mills

My name is Mills Baker; I write about love, culture, art, religion, mental illness, philosophy, memory, politics and the rather random.

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Posts tagged louis armstrong.
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Louis Armstrong- When the Saints Go Marching In

With apologies to my estranged but fondly-missed sister Katiebakes, I think I’ll begin posting a different version of this song every time the Saints win; I should hope to exhaust my reserve of covers by the end of the season, but one never knows with this team from the City that Care Forgot.

Up next: Sidney Bechet.

“If [official segregation] is a nightmare no longer, Armstrong’s shining trumpet certainly contributed to the wake-up call. But there is only so much art can do against injustice, and the blues, from which jazz took flight, were an embodiment of the sad truth that much beauty begins as consolation for what can’t be mended.”

Clive James, on the role jazz played in American history. I think this is very beautiful, and not solely because I love jazz; it’s also a sound appraisal of where art stands in relation to justice: it can provoke shifts in mass consciousness that assist change, but it is just as important as a source of meaning when injustice reigns.

More jazz!