Potato Head

Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920s studio recordings made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, emotionally charged improvisation. For this, he is revered by jazz fans. But Armstrong also became an enduring figure in popular music, due to his distinctively phrased bass singing and engaging personality, which were on display in a series of vocal recordings and film roles.

Dear Louis is based upon Nicholas Payton's commissioned tribute to jazz icon Louis Armstrong and was recorded primarily during the year 2000. The CD features 13 songs primarily popularized by Louis Armstrong with Payton performing some priceless trumpet solos in the stellar company of his 14-piece band. He is joined by special guest vocalists Dr. John and Dianne Reeves. Nicholas Payton premiered his original title track, "Dear Louis," as a quartet feature at Lincoln Center as part the commission that spurred the recording. On this record, the trumpeter's big band expands the musical concept with such mastery that it is hard to fathom it scaled for quartet. Dear Louis opens with "Potato Head Blues," which features a re-harmonized melody and a rearrangement of Armstrong's original break…

Recorded live at the Metropolis in Montreal, Quebec on December 12, 2010 and released as a double CD and 3-D Blu-ray, Satchurated was filmed live on the Wormhole Tour in support of Joe Satriani's 2010 album Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards…

Born in New Orleans, trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was the first big Jazz-star. He became interested in music early on and began playing the popular music of his hometown on cornet. Legendary trumpeter King Oliver gave Armstrong, who had gotten his first musical education at the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, some lessons. Brass bands were playing on the Mississippi steamers at the time and Armstrong soon landed a gig with the orchestra of Fate Marable, where he significantly expanded his technical skills and later was able to master even the most difficult scores. After replacing King Oliver in Kid Ory's band, he soon followed his teacher to Chicago, the Jazz center of the 1920s. Armstrong was one of the first musicians to emerge as a soloist from the collective improvisations of early Jazz with his own style and stretched out soloing.