Join us for our second of two annual Louis Armstrong Birthday Broadcast this August!

This year, we will start our August broadcast at 11PM on August 3rd, and end at 9PM on August 5th. A total of 46 hours of non-stop Louis!

In his autobiography, Swing That Music, Louis Armstrong titled the first chapter “Jazz and I Get Born Together.” Dating his birthday July 4, 1900, Armstrong created a mythology that linked his own birth to the birth of Jazz and the birth of America. While he may have been mistaken about the exact date (most historians believe it's August 4th), he was not wrong to connect his life with the beginnings of this American art form. It is now believed that his actual birthday was on August 4th, so we celebrate both dates with an all-day broadcast of the great's music. He grew up surrounded by music in New Orleans and in 1922, he joined Joe “King” Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band in Chicago, the burgeoning epicenter of Jazz at the time. In 1924, as the Jazz scene grew in New York, he brought swing to Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra. His approach to swing became the definitive sound of his era. Recording with the Hot Fives and the Hot Sevens, he took New Orleans polyphony to its pinnacle. He went on to make many classic recordings in collaborations with jazz greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck, and Duke Ellington, and with his larger ensembles. His expression on the cornet and trumpet was complimented and contrasted by his singular vocal style. He was lauded in his own time, and his recordings have been cherished by generations. We will preempt all regular programming all day this August 4th to celebrate the life, legacy, and music of the great Louis Armstrong!

Full Schedule:

11PM-2AM: Duets Part I; Schuyler Rabbin-Birnbaum plays Louis and Duke, Louis and Oscar, and Louis and Bing

2AM-7AM: Phil Schaap Archival Broadcast originally broadcast on 8/4/2016 - For Louis Armstrong's (actual) 115th birthday, Phil plays Pops' recordings from 1924 to 1928 as a freelance artist and as a leader.

7AM-10:30AM: Phil Schaap Archival Broadcast originally broadcast on 2/8/2020 - Traditions in Swing; Part 2 of 6 in a series celebrating African American leaders of integrated bands in the 1940s, this show covering Louis Armstrong.

10:30AM-12PM: Phil Schaap Archival Broadcast originally broadcast on 8/4/2010

12PM-3PM: Matthew "Fat Cat" Rivera with Ricky Riccardi

3PM-6PM: Sam Seliger

6PM-9PM: Sharif Abdus-Salaam

9PM-12AM: Benjamin Magid

12AM-3AM: Duets Part II; Schuyler Rabbin-Birnbaum plays Ella and Louis

3AM-8AM: Phil Schaap Archival Broadcast originally broadcast on 8/4/2019 - Phil features a set of the Hot Fives recordings, moving thematically in reverse chronological order.

8AM-12PM: Phil Schaap Archival Broadcast originally broadcast on 8/7/2010 - Phil discusses Louis Armstrong's earliest recordings and variations to his Hot 5's recordings as an addendum to 8/4/10 birthday broadcast.

12PM-3PM: Charles Smith

3PM-6PM: Sid Gribetz

6PM-9PM: Cliff Preiss