Just in case you wondered how Lil Hardin Armstrong passed the time after she and Louis split, here is the 1932 to 1960 overview she sent me. The photo is from a 1950s appearance in France. She had a great time in France, saw a lot of Sidney Bechet, and carried on a brief romance with a Frenchman. Please click on the images to make them readable.
This interesting posting of Lil Armstrong's schedule caused me to get out the Vogue disc of that Bechet date from October 1952. Bechet was great as always, and Lil was fun (including some spirited vocals), but--and this may be heresy to some--Zutty Singleton's drums were heavy-handed and intrusive. I guess it's understandable that he'd feel the need to play more in a trio, but I found myself wishing one of the great, lighter-handed swing drummers like Sid Catlett had been there. Apologies to fans of Zutty!
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Thanks for checking in, Greg. I haven't heard those sides in decades—guess I'll have to dig them up!
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