tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77848474928514379272024-02-07T00:02:24.843-05:00Louis Armstrong Dead at....69Year 7 in Margo Mensing's Dead at SeriesMargo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-88716768752909691892011-10-01T09:52:00.000-04:002011-10-01T09:52:25.019-04:00It does not end with Louis Armstrong's death on July 6, 1971<!--[if !mso]>
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<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]> 0 0 1 1953 9453 Skidmore College 210 31 11375 14.0 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false false EN-US JA X-NONEMargo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-5953706722231611592011-09-10T23:22:00.006-04:002011-09-13T20:35:49.356-04:00-1-Tears—Lil HardinEvery year as September approaches, the person I am closest to announces, “You never go swimming after Labor Day.” Labor Day – the great divide between fun and responsibility.
Fun and letting be, not so much the balance between but the constant swaying, the back and forth—this has something to do with Lil Hardin. Lil liked to think of herself as a good time girl, the Hot Miss Lil. Like most of usMargo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-9782127008117988782011-08-02T23:12:00.000-04:002011-08-02T23:12:58.313-04:00-3-Lil Hardin Armstrong: Idlewild Summer<!--StartFragment-->
August 2, 2011 is the beginning of the end of my year with Louis Armstrong. Maybe I chose this date to begin the end because it is my anniversary, accompanied by rumblings of a small hope that sometime, likely on a lake, there’d be a conversation. Death intervened; a long relationship ended, now closed.
A sultry day in early August—I’m tuned to Lil Hardin Armstrong, second Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-25608858818187838022011-07-29T16:17:00.002-04:002011-07-30T08:52:58.609-04:00Stormy Stoptime Photos
Saratoga Springs,
Stoptime Louis Armstrong Festival July 6, 2011
Photo Round Up
(unless otherwise indicated, all photos Copyright: Andrzej "Andre" Pilarczyk. Contact: Pilarphotog@yahoo.com)
Zankel Music Center, Ladd Hall, Skidmore College
Stoptime first event— Hal Miller talks about Louis Armstrong's music with clips from his live performances and films
Spring Street Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-40460434760340873752011-07-19T22:00:00.001-04:002011-07-19T22:05:02.814-04:00Stormy WeatherJuly 6 was always going to be a walk on the sunny side of the street. The weather WOULD be good; I just felt it. Not that I’m the eternal or even sometimes optimist when it comes to weather. Addicted to the sun, a gray day can seriously affect my mood. That’s why I banked on sunshine for Stoptime. Congress Park right after the 4th of July, what could be sunnier?
Those working with me pointed out Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-61297814622996971042011-07-03T07:15:00.001-04:002011-07-03T07:48:21.334-04:00"The Handkerchief Notes"
<!--StartFragment-->Three days to Stoptime: www.stoptimesaratoga.com<!--EndFragment-->
A few days after writing the “Handkerchiefs” post on February 11, John and I drove to Florida and back in nine days, a trip all about driving and the weather. Sort of a vacation, more about visiting John’s dad, very spry at 93. He spends almost every day working on parts of small airplanes in his Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-23593777283424822742011-06-30T11:59:00.003-04:002011-07-04T19:52:06.022-04:00Stewart’s Shops Support Stoptime
Stoptime: www.stoptimesaratoga.com
Thanks to Stewart’s Shops and especially to Tom Mailey for honoring Stoptime with a Flavor Special June 27 through July 6. On Flavor Boards in 47 Stewart’s Shops in and around Saratoga Springs, Flavor Strips with Stoptime’s logo and FIREWORKS announce the perfect flavor for the Louis Armstrong Festival.
If you’d like Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-55495172699037719292011-06-27T21:15:00.001-04:002011-06-27T21:23:59.637-04:00We Have All the Time in the WorldNine days to Stoptime: www.stoptimesaratoga.com
I’m as excited about hearing Louis Armstrong’s music playing at the Congress Park Carousel throughout Stoptime on July 6 as I am about all the events. Twenty-one Louis Armstrong favorites will play for one hour and repeat twice between 5 and 8 PM. I chose songs to please children AND their parents. The mix covers his lifetime of recordings. Early Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-21970361693249529142011-06-21T07:16:00.000-04:002011-06-21T07:16:42.000-04:00AM101: Learning Municipal Ropes<!--StartFragment-->
Fifteen days to Stoptime: www.stoptimesaratoga.com
I began a post titled “How Did I turn into Joe Glaser?” in early April. I was stewing about staging Stoptime. How did I get myself into this—spending days calling people I did not know, trying to convince them to perform in or publicize Stoptime, asking them to push it to the top of their To Do list, waiting for call backs Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-70462386507579700832011-06-15T07:03:00.001-04:002011-06-15T07:07:50.976-04:00Triple Play Plus the FathersEveryone present kept the buzz going all weekend. You had to be there. The “there”— Zankel Music Center, Skidmore College, Friday, June 10. The concert—Triple Play (Chris Brubeck (bass trombone, piano, guitar), Joel Brown (acoustic guitar) and Peter Madcat Ruth (harmonica). The large new music hall was packed to the gills, a home town crowd, there to hear Joel Brown, for many years, much beloved Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-13814004933526839232011-06-08T09:10:00.006-04:002011-06-08T09:59:24.094-04:00FireworksFireworks are in the Air!
Listen to Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five play Spencer Williams’s “Fireworks.” Note that snappy lift off with breaks!
Louis Armstrong and The Hot Five recorded “Fireworks” on June 27, 1928—Armstrong’s only recording of this song (summer in Chicago hot! hot!). This session of the Hot Five was actually the Hot Six: Louis Armstrong (Trumpet), Fred Robinson, (Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-81269346511547663602011-05-31T23:23:00.002-04:002011-06-02T18:31:34.128-04:00"12 O'Clock News": "And the Jolt" Sprung everything
Moulin RougeLas Vegas, Nevada Aug. 2 nd 1955
Dear Mr. Glaser” Am sorry that I have to write this letter with a pen, but, on arriving at the air port in Las Vegas Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-84536095515731402162011-05-22T15:57:00.004-04:002011-05-31T23:25:38.943-04:00Waiting at Idlewild, John Updike Hears Louis Armstong
Listen to "Flight to Limbo"
“Flight to Limbo” by John Updike. This poem first appeared in Poetry Magazine in the January 1997 issue and is under copyright.
The lines “Louis Armstrong sang in some upper corner,a trickle of ignored joy” arrive in the middle of John Updike’s “Flight to Limbo.” Armstrong’s voice familiar, the phrase itself familiar, perhaps “Hello Dolly, This is Louis, Dolly.” TheMargo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-16172381720561937352011-05-16T10:08:00.005-04:002011-05-16T10:34:13.966-04:00The Flood BluesIt’s raining in upstate New York, supposed to continue for days. Rivers and lakes remain high, but flooding is over. This corner of the world is a safe haven compared to the Louisiana river corridor. Up and down the Mississippi people are rounding up their animals, leaving, and watching their houses float away. It has happened many times. The story of most famous flood, The Great Flood, April 21,Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-65094422864022882332011-05-10T13:43:00.014-04:002011-05-16T10:40:56.979-04:00The House Finch Waits to Flee Like a BirdI first sighted the house finch yesterday afternoon. From inside the window at my writing table I saw him hopping, then walking slowly about the deck. He did not fly but he did not appear injured. He was quite handsome, sun glinting off his bright red back feathers.
After some time a female appeared, a walking in similar circles, accompanying him. They looked back and forth but did not approach Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-1504429173292857792011-05-03T20:10:00.002-04:002011-05-04T10:00:38.230-04:00What is Stoptime?
When about talking Stoptime with friends and strangers, the first question people ask is “Why Louis Armstrong?” The second is “What is stoptime?” It’s time that I spend a little time defining this common jazz term. But first here is Stoptime’s “Hotter than That” logo designed by Patrick O’Rourke. It heads the News Release sent out to all the local and regional publications, radio and TV stationsMargo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-11018380060113191572011-04-26T14:12:00.007-04:002011-06-16T07:16:09.759-04:00Hal Miller - a collector of sorts
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I first heard Hal Miller's name last November, soon after I opened the book of Louis Armstrong. Given my dearth of jazz knowledge, I needed ear and eye knowledge to complement my book learning. The first musician I turned to told me to talk with Hal Miller. “Miller knows most all there is to know about jazz history. He’s built an enormous collection of DVDs slowly Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-43378194738928626742011-04-09T13:47:00.003-04:002011-04-09T20:26:46.469-04:00Willie Armstrong
Louis Armstrong’s father, Willie Armstrong, worked in a turpentine factory. He married or did not marry Mayann, Louis’s mother. He left the family soon after Louis’s sister, Mama Lucy, was born. He died in 1933. From these bare facts Louis embroidered a short, bitter text. He told the story of his childhood and wrote it over and over. In his eyes his father was of little consequence. Louis Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-71778738380072464302011-04-02T07:48:00.008-04:002011-04-02T14:17:44.557-04:00Learn to be your own teacher—Lee Shaw
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font-family: "Lucida Margo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7784847492851437927.post-14554954489723992192011-03-07T09:15:00.039-05:002011-03-07T18:54:36.759-05:00"Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train"“Hobo, You Can’t Ride the Train” shuffles up while I walk in a stiff wind. Though I like to imagine I’ve worked my way through all the songs Armstrong recorded, I’m probably not even close. Actually, this is good, an opportunity to think and write about a song not endlessly picked apart in readings on jazz history or the Louis Armstrong story.
Hobo conjures the Depression, evoking the deprivationMargo Mensinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01885192071488214486noreply@blogger.com0