RADIO/PODCAST: It's All in the Game: Louis Armstrong, 1947-57

In the spring of 1947 trumpeter Louis Armstrong was 45 years old-considered by some critics and fans to be all but washed up, with his best years behind him and his music made irrelevant by the rising force of bebop. For 20 years he had been one of jazz's leading, most influential figures. He was appearing in a new movie, set in his native New Orleans, and he remained a popular artist. But he was facing some daunting challenges as commercial and aesthetic styles in music began to change rapidly ...

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