Louis Armstrong is one of the most recognizable figures in jazz, with his incomparable trumpet playing and beaming smile. This video profiles Armstrong from his humble beginnings in New Orleans through his career as America's Ambassador of Good Will. Film clips, vintage photographs and interviews with family, friends, fellow musicians and Armstrong himself are woven together to tell the story of this legendary personality.

Danny Glover
Narrator (voice)

Louis Armstrong
Self (archive footage)
Lillian Hardin
Self
Gary Giddins
Self

Stanley Crouch
Self

George Avakian
Self
Laurence Bergreen
Self
Mollyne Karnofsky
Self
Posters

John Akomfrah
Director →