A stylized and intimate portrait of the fantastic life of Louis Armstrong. The film charts the story of the innovator, the first great jazz soloist, band leader, pop star, actor and American cultural ambassador Louis Armstrong. The creator of jazz as we know it today, the wonderful World of Louis Armstrong is a sensitive insight into the life of the man behind the trumpet, An epic story that spans 70 years from his childhood day on the streets of New Orleans to his adopted home of Queen, New York. the film maps a career that has lasted long after him.

The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong

In 1937, after seeing a photo depicting the lynching of a black man in the south, Bronx-born high school teacher Abel Meeropol wrote a poem entitled "Strange Fruit" that begins with the words: "Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root." He set the poem to music and a few years later convinced Billy holiday to record it in a legendary heartbreaking performance. Intertwining jazz genealogy, biography, performance footage, and the history of lynching, director Joel Katz fashions a fascinating discovery of the lost story behind a true American classic. Written by Excerpted from Coolidge Corner Theatre Program Update