Theatre de L’UNESCO…Satchmo the Great, Louis Armstrong & his All Stars [cover title].

“Satch, Ambassadeur du Jazz”

---

Rare Middle Eastern jazz concert program for trumpeter Louis Armstrong and His All Stars band at Beirut, Lebanon’s Théâtre de l’UNESCO.  Armstrong’s four-day appearance was produced by Georges Rebeiz who had met the artist in New York and signed a contract with him for these shows.

Half tone illustrations within show Armstrong in Beirut with Rebeiz, signing autographs for fans and at the city’s Le Jazz Club. The program featured such numbers as “Saint Louis Blues,” “Tigerrag” [sic], “Mack the Knife,” “Beale Street Blues,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and the jazz standard “Dear Old Southland,” first recorded by Armstrong in 1930 and again in 1956.

Other illustrations show Armstrong in various cinematic roles plus portraits of band singer Velma Middleton and band members Trummy Young (trombone), “Peanut”s Hucko (clarinet), Danny Barcelona (drums), Billy Kyle (piano), and Mort Herbert (bass). Additionally, there is bilingual biographical information on Armstrong, two brief articles by officers of Le Jazz Club de Beyrouth, and numerous ads in English, French, and Arabic.

A rare program documenting the popularity of the African American Jazz tradition in a prosperous, sophisticated Middle Eastern metropolis.

Sold