Louis Armstrong House Museum's Annual Gala confirmed for Wednesday, November 28

(New York, NY): This year, the Louis Armstrong House Museum Annual Gala event will be held on Wednesday, November 28th at Capitale in Manhattan and will include a cocktail hour, silent auction, and seated dinner. Additionally, the evening will include the presentation of the Louie Award to nine-time Grammy Award-winning musician, philanthropist and long time admirer of Louis Armstrong, Herb Alpert, as well as noted philanthropists and dedicated Museum supporters Saul Kupferberg and Gail Coleman. 

Gail Coleman said of the Louis Armstrong House Museum: “It preserves the legacy of one of the great inventors and practitioners of the uniquely American form of music that is Jazz, AND it gives us a precious window on the time this great humanitarian spent in Queens,” Gail Coleman said. 

Past recipients of the Louie Award include Wycliffe Gordon, Quincy Jones, Dick Cavett, Dr. John, George Avakian, Jon Faddis and Robert F. Smith. The lively celebration of this New York jazz idol will also feature a performance by David Ostwald’s Louis Armstrong Eternity Band. 

Alpert said of Louis Armstrong: "He was a spectacular guy, really something special. He was genuine, he was passionate, and that came right through his instrument. This guy was a beautiful human being. It was always heartwarming to see him. I really loved him."

Herb Alpert’s career includes a National Medal of Arts from President Obama, nine GRAMMYs, and soon, the Louie Award. Herb Alpert’s newest album ‘Music Volume 3 - Herb Alpert Reimagines The Tijuana Brass,’ was released October 19th. A mix of new arrangements, production, and new studio takes and in some cases samples of the originals were used to reinvent past favorites, making them fresh and surprising, allowing Herb to continue to share positivity with a world in need of it. The album features Herb’s long time collaboration with producer Jochen van Der Saag and a surprising mash-up of “Spanish Flea” into “Rise,” blended together for the first time.

In honor of “What A Wonderful World’s” 50th year anniversary, Herb unveiled an imaginative visual component to his cover of Armstrong’s quintessential song, which incorporated instruments from around the world — Trinidad to Turkey and Japan to Bolivia— as well as an angelic children’s choir. Herb’s unique rendition was in tribute to Armstrong’s overpowering positivity in uncertain times. 

To bring further tribute to their friendship, a photo of Herb Alpert and Louis Armstrong from the recently digitized House Museum archives will be auctioned off at the Gala. As a colleague of Louis Armstrong, -- and fellow trumpet player-- Herb is the natural recipient for this year’s Louie Award.

Watch Herb Alpert’s video of his version of “What A Wonderful World: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8383828/herb-alpert-louis-armstrong-what-a-wonderful-world

Additionally, the Digitization of the Louis Armstrong House Museum's Research Collections will launch their platform on November 28, allowing complete online access to spectacular, never-before-seen collection of photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, audio, videos, personal papers, scrapbooks and sheet music of Louis Armstrong and his entourage. 

More info here: https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/the-louis-armstrong-house-museum-digitizes-research-collections-of-thousands-of-artifacts

Thanks to the vision and funding of the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, the Louis Armstrong House Museum welcomes visitors from all over the world, six days per week, 52 weeks per year. Their generosity, donating Louis and Lucille Armstrong’s archives to CUNY Queens College, made it possible for the creation of the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Through this stunning stock of artifacts, the Louis Armstrong House Museum adheres to their ambition of educating and inspiring people of all ages, origins and locations. Louis Armstrong House Museum is a cultural center of Queens College/CUNY and a constituent of the Kupferberg Center for the Arts. 

In the summer of 2017, the museum broke ground on its new 14,000-square-foot Louis Armstrong House Museum Education Center, located directly across from the original house in Corona, Queens. The $23 million facility, a gift from a variety of benefactors including the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Queens College, the Borough of Queens and the governor's office, will house a state-of-the-art exhibition gallery, 68-seat jazz club, museum store and the Louis Armstrong Archives, currently housed at Queens College. The facility is set to be completed in 2019.

Louis Armstrong House Museum on the web:

https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/

https://www.facebook.com/louisarmstronghousemuseum/

https://twitter.com/ArmstrongHouse