It’s September, 1924, and Lil Hardin Armstrong gives her husband, Louis Armstrong, a
makeover. She teaches him how to dress for success, and she pushes him to be more of a
showman. Then, she persuades the new Louis Armstrong to leave the security of King Oliver’s
band to form his first Hot Five.
And while Lil enjoyed being the driving force behind Armstrong’s early career, she was not
content standing in her husband’s shadow. She was already an accomplished pianist, composer,
and bandleader. Many of the Hot Five’s biggest hits – the now-classic “Struttin’ With Some
Barbecue,” “Two Deuces,” and “Doin’ the Suzie Q,” – were Lil Hardin originals.
She was also a shrewd marketer. Dubbing her own band “Mrs. Louis Armstrong and her Chicago
Creolians” opened many doors. But it also presented challenges in Jim Crow, male-dominant
America. The band played over catcalls and racial slurs. They were often short-changed for their
work, and the threat of assault was a nightly fear. Wrote one jazz historian, “While Black
jazzmen had a hard time on the road, Black jazzwomen had it tougher.”
Lil knew the dangers, but they were worth the risk. Name recognition afforded her the chance
to prove women could be more than girl singers. Audiences and critics agreed. The Chicago
Defender wrote that Lil’s band could swing, “as capably as any masculine orchestra.”
Podcast (soundtrack): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS