Build it, and they will come. They’ll jam, too!
The Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Armstrong Now series continues to keep the joint jumping with two concerts in December.
South African vocalist Vuyo Sotashe performs on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 3 pm.
Currently part of the NYC scene, Sotashe is a Fulbright Scholar who won first prize at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Vocal Competition in 2014 and placed third in the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocal competition. He’ll share the stage with Chris Pattishall (piano), Jonathan Michel (bass), and Ahmad T. Johnson (drums).
Tickets cost $$28.52.
The series continues with Amyra León, who’s finishing her 2023 artist-in-residence program, on
Accompanied by a full band, León will spearhead an afternoon of poetry and music, while delving into Armstrong’s legacy as she understands it after a year of exploring his archives.
The Armstrong House unveiled a visitors center last summer. The 14,000-square-foot venue features a permanent home for the trumpeter/band leader’s 60,000-piece archive and a state-of-the-art, 75-seat performance spot where these concerts will take place.
Satchmo is often associated with New Orleans, where he grew up. However, the only piece of land he ever owned is a two-story, unattached brick house at 34-56 107th St. that his wife, Lucille, and he bought for about $8,000 in 1943. Lucille, a former singer at Harlem’s Cotton Club, outlived him and donated the property to the city for use as a museum upon her death in 1983. Nobody else lived in this national and city landmark after the Armstrongs, so the inside is just like it was when they were there. The visitors center is across the street.
Again, tickets are $$28.52.
Top image: Vuyo Sotashe; bottom image: Amyra León