 00:27:42,783
And all the musicians
they thought it was good.
391
00:27:42,851 --> 00:27:46,786
They tried, but no.
they concentrated as we did.
392
00:27:46,854 --> 00:27:48,788
They could not do it.
Unless
393
00:27:48,856 --> 00:27:51,825
was written.
But we never wrote anything.
394
00:27:52,859 --> 00:27:56,295
News stories than Oliver and Armstrong
were doing at Lincoln Gardens
395
00:27:56,362 --> 00:27:59,558
spread throughout
The city and soon
396
00:27:59,631 --> 00:28:02,259
some white listeners
they were also seen.
397
00:28:07,304 --> 00:28:11,240
"When you open the door,
the King or Louis trumpets
398
00:28:11,308 --> 00:28:15,744
or both, were heard
above all else.
399
00:28:15,812 --> 00:28:20,748
The whole place shook.
Tables, chairs, walls,
400
00:28:20,816 --> 00:28:22,784
people moved
with the rhythm.
401
00:28:26,321 --> 00:28:31,587
It was hypnosis at the first audition.
Armstrong seemed to be able to hear
402
00:28:31,659 --> 00:28:36,288
and play at the same time
which Oliver improvised.
403
00:28:38,331 --> 00:28:41,925
So the two of them sewed
around each other as women
404
00:28:42,001 --> 00:28:46,802
suspicious talking about the same man.
Eddie Condon. "
405
00:28:50,341 --> 00:28:54,777
A young and fascinated musician
described that there was so much music in the air
406
00:28:54,845 --> 00:28:58,645
that if someone raised a
instrument, he would play alone.
407
00:29:05,955 --> 00:29:11,551
On April 5, 1923,
King Oliver, Louis Armstrong
408
00:29:11,626 --> 00:29:14,220
and the Creole Jazz Band
boarded a train
409
00:29:14,296 --> 00:29:19,562
from Chicago to Richmond, Indiana,
home of Gennett Records.
410
00:29:19,633 --> 00:29:23,591
Louis Armstrong would record
for the first time.
411
00:29:24,304 --> 00:29:26,898
The band used to
play around
412
00:29:26,973 --> 00:29:32,239
of a metal, and the sound was
recorded on a disk of wax.
413
00:29:32,311 --> 00:29:33,573
But they could not
work with
414
00:29:34,646 --> 00:29:36,579
Armstrong in the middle,
because he drowned the others.
415
00:29:36,647 --> 00:29:38,581
So he had
that stay 3m
416
00:29:38,649 --> 00:29:40,583
4.5m behind the others.
They put
417
00:29:40,651 --> 00:29:42,584
on the corridor so that
your sound stayed
418
00:29:42,652 --> 00:29:45,587
in balance with that of the
other musicians.
419
00:29:45,655 --> 00:29:47,589
They recorded a record,
it's that
420
00:29:47,657 --> 00:29:49,590
was undoubtedly
a mark
421
00:29:49,658 --> 00:29:52,786
in the history of jazz.
It was called "Chimes Blues".
422
00:30:04,338 --> 00:30:06,272
As his first solo,
have
423
00:30:06,340 --> 00:30:09,275
to Armstrong or trio strain.
424
00:30:09,343 --> 00:30:15,611
They did not ask or want
to improvise any note.
425
00:30:15,681 --> 00:30:19,616
But he played with
such virtuosity
426
00:30:19,684 --> 00:30:23,620
and thermal intensity
who, on hearing it,
427
00:30:23,688 --> 00:30:26,281
the future is perceived.
428
00:30:26,357 --> 00:30:29,292
It's more exciting
than all the improvisation
429
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,623
that the set does
around him.
430
00:30:31,694 --> 00:30:35,790
And that force, that
sacred sound that he has ...
431
00:30:35,865 --> 00:30:39,300
at that moment, it is known
that something is coming up
432
00:30:39,368 --> 00:30:41,302
and which will never be contained.
433
00:30:41,370 --> 00:30:42,803
And just two years later he
434
00:30:42,871 --> 00:30:45,805
enters the studio
on its own account
435
00:30:45,873 --> 00:30:47,807
and virtually encodes
what the jazz
436
00:30:47,875 --> 00:30:49,843
it would be next
half century.
437
00:31:24,674 --> 00:31:28,609
I think finally
we have what
438
00:31:28,677 --> 00:31:31,271
the musicians call "counting
its history ".
439
00:31:31,346 --> 00:31:34,781
One should tell a story,
say something personal.
440
00:31:34,848 --> 00:31:36,440
And that's what you have
with Louis,
441
00:31:36,517 --> 00:31:40,111
this quality
of a human being
442
00:31:40,186 --> 00:31:42,279
chatting with you
counting
443
00:31:42,355 --> 00:31:46,291
a coherent history
It is fascinating.
444
00:31:46,359 --> 00:31:48,292
I think
be the essence
445
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:49,657
of Armstrong's genius.
446
00:31:52,364 --> 00:31:55,332
NEW YORK
447
00:32:17,318 --> 00:32:21,254
"If you go north,
along the Isle of Manhattam,
448
00:32:21,322 --> 00:32:24,256
cross Central Park
and get off at Stima Avenue
449
00:32:24,324 --> 00:32:27,537
or at Lenox Avenue, at 110th Street,
450
00:32:28,559 --> 00:32:30,017
you can not leave
to be surprised
451
00:32:30,153 --> 00:32:34,230
with the sudden change
that you see yourself in people.
452
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,776
In the center and in the lower part
from the city you might notice
453
00:32:46,844 --> 00:32:51,940
black faces here and there.
But when we left Central Park,
454
00:32:52,015 --> 00:32:54,313
we see you
all over.
455
00:32:59,788 --> 00:33:03,723
And as we go up any
of these two great articles
456
00:33:03,791 --> 00:33:08,558
from the north, we see more and more
black people walking the streets,
457
00:33:08,629 --> 00:33:10,892
looking through the windows,
trading in stores,
458
00:33:10,964 --> 00:33:15,060
eating in restaurants,
leaving the theaters,
459
00:33:15,135 --> 00:33:20,902
that, near 135th Street, 90 percent
of people seen,
460
00:33:20,973 --> 00:33:24,931
including transit guards,
they are black
461
00:33:27,311 --> 00:33:30,746
We are glimpsing
the Harlem,
462
00:33:30,814 --> 00:33:35,945
the black metropolis.
James Weldon Johnson "
463
00:33:39,989 --> 00:33:45,586
The Great Migration continued,
and in 1920,
464
00:33:45,627 --> 00:33:47,959
New York was home to more blacks
465
00:33:47,994 --> 00:33:52,155
than any other city
from the north, including Chicago.
466
00:33:52,833 --> 00:33:55,174
Most of them lived Uptown,
467
00:33:55,220 --> 00:33:59,406
in a beautiful neighborhood
formerly called Harlem.
468
00:34:01,274 --> 00:34:06,540
It was home to the National
the Progress of People of Color.
469
00:34:06,611 --> 00:34:10,206
The Urban League Headquarters
I was staying in Harlem.
470
00:34:10,282 --> 00:34:12,215
And also
Universal Association
471
00:34:12,283 --> 00:34:15,218
for the Progress of the Black,
by Marcus Garvey.
472
00:34:16,401 --> 00:34:21,226
Writer James Weldon Johnson,
the poet Langston Hughes,
473
00:34:21,624 --> 00:34:27,562
writer Zora Neale Hurston
and the civil rights activist,
474
00:34:27,629 --> 00:34:31,895
W. E. B. DuBois,
they all lived in Harlem.
475
00:34:31,967 --> 00:34:35,902
Like many other artists
who sought to understand
476
00:34:35,970 --> 00:34:38,905
the meaning of being black
and American,
477
00:34:38,973 --> 00:34:42,271
part of what would be called
the "Harlem Renaissance".
478
00:34:46,313 --> 00:34:49,577
Jazz musicians also
were attracted to Harlem.
479
00:34:49,648 --> 00:34:53,743
There was plenty of work in theaters,
nightclubs and dance halls.
480
00:34:53,818 --> 00:34:56,252
And, with the metr , Broadway
and record labels
481
00:34:56,321 --> 00:34:58,289
they were to a small
distance from there.
482
00:35:05,929 --> 00:35:09,193
The Harlem Music Hermis
were the masters of a dazzling
483
00:35:09,265 --> 00:35:12,723
virtuoso style of piano:
The stride.
484
00:35:15,770 --> 00:35:19,206
"It was orchestral piano",
one of his stars is remembered,
485
00:35:19,274 --> 00:35:22,868
"with expanded chords,
full, round,
486
00:35:22,943 --> 00:35:24,911
alternated with respect to
Right hand. "
487
00:35:37,789 --> 00:35:41,724
Its practitioners called themselves
of "tick-fangs",
488
00:35:41,792 --> 00:35:45,228
but the nicknames that gave
to each other - "The Bear",
489
00:35:45,296 --> 00:35:50,232
"The Beetle", "The Beast", "The Gross" -
they looked more like warriors,
490
00:35:50,300 --> 00:35:53,565
appropriate to the eternal
wars of piano,
491
00:35:53,637 --> 00:35:56,605
called "cut contests",
that they were locked together.
492
00:36:04,579 --> 00:36:09,174
In the beginning of 1923, Duke Ellington
and two old friends,
493
00:36:09,249 --> 00:36:13,515
the drummer Sonny Greer
and saxophonist Otto Hardwicke,
494
00:36:13,587 --> 00:36:16,521
moved to Harlem,
eager to discover
495
00:36:16,589 --> 00:36:20,184
if they had the talent they needed
to win in the city that the musicians
496
00:36:20,259 --> 00:36:23,227
of jazz would soon call
of "The Big Apple".
497
00:36:25,597 --> 00:36:29,192
"For us," Ellington recalled,
"Harlem had the weather
498
00:36:29,267 --> 00:36:33,225
most glamorous in the world.
We had to go there. "
499
00:36:36,607 --> 00:36:40,201
His first job in New York
was to accompany a vaudeville musician
500
00:36:40,276 --> 00:36:43,711
named Wilbur Sweatman,
which insisted that members
501
00:36:43,779 --> 00:36:48,239
of his band used p -de-arroz
to lighten the countenance.
502
00:36:49,952 --> 00:36:54,217
When Sweatman left the city,
Ellington and his friends were fighting.
503
00:36:54,288 --> 00:36:56,222
work at all costs,
Sometimes cheating on billiards.
504
00:36:56,290 --> 00:36:58,223
to be able to
if you feed,
505
00:36:58,291 --> 00:37:02,819
but always listening to the pianists
masters of stride.
506
00:37:02,896 --> 00:37:07,161
Willie "the Lion" Smith sympathized
with Ellington and his friends.
507
00:37:07,233 --> 00:37:11,169
He drove Ellington to work
and encouraged
508
00:37:11,237 --> 00:37:14,205
to try my hand at
"cut" contests.
509
00:37:20,577 --> 00:37:26,515
In the fall of 1923, Duke Ellington,
Sonny Greer and Otto Hardwicke
510
00:37:26,582 --> 00:37:30,177
moved to the center
to play at the Hollywood Inn,
511
00:37:30,253 --> 00:37:35,690
a pork club
close to Times Square.
512
00:37:35,757 --> 00:37:37,724
They were part of
now a band
513
00:37:37,725 --> 00:37:39,692
of six callers
"The Washingtonians"
514
00:37:39,760 --> 00:37:43,696
specialized in music
soft to dance.
515
00:37:44,493 --> 00:37:49,889
She was led by the banjo player
and small business owner Elmore Snowden.
516
00:37:50,603 --> 00:37:52,696
When the musicians discovered that
Snowden was pocketing
517
00:37:52,771 --> 00:37:55,706
more than your part
of the payment of the band,
518
00:37:55,774 --> 00:37:59,335
they expelled him and made
Duke Ellington the new leader.
519
00:38:01,545 --> 00:38:04,139
"It was at the Hollywood Inn",
said Ellington,
520
00:38:04,215 --> 00:38:08,173
"that our music has acquired
new colors and features. "
521
00:38:11,221 --> 00:38:16,487
He was absorbing everything: ragtime
that he had heard as a boy in Washington;
522
00:38:16,558 --> 00:38:20,653
the most sophisticated style of
Harlem stride masters;
523
00:38:20,728 --> 00:38:23,663
and the sound looser,
soaked in the blues of New Orleans,
524
00:38:23,731 --> 00:38:27,170
by Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong.
525
00:38:28,426 --> 00:38:31,795
All this soon
would reflect on your music.
526
00:38:32,739 --> 00:38:36,674
In the beginning, he played
music "of society".
527
00:38:36,742 --> 00:38:38,209
He would do ...
528
00:38:46,751 --> 00:38:48,843
I played with this
type of vibrato.
529
00:38:48,919 --> 00:38:51,183
And he heard the band.
of King Oliver.
530
00:38:51,255 --> 00:38:52,222
It was about ...
531
00:39:06,868 --> 00:39:09,131
He said, "That's it.
I want to do.
532
00:39:09,203 --> 00:39:11,467
I want to hear the clarinet,
the trombone,
533
00:39:11,539 --> 00:39:15,168
I want this rhythm
and the beat in 4/4. "
534
00:39:16,876 --> 00:39:22,814
In 1924, Duke Ellington was doing
his name in New York.
535
00:39:22,881 --> 00:39:27,147
He would start recording
and managed to sell some songs
536
00:39:27,219 --> 00:39:31,154
for music editors
of Tin Pan Alley.
537
00:39:31,222 --> 00:39:36,159
But he was still unsatisfied.
And confessed his unhappiness
538
00:39:36,227 --> 00:39:40,162
to his friend Will Marion Cooke,
a classical teacher
539
00:39:40,230 --> 00:39:42,198
and composer
of Broadway.
540
00:39:45,735 --> 00:39:48,670
During long races
of txi by Central Park,
541
00:39:48,738 --> 00:39:50,705
the two were talking
about music.
542
00:39:53,575 --> 00:39:55,167
Cooke recommended Ellington
that he obtained
543
00:39:55,243 --> 00:39:57,710
a classic formation
in the conservatoire.
544
00:39:59,413 --> 00:40:02,678
Ellington felt that no
had time for this.
545
00:40:02,750 --> 00:40:05,217
"They are not teaching
I want to learn, "he complained.
546
00:40:07,765 --> 00:40:11,700
"In that case," Cooke told him,
"first find the logical path;
547
00:40:11,768 --> 00:40:18,047
when you find it, avoid it and let it
your inner self manifest and guide you.
548
00:40:18,107 --> 00:40:22,703
Do not try to be anyone
not to be you. "
549
00:40:22,778 --> 00:40:26,736
It was advice that Duke Ellington
would go on for his entire life.
550
00:40:28,282 --> 00:40:31,217
Duke Ellington knew how to
pick up what "could be"
551
00:40:31,285 --> 00:40:33,718
and transform it
in something concrete.
552
00:40:33,787 --> 00:40:35,220
He understood what it was
I need to
553
00:40:35,288 --> 00:40:38,745
transform something invisible
visible.
554
00:41:02,245 --> 00:41:04,679
"We meet for the
first time - jazz and me -
555
00:41:04,747 --> 00:41:08,614
I do not dance
of the Barbary Coast.
556
00:41:08,750 --> 00:41:12,186
He squealed and roared at me.
on an improvised stage,
557
00:41:12,254 --> 00:41:15,689
in the middle of a smoky environment
cigarette and beer steaming.
558
00:41:15,756 --> 00:41:20,192
And it hit me hard.
Strident Yes.
559
00:41:20,260 --> 00:41:23,525
Rough?
Undoubtedly.
560
00:41:23,596 --> 00:41:29,227
Musical? As sure as you're alive.
Paul Whiteman "
561
00:41:36,774 --> 00:41:41,210
Paul Whiteman was a
violinist from Colorado,
562
00:41:41,278 --> 00:41:43,872
formed in conservatoire,
who has abandoned a classic career
563
00:41:43,947 --> 00:41:47,212
after listening to a jazz band
one night in S o Francisco.
564
00:41:47,783 --> 00:41:49,717
He was totally amazed.
565
00:41:49,785 --> 00:41:52,219
There was so much force,
was funny.
566
00:41:52,288 --> 00:41:53,880
He got up sad
and came back
567
00:41:53,956 --> 00:41:56,219
at home at night
floating.
568
00:41:56,291 --> 00:41:58,225
He had a good time.
569
00:41:58,293 --> 00:42:00,659
In view of their formation
570
00:42:01,728 --> 00:42:03,662
Your father was a teacher.
of music and played
571
00:42:03,730 --> 00:42:05,823
Viola in an orchestra
symphonic -
572
00:42:05,899 --> 00:42:09,163
he did not think
to play jazz
573
00:42:09,235 --> 00:42:12,204
that way, but
in converting it to its mode.
574
00:42:13,739 --> 00:42:16,832
Whiteman was convinced that
could find a way to
575
00:42:16,908 --> 00:42:21,174
to orchestrate jazz, to make it even more
more commercially viable,
576
00:42:21,246 --> 00:42:24,681
to retain their rhythm and harmony
while making him so precise
577
00:42:24,748 --> 00:42:28,684
and predictable
the classic music.
578
00:42:28,752 --> 00:42:33,552
His arrangements, he said,
to make jazz a lady.
579
00:42:38,594 --> 00:42:43,860
He got his first big success
in 1920 with the album "Whispering".
580
00:42:43,931 --> 00:42:47,032
Smooth, broadly orchestrated,
581
00:42:47,475 --> 00:42:49,799
he sold
2 and a half million units,
582
00:42:50,270 --> 00:42:55,902
more than 250 times what "Chimes Blues"
of Oliver and Armstrong, would sell.
583
00:42:58,777 --> 00:43:02,144
The Paul Whiteman Orchestra
soon became the most celebrated
584
00:43:02,214 --> 00:43:07,150
and imitated from the United States,
launching a new trend
585
00:43:07,218 --> 00:43:09,686
In dance music
of society.
586
00:43:23,733 --> 00:43:29,170
On February 12, 1924,
a crowd appeared
587
00:43:29,237 --> 00:43:33,172
at the Aeolian Hall in New York,
to listen to the orchestra of Paul Whiteman
588
00:43:33,240 --> 00:43:38,199
to play what has been announced as a
"modern music experiment".
589
00:43:40,747 --> 00:43:43,181
The concert included a
brand new work,
590
00:43:43,249 --> 00:43:47,184
specially commissioned to a
young New York composer,
591
00:43:47,252 --> 00:43:52,188
son of Russian immigrants,
called George Gershwin,
592
00:43:52,256 --> 00:43:55,191
who, like Duke Ellington,
had spent hours and hours
593
00:43:55,259 --> 00:43:58,228
listening to black pianists
in Harlem.
594
00:44:00,196 --> 00:44:04,132
The music of Gershwin
was something entirely new,
595
00:44:04,200 --> 00:44:08,465
a classic piece impregnated
of jazz feeling.
596
00:44:08,537 --> 00:44:11,631
And she would become
one of the most loved compositions
597
00:44:11,707 --> 00:44:16,666
of all American music:
"Rhapsody in Blue".
598
00:44:46,203 --> 00:44:50,161
The concert was a huge success.
Four hours of elegant music
599
00:44:50,239 --> 00:44:55,175
and orchestral, with no sign
of improvisation.
600
00:44:55,890 --> 00:45:01,447
And almost immediately Paul Whiteman
was appointed as the King of Jazz.
601
00:45:02,683 --> 00:45:05,117
Of course it left
many blacks,
602
00:45:05,186 --> 00:45:07,620
at the time and then,
crazy of life,
603
00:45:07,688 --> 00:45:10,121
because it was too obvious:
Paul "White Man"
604
00:45:10,190 --> 00:45:11,623
was the king of jazz.
Apparently,
605
00:45:12,692 --> 00:45:16,149
Whiteman himself will never
intended to be none of that.
606
00:45:18,697 --> 00:45:22,632
One day critics would accuse
Whiteman of diluting the jazz,
607
00:45:22,700 --> 00:45:25,635
and steal it from
black Americans.
608
00:45:25,703 --> 00:45:29,661
But Whiteman has always acknowledged
the debt he had.
609
00:45:31,208 --> 00:45:33,642
The whites got involved
with jazz
610
00:45:33,710 --> 00:45:37,145
not for the purpose
to mock the blacks
611
00:45:37,213 --> 00:45:39,647
or devilt them,
but taking into account
612
00:45:39,715 --> 00:45:42,149
that was
an art form
613
00:45:42,217 --> 00:45:47,154
that they wanted to get
express in its own way,
614
00:45:47,222 --> 00:45:49,155
respecting it and raising it.
615
00:45:49,223 --> 00:45:51,657
That makes it
Whiteman important.
616
00:45:51,725 --> 00:45:53,659
He wanted to get
that music
617
00:45:53,727 --> 00:45:56,160
with its own terms.
618
00:45:56,229 --> 00:45:58,663
This would have a
about all those
619
00:45:58,731 --> 00:46:01,131
associated with this music,
white or black.
620
00:46:02,669 --> 00:46:06,104
Whiteman was working
behind the cloth to black arrangers
621
00:46:06,171 --> 00:46:09,607
and wanted to hire musicians too.
black for your orchestra.
622
00:46:09,675 --> 00:46:14,134
But even in the Jazz Age
this was impossible.
623
00:46:19,683 --> 00:46:22,618
In the same year of triumph
of Whiteman at Aeolian Hall,
624
00:46:22,686 --> 00:46:25,620
a young black band leader,
called Fletcher Henderson,
625
00:46:25,688 --> 00:46:29,624
presented in the main salon of
New York dances, the Roseland,
626
00:46:29,692 --> 00:46:34,151
Times Square, playing
only for whites.
627
00:46:36,698 --> 00:46:39,632
Soft-spoken, Henderson was a son
of a piano teacher
628
00:46:39,700 --> 00:46:43,466
and a school principal, and had come
Northern New York State
629
00:46:43,537 --> 00:46:47,472
behind a chemistry degree
at the University of Columbia.
630
00:46:47,540 --> 00:46:51,135
But when their economies were over,
he turned to music
631
00:46:51,210 --> 00:46:54,178
and was swept away by
jazz madness.
632
00:46:56,715 --> 00:47:01,083
At Roseland, he became famous
for playing music to dance
633
00:47:01,151 --> 00:47:03,585
with a refinement
unmatched by any other
634
00:47:03,654 --> 00:47:07,111
black band-leader from
James Reese Europe.
635
00:47:09,659 --> 00:47:13,594
There were two kings of the scene
of bands in NY.
636
00:47:13,662 --> 00:47:15,095
There was the white king,
Paul Whiteman,
637
00:47:15,163 --> 00:47:17,597
that had the best
white musicians of the country,
638
00:47:17,666 --> 00:47:19,599
and there was F. Henderson,
who had the
639
00:47:19,667 --> 00:47:23,603
best black musicians.
They were friends
640
00:47:23,671 --> 00:47:26,639
and if they helped,
exchanging arrangements etc.
641
00:47:27,173 --> 00:47:31,610
One night, Whiteman took his
band to hear Henderson's.
642
00:47:31,678 --> 00:47:33,110
And then i said
to their musicians who,
643
00:47:33,178 --> 00:47:38,115
if Fletcher were white,
would be a millionaire.
644
00:47:38,183 --> 00:47:41,117
But like Duke Ellington,
Henderson became restless
645
00:47:41,185 --> 00:47:44,621
with conventional dance music
that had been playing.
646
00:47:44,689 --> 00:47:47,623
He was determined
to create a style of yours.
647
00:47:47,691 --> 00:47:50,967
I wanted to combine elegance
of your previous arrangements
648
00:47:51,002 --> 00:47:52,628
with something more exciting,
649
00:47:52,696 --> 00:47:57,792
more stimulating,
more spontaneous.
650
00:47:57,867 --> 00:48:01,563
Fletcher Henderson started looking for
a soloist, a jazz specialist,
651
00:48:01,636 --> 00:48:05,572
so he called him,
that could help him.
652
00:48:05,640 --> 00:48:08,574
He knew of a trumpeter
of King Oliver's band in Chicago,
653
00:48:08,642 --> 00:48:13,579
whose genius other musicians
they began to speak.
654
00:48:13,647 --> 00:48:18,083
It would take a while, but when
managed to convince that specialist
655
00:48:18,151 --> 00:48:22,109
to go to New York,
jazz would change forever.
656
00:48:27,159 --> 00:48:31,117
TO MAKE THE
ANGELS CHORAREM
657
00:48:32,830 --> 00:48:36,094
For almost two years,
Louis Armstrong remained
658
00:48:36,166 --> 00:48:39,602
in the Creole Jazz Band
of King Oliver.
659
00:48:39,669 --> 00:48:44,605
There was also in the band a
pianist named Lil Hardin.
660
00:48:44,673 --> 00:48:49,132
She was unlike any other
a woman Armstrong had known.
661
00:48:50,178 --> 00:48:53,113
I always listened
the musicians speak
662
00:48:53,181 --> 00:48:54,614
about little Louis
and how
663
00:48:54,682 --> 00:48:56,615
he would be a great
trumpeter
664
00:48:56,683 --> 00:48:59,208
Little Louis.
And when they brought him
665
00:48:59,286 --> 00:49:01,049
to Dreamland to
to know me,
666
00:49:01,121 --> 00:49:04,055
I saw that he was about 100kg.
667
00:49:04,123 --> 00:49:06,717
I asked, "Why do they call him
of little Louis,
668
00:49:06,792 --> 00:49:09,056
with all that size? "
669
00:49:09,128 --> 00:49:11,561
I was not at all impressed.
670
00:49:11,629 --> 00:49:12,721
I did not like it at all,
671
00:49:12,797 --> 00:49:16,562
the way of dressing,
of the way of speaking.
672
00:49:16,633 --> 00:49:18,066
At last, he climbed the platform.
673
00:49:18,135 --> 00:49:20,729
And I played ...
You know, the girls
674
00:49:20,804 --> 00:49:23,068
used leagues to
hold the stockings.
675
00:49:23,140 --> 00:49:24,572
When I sat down
to touch,
676
00:49:24,640 --> 00:49:27,404
I lowered my socks
even the height
677
00:49:27,476 --> 00:49:30,069
below the knee.
678
00:49:30,145 --> 00:49:32,579
A 1a. Thing that Louis
saw it was my knee.
679
00:49:32,647 --> 00:49:36,083
And how he looked at him.
I thought: "It's better.
680
00:49:36,151 --> 00:49:39,119
he does not transform
their ideas in words. "
681
00:49:40,654 --> 00:49:43,003
Lil Hardin was ambitious,
682
00:49:43,051 --> 00:49:46,822
articulated and, like Armstrong,
unhappy in marriage.
683
00:49:47,493 --> 00:49:52,088
Despite its first impression,
she eventually fell in love with him.
684
00:49:52,164 --> 00:49:58,102
On February 5, 1924,
Louis Armstrong, recmm-divorced
685
00:49:58,169 --> 00:50:03,607
of his first wife, he married
with Lil Hardin in Chicago.
686
00:50:03,674 --> 00:50:07,109
Lil encouraged Armstrong to follow
his own way, but he was
687
00:50:07,177 --> 00:50:11,613
reluctant to leave the man who
I still called him Mr. Joe.
688
00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:14,444
He said that he owed her a lot.
and that was not right
689
00:50:14,516 --> 00:50:17,610
if it would be successful
on its own account.
690
00:50:17,686 --> 00:50:23,624
But Lil persisted: "I do not want to be
married to the second trumpeter.
691
00:50:23,691 --> 00:50:25,658
I want you
be the first. "
692
00:50:28,695 --> 00:50:32,790
Then, in the spring of 1924,
Armstrong received a proposal
693
00:50:32,865 --> 00:50:34,958
that I could not ignore.
694
00:50:35,034 --> 00:50:39,470
Fletcher Henderson wanted
he would go to New York.
695
00:50:39,537 --> 00:50:42,631
As on his arrival in Chicago,
two years before,
696
00:50:42,707 --> 00:50:46,665
Armstrong's estrangement in New York
it was not auspicious.
697
00:50:47,544 --> 00:50:49,637
"Drummer Kaiser Marshall
had a car and took us
698
00:50:49,713 --> 00:50:52,648
to the center for
know Louis.
699
00:50:52,716 --> 00:50:57,482
He was big and fat and wore tennis shoes.
long barrel with tabs.
700
00:50:57,553 --> 00:51:02,751
When I saw that, I thought to myself,
Who the hell is this guy?
701
00:51:02,824 --> 00:51:07,123
It can not be Louis Armstrong. '
Don Redman. "
702
00:51:09,664 --> 00:51:13,600
Louis Armstrong, raised in poverty
the streets of New Orleans,
703
00:51:13,667 --> 00:51:18,604
it could not be more different than
your new and sophisticated employer.
704
00:51:18,672 --> 00:51:22,607
But almost from the start,
Armstrong influenced
705
00:51:22,675 --> 00:51:25,143
one in every two musicians
of the city.
706
00:51:27,845 --> 00:51:30,439
I came to NY in 1924.
It was the first time
707
00:51:31,516 --> 00:51:33,609
I heard Louis live.
708
00:51:33,685 --> 00:51:37,450
Fletcher did not have music
for him at this time.
709
00:51:37,521 --> 00:51:41,116
He would sit there,
holding the trumpet,
710
00:51:41,191 --> 00:51:43,454
waiting for the time to manor.
711
00:51:43,526 --> 00:51:45,118
And when he arrived
the moment he gets
712
00:51:45,194 --> 00:51:47,128
stood up and played
made the devil.
713
00:51:47,196 --> 00:51:49,663
The public was delirious.
714
00:51:51,533 --> 00:51:56,128
The Armstrong Solos
transformed the band.
715
00:51:56,203 --> 00:52:00,731
Don Redman, the Henderson Arranger,
started writing new pieces
716
00:52:00,808 --> 00:52:04,573
which featured the powerful trumpet
by Armstrong
717
00:52:04,644 --> 00:52:08,580
and his unrivaled rhythmic sense,
what Henderson himself called
718
00:52:08,648 --> 00:52:12,105
of the "balance" of New Orleans
by Armstrong.
719
00:52:14,653 --> 00:52:19,419
"One night at Roseland, Armstrong
began to play 'Shanghai Shuffle'.
720
00:52:19,490 --> 00:52:25,257
I think they made him play about ten solos.
And I was silent,
721
00:52:25,328 --> 00:52:30,094
feeling half-hearted, thinking
if he could someday achieve a
722
00:52:30,165 --> 00:52:36,225
small part of Armstrong's greatness.
Coleman Hawkins. "
723
00:52:37,206 --> 00:52:39,105
Armstrong transformed
the orchestra,
724
00:52:39,173 --> 00:52:42,108
the musicians of it and,
in the last instance,
725
00:52:42,176 --> 00:52:44,609
everyone else in NY
who were playing jazz,
726
00:52:44,678 --> 00:52:47,112
and popular musicians.
727
00:52:47,180 --> 00:52:49,114
He brought, first,
728
00:52:49,182 --> 00:52:53,117
a tremendous
rhythmic animation.
729
00:52:53,185 --> 00:52:56,120
Armstrong was economical.
He played
730
00:52:56,188 --> 00:52:58,621
few notes,
but each counted
731
00:52:58,690 --> 00:53:00,555
and it represented something.
Therefore,
732
00:53:00,625 --> 00:53:03,093
equally important,
he brought the blues.
733
00:53:06,130 --> 00:53:08,564
Armstrong demonstrated
what the blues
734
00:53:08,632 --> 00:53:11,065
maybe it was the biggest
musical gift
735
00:53:11,134 --> 00:53:13,102
already produced in the USA.
736
00:53:16,639 --> 00:53:19,072
He played blues
with such conviction,
737
00:53:19,141 --> 00:53:23,077
feeling and vigor
that everyone wanted it.
738
00:53:23,145 --> 00:53:26,580
Duke Ellington
I was in NY.
739
00:53:26,647 --> 00:53:27,579
He accompanied singers,
Had one
740
00:53:27,648 --> 00:53:30,583
small band,
but he lacked something.
741
00:53:30,651 --> 00:53:33,118
And he did not know what it was
even hear Armstrong.
742
00:53:48,166 --> 00:53:53,102
Suingue take note
right at the right time,
743
00:53:53,170 --> 00:53:56,606
neither before nor after.
744
00:53:56,673 --> 00:54:00,039
Therefore, in jazz,
that a rhythmic music,
745
00:54:00,109 --> 00:54:04,045
I need to have
time and pulse.
746
00:54:04,113 --> 00:54:05,410
By touching, you make ...
747
00:54:07,782 --> 00:54:09,079
it can not be
748
00:54:12,120 --> 00:54:13,087
(I.e.
749
00:54:18,125 --> 00:54:22,060
And keep it up.
Do not change.
750
00:54:22,128 --> 00:54:23,655
Like the beat
of the heart.
751
00:54:23,690 --> 00:54:25,563
You look at the audience,
he understand,
752
00:54:25,631 --> 00:54:27,723
begins to accompany
with the p
753
00:54:27,799 --> 00:54:30,563
and then it goes
stand up and swing.
754
00:54:30,635 --> 00:54:34,070
This is what makes
jazz solo
755
00:54:34,138 --> 00:54:35,605
and with such greatness.
756
00:54:36,640 --> 00:54:39,357
"No one," said one musician,
757
00:54:39,763 --> 00:54:43,302
"I knew what it was to whistle
until Louis appears. "
758
00:54:44,647 --> 00:54:47,582
The arrival of Armstrong
in September 1924
759
00:54:47,649 --> 00:54:49,583
was fundamental,
because he was the most
760
00:54:49,651 --> 00:54:51,414
important musician
world jazz
761
00:54:51,487 --> 00:54:53,580
and was at greater
city of the country,
762
00:54:53,655 --> 00:54:57,613
teaching your band more
important to swing.
763
00:55:07,100 --> 00:55:09,693
He plays dances to
young black people in Uptown
764
00:55:09,768 --> 00:55:11,531
and change careers
such as those of
765
00:55:11,604 --> 00:55:14,038
Rex Stewart, G. Rogers
and musicians
766
00:55:14,106 --> 00:55:16,869
of the saxophone section
of Ellington.
767
00:55:16,941 --> 00:55:18,533
Russel Procoe was
violinist when
768
00:55:18,610 --> 00:55:20,544
heard Armstrong.
He said, "I will play
769
00:55:20,612 --> 00:55:23,045
an appropriate instrument
for this music. "
770
00:55:23,113 --> 00:55:26,048
And started playing
high saxophone
771
00:55:26,116 --> 00:55:28,050
In addition,
nY was the best place
772
00:55:28,118 --> 00:55:30,551
for recordings.
Louis Armstrong
773
00:55:30,620 --> 00:55:33,555
can make recordings
freelance.
774
00:55:33,623 --> 00:55:37,058
He recorded with Bessie Smith,
Ma Rainey,
775
00:55:37,125 --> 00:55:40,390
and Clarence's Blue Five
Williams, with Sidney Bechet.
776
00:55:40,462 --> 00:55:41,554
And the disks reach
a public who
777
00:55:41,630 --> 00:55:45,725
You can not go to Roseland.
or Uptown.
778
00:55:45,799 --> 00:55:47,391
Jazz is signed because
Louis came
779
00:55:47,468 --> 00:55:50,095
to NY and taught
the world to wheeze.
780
00:55:53,473 --> 00:55:55,566
Ladies and gentlemen,
let's give one
781
00:55:55,642 --> 00:55:58,576
Little back in the jungle
and we want
782
00:55:58,644 --> 00:56:00,509
that you all
follow us.
783
00:56:00,579 --> 00:56:03,013
That tiger is
running very fast
784
00:56:03,081 --> 00:56:05,674
and it will be necessary
some solos to reach it.
785
00:56:05,750 --> 00:56:08,014
So count on me.
Yes sir.
786
00:56:08,085 --> 00:56:09,677
This trumpet Selmer
will escape
787
00:56:09,754 --> 00:56:13,052
of you this time.
Careful, boys, I'm ready.
788
00:56:48,620 --> 00:56:52,055
Louis Armstrong invented
a new style of playing.
789
00:56:52,122 --> 00:56:55,558
He created the coherent soil.
790
00:56:55,626 --> 00:56:59,652
He merged the blues sound with
the American popular song.
791
00:56:59,729 --> 00:57:02,994
Armstrong extended the reach
of the trumpet.
792
00:57:03,066 --> 00:57:06,501
Created melodic vocabulary
and rhythmic
793
00:57:06,568 --> 00:57:08,695
of which big bands
wrote the music.
794
00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:21,513
In the last instance,
Armstrong
795
00:57:21,581 --> 00:57:23,549
fits the definition
of a genius.
796
00:57:26,585 --> 00:57:28,519
I think, in part,
for listening
797
00:57:28,587 --> 00:57:30,555
something that no one else hears.
798
00:57:34,092 --> 00:57:38,529
He listened to rhythms,
melodies and a sound,
799
00:57:38,596 --> 00:57:44,033
a means of extending your voice
on the trumpet. All very original.
800
00:57:44,101 --> 00:57:47,036
The result is so powerful,
801
00:57:47,104 --> 00:57:50,539
spiritual person
how much is enough
802
00:57:50,606 --> 00:57:53,074
to make the angels cry.
66902
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.