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Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Play trailer Poster for Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues R 2022 1h 44m Documentary Music Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
98% Tomatometer 53 Reviews 79% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
"Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues" offers an intimate and revealing look at the world-changing musician, presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home recordings and personal conversations. This definitive documentary, directed by Sacha Jenkins, honors Armstrong's legacy as a founding father of jazz, one of the first internationally known and beloved stars, and a cultural ambassador of the United States. The film shows how Armstrong's own life spans the shift from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, and how he became a lightning rod figure in that turbulent era.
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Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

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Critics Consensus

A fitting tribute to a titan of American music, Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues honors its subject by letting him tell his story in his own words.

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Critics Reviews

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Randy Myers San Jose Mercury News 11/09/2022
4/4
It has something new to say, and says it with poise, polish and compassion. Go to Full Review Richard Brody The New Yorker 11/07/2022
Though the director Sacha Jenkins’s biographical portrait of Louis Armstrong is blandly conventional in its form, its wide-ranging material is inspiring and illuminating. Go to Full Review Claudia Puig FilmWeek (LAist) 11/04/2022
A deeply affecting and mesmerizing documentary. Go to Full Review Mike Scott Times-Picayune 02/15/2023
3.5/4
Jenkins' film doesn’t play like your standard biography. It’s more intimate than that, more personal and far more revealing than most works about the jazz giant. Go to Full Review Noah Berlatsky Splice Today 02/11/2023
Armstrong’s smiling image was important to him. I wish this documentary had been less interested in preserving that, though, and more focused on helping us understand the totality of a titanic artist and a fascinating man. Go to Full Review Jack Seale Radio Times 12/19/2022
Some stunningly crisp archive footage, particularly of old American chat and variety TV shows, combines with previously unheard personal recordings to create this rounded portrait of one of jazz’s most influential players. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephanie 11/03/2022 I liked the music and the history of Armstrong See more Melanie R 11/01/2022 Amazing footage revealing an amazing artist. The film is an uplifting testimony to one mans triumph in the struggle against ongoing adversity. This documentary is honest, straight forward and presents his history through his own words and memoirs without unnecessary sentimentality. Really worth seeing! See more Mark 11/01/2022 Really great documentary that leaves you feeling like you know Louis Armstrong personally. Exhaustively researched. I highly recommend it! See more Gordon G 10/29/2022 Wonderful treatment of LA's life, lots of samples of his music. See more Glenn J 10/29/2022 All the personal details and highlighting his love of my borough, Queens. See more Kyle M @RT77296778 01/15/2024 One of the purest, honorably respectful documentaries restrained to archival voicings amid a unique poetic structure rather than mostly going generically chronological in telling one's fascinating life story, satisfying the initial compel stemmed from the evoked emotional connections. (A-) See more Read all reviews
Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

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Cast & Crew

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Sacha Jenkins

Director

Louis Armstrong

Self

Sara Bernstein

Producer

Sacha Jenkins

Producer

Justin Wilkes

Producer

Julie Anderson

Producer

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Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

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Movie Info

Synopsis "Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues" offers an intimate and revealing look at the world-changing musician, presented through a lens of archival footage and never-before-heard home recordings and personal conversations. This definitive documentary, directed by Sacha Jenkins, honors Armstrong's legacy as a founding father of jazz, one of the first internationally known and beloved stars, and a cultural ambassador of the United States. The film shows how Armstrong's own life spans the shift from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, and how he became a lightning rod figure in that turbulent era.
Director
Sacha Jenkins
Producer
Sara Bernstein, Sacha Jenkins, Justin Wilkes, Julie Anderson
Distributor
Apple TV+
Production Co
Polygram Entertainment, Apple Original Films, Imagine Documentaries
Rating
R (Language)
Genre
Documentary, Music, Biography
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 28, 2022, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 28, 2022
Runtime
1h 44m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital