Louis Armstrong (1901-1971):
Louis Armstrong was the sound of jazz itself. His horn was once considered too dangerous to be on the airwaves, too alive to be contained. But America has a way of sanding down what it fears. Armstrong became the smiling face of jazz, a Hollywood star, almost a Disney character. This episode isn’t about the legend we remember. It’s about the danger we forget. About how art born in defiance gets bleached into nostalgia. And what we may lose when we trade the unruly for the respectable.
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