The modest appearance of this house does not reveal that one of the greatest jazz musicians of the 20th century, the trumpet god Louis Armstrong, lived here for almost 30 years. He and his wife Lucille moved to this address shortly after their wedding in 1943 and lived together for almost 30 years. After Armstrong’s death, his widow transferred all rights to the house to the New York authorities so that a museum could be established there, and a few years later, the city gained another official landmark and historical monument.
The interior, in which the couple spent their entire life together, has been preserved in its entirety: furniture, household items, personal belongings, paintings on the walls, touching trinkets… Louis’s own voice can be heard in the rooms, creating the feeling that the brilliant trumpeter is really somewhere nearby. The most remarkable thing is that here you can learn about the life of a legendary person and the history of jazz—the air is literally saturated with music. The museum’s main pride is its rich archive, which contains almost the entire creative legacy of the maestro: photographs and posters, letters and sheet music, kilometers of film, audio and video recordings of all conceivable broadcasts, television and radio programs, concerts, and, of course, musical instruments—the trumpets that Armstrong played.
The museum has a permanent exhibition called Satchmo’s Stuff: Highlights from the Museum Collection, which introduces visitors to a variety of interesting exhibits. A reasonable question may arise: who is Satchmo? The answer is that this was the name given to Louis by his colleagues in the music industry, short for the nickname “satchel mouth,” which he received for his unusually large mouth.
Guided tours of the house are held every hour, lasting about 40 minutes, and the guides, who are all positive and friendly, talk about Armstrong as if he were their own grandfather. Tickets cost $10.
Good to know: be sure to visit the local shop, where the main attraction is not souvenirs, but a magnificent selection of CDs and DVDs — jazz fans will definitely not leave empty-handed.