Heart Full of Rhythm

- Blurb -

Nearly 50 years after his death, Louis Armstrong remains one of the 20th century' s most iconic figures. Popular fans still appreciate his later hits such as "Hello, Dolly!" and "What a Wonderful World," while in the jazz community, he remains venerated for his groundbreaking innovations in the 1920s. The achievements of Armstrong' s middle years, however, possess some of the trumpeter' s most scintillating and career-defining stories. But the story of this crucialtime has never been told in depth DL until now. Between 1929 and 1947, Armstrong transformed himself from a little-known trumpeter in Chicago to an internationally renowned pop star, setting in motionthe innovations of the Swing Era and Bebop. He had a similar effect on the art of American pop singing, waxing some of his most identifiable hits such as "Jeepers Creepers" and "When You' re Smiling. " However as author Ricky Riccardi shows, this transformative era wasn' t without its problems, from racist performance reviews and being held up at gunpoint by gangsters to struggling with an overworked embouchure and getting arrested for marijuana possession. Utilizing a prodigious amount of newresearch, Riccardi traces Armstrong' s mid-career fall from grace and dramatic resurgence. Featuring never-before-published photographs and stories culled from Armstrong' s personal archives, Heart Full ofRhythm tells the story of how the man called "Pops" became the first "King of Pop. "