Louis Armstrong: "niger, illegitimus" -- and baptized Catholic

Deacon's Bench ^ | December 23, 2008 | Deacon Greg Kandra

[NYer]

Over at McNamara's Blog, Patrick McNamara has found another surprising bit of Catholic trivia, about one of the great popular jazz artists of the 20th century:

According to his own, cherished tradition, Louis Armstrong was an all-American jazz baby, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the Fourth of July 1900. He believed this to the end of his days, and so did everyone else, until a baptismal certificate confirming his actual birth date as August 4, 1901, surfaced and in the name of scholarship silenced one of the happiest legends in American popular music. Exactly three weeks after his birth, the infant was taken to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church at 139 South Lopez Street to be baptized "according to the rite of the Roman Catholic Church."

The baptismal card, signed by the Reverend J. M. Toohey, described Louis as "niger, illegitimus," apparently because his father had by that time abandoned his mother and was living with another woman. So it was that Louis Armstrong, an illegitimate black child, was baptized into the Catholic Church. Since his grandmother, Josephine, was a practicing Catholic, she was most likely the one responsible for arranging the baptism, and the earliest religious influence over him, though limited, was largely Catholic.

Although baptized as a Catholic, Louis never thought of himself as a member of the Church. He remained similarly aloof from Protestantism, the religion of his mother and other family members. Even so, he was vaguely religious, and, at times, deeply spiritual, but his approach to religious matters was always unorthodox, and he took what he wanted from Catholicism, Baptism, and Judaism, and, under his grandmother's influence, voodoo.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

A great man and a great musician. I want to cry when I think of how black culture has devolved from Armstrong, Basie, Ellington, Parker and Monk into 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Ludacris.

[HIDEK6]

I’ve seen many pictures of Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet and do not recall any showing poor tecnique.

[Antoninus]

A great man and a great musician. I want to cry when I think of how black culture has devolved from Armstrong, Basie, Ellington, Parker and Monk into 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Ludacris.

It is sad. Truly sad.

[Free Vulcan]

Heh heh. Nice comeback on his part.

[Ransomed]

Shocking!!! Jazz musicians and marijauna...just shocking! :)

Freegards

[Kirkwood]

“Today, he’d be president”

Probably better than what we’re stuck with in a month.

[pepperhead]

A great man and a great musician. I want to cry when I think of how black culture has devolved from Armstrong, Basie, Ellington, Parker and Monk into 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Ludacris.

Sad but true and if any of them were around today probably couldn't get any radio play.

[VeniVidiVici]

They asked Niger Innis about that screenshot and he said, “I think they thought I was a rap singer.”

LOL!

I think I need more sleep. I meant to slam MSNBC for that, not CNN.

[bcsco]

I’ve seen many pictures of Louis Armstrong playing the trumpet and do not recall any showing poor tecnique.

I think it was as much perspective as anything, much to do with his facial structure. When sitting in an audience you were somewhat below stage level and it did appear his cheeks were puffed out at times. See the photo below, I think you'll get an idea what I mean...

[JimRed]

They asked Niger Innis about that screenshot and he said, “I think they thought I was a rap singer.”

Niger Innis and has dad, Roy are class guys, the kind of examples we'd like to see black kids (or ANY kids) emulate.

[duckman]

“Armstrong kept his cheeks tight.”
Barney Frank can take a tip from Louie.

[fieldmarshaldj]

...or MSNBC.

[Military family member]

A great man and a great musician. I want to cry when I think of how black culture has devolved from Armstrong, Basie, Ellington, Parker and Monk into 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Ludacris.

Charlie Parker was a huge drug user, dying at 36. The coroner though he was in his 60s. I love Charlie Parker, but the Bird would have been right at home with 50 Cent, Jay-Z and Ludacris.

[fremont_steve]

“He looked silly when he was blowing his horn, because he puffed his cheeks out” Me thinks you are remembering Dizzy Gillespie who did indeed have baloon cheeks and a horn that pointed up to boot. He was a very unorthodox horn player.

I don’t remember any of this being true about Louie though... (me being a trumpet player in my youth noticed such things..)

[nickcarraway]

Hmmm, I don’t see the comparison. Parker was self-destructive, but I don’t recall him advocating anything destructive, or law-breaking in his music, or publicly in any way.

[the invisib1e hand]

finding next to nothing of value in this one.

[the invisib1e hand]

Today, he’d be president

because "niger illegitimus" is about the only qualification of the one we currently have?

[mrclean5]

“Today, he’d be president

because “niger illegitimus” is about the only qualification of the one we currently have?”

exactly

[tiki]

He and Bing Crosby were great friends according to TMC.

[ichabod1]

No, I remember this clearly... I LOVED Louie Armstrong when I was a kid. He made me want to play the trumpet, which i did for several years. He was a showman. He moved a lot when he blew his horn, stuck his elbows out, broke all the rules for sedate classical trumpet players. He was awesome. I had no idea he was one of the fathers of Jazz until much later. I didn’t know who Dizzy Gillespie was until I was much older, and Louie was still goin, he was still goin, he was still going strong through the sixties at least.