When critic Terry Teachout isn't blogging on the arts, writing his weekly theater review for the Wall St. Journal, penning the libretto for an opera, or banging out the many columns he scribes for magazines and newspapers, he's hard at work writing what will certainly be the definitive biography and critical evaluation of Louis Armstrong.
On Tuesday, Terry provided a sneak peak of Hotter Than That by offering up a slice from a 10,000-word chapter on Louis in 1929 at his blog:
"The results [of recording I Can't Give You Anything But Love in 1929] exemplified the recipe for a three-chorus solo [Louis] had shared with the New Orleans trumpeter Wingy Manone: 'The first chorus I plays the melody, the second chorus I plays the melody round the melody, and the third chorus I routines.' They also showed that he could make a ballad sound as jazzy as a blues, a lesson that was not lost on his contemporaries."
Bravo! Go here to read the rest of Terry's terrific blog entry on Pops.
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