A half-hour film of Louis Armstrong in a recording studio from 1959, as well as two previously unheard 1928 Louis Armstrong audio tracks, have recently been unearthed.
The 1959 film features Armstrong working in a studio in Los Angeles on the recording of his album Armstrong Plays King Oliver for the Audio Fidelity label. The film, which has recently been acquired by the Louis Armstrong House Museum, was commissioned by producer Sid Frey, but remained unused and sitting in a storage until now.
In an unrelated discovery, two 1928 Armstrong audio tracks, one featuring Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra performing “Ain’t Misbeheaving” and the other featuring Louis Armstrong and His Hot Fives playing “Knee Drops” in Chicago, have recently surfaced on YouTube, along with a recording of Duke Ellington and His Orchestra performing “Hot and Bothered.”
The tracks are crystal clear in fidelity and were originally recorded for OKeh Records. They were then sent to Germany, where they remained unheard until now.