Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Name: Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues
Genre: Documentary
Released: October 28, 2022
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 80

2022

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 4 Ratings

See All

5.8

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

5.8	Your Score
5.8	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 4 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Now Playing: Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues

Movie Details & Credits

Apple TV+ | Release Date (Streaming): October 28, 2022 | R

Summary: 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 firstLouis 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.… Expand

Director: Sacha Jenkins

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: R

Runtime: 106 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Stephanie Zacharek

Oct 31, 2022

Jenkins has made a movie that captures both the joy of Armstrong’s music and the distinctive nature of his personal charisma, though he doesn’t shy away from some of the more controversial elements of Armstrong’s legacy. Read full review

John Anderson

Oct 27, 2022

The film may not take quite as many chances with the documentary form as Armstrong took with the opening cadenza of “West End Blues” (recorded by Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five in 1928) but it is a daring work, a worthy and affectionate statement about the most important single figure in American popular music, 20th Century Division. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Oct 18, 2022

In this Golden Age of biographical musical documentaries, the filmmaker who is now working on an Ed Sullivan doc has taken a subject we thought we knew all we needed to know about, and all but re-introduced him to a new age. Well done Read full review

The Guardian Leslie Felperin

Oct 27, 2022

Luxuriating in a wealth of archival material that encompasses radio and TV interviews, privately recorded conversations from reel-to-reel tapes (Armstrong could swear like a sailor), and good old-fashioned newspaper clippings (remember them?), this documentary about the great Louis Armstrong is a real keeper. Read full review

Tim Grierson

Oct 27, 2022

Built around excerpts from Armstrong’s home audio recordings, which he made in private over the decades, the documentary is far from exhaustive and yet, as a primer for why Armstrong remains influential, this inquisitive portrait successfully manages to render him as both a titan and a nuanced human being. Read full review

Lisa Kennedy

Oct 27, 2022

The film is a trove of Armstrong’s love of music and his labor. And because so many of those who lend their insights are now departed, it has the feel of a mausoleum worthy of a humble yet celebratory “Saints Go Marching In” second line. Read full review

John DeFore

Oct 27, 2022

A delightful experience for jazz buffs and more than an eye-opener for any youngsters who barely know who Armstrong was, it’s worth applauding just for its belief that it can meaningfully touch on private life, public persona, musical legacy and everything else — even if, on each front, it leaves one wanting more. Read full review

SEE ALL 13 REVIEWS

Write a Review

Negative:

User Reviews

alanpotter17

Nov 6, 2022

Louis Armstrong não passou de um chaveirinho de gente branca, mas de certa forma, consciente disso. À certa altura, o documentário deixa claro: ele nunca participou ativamente da luta pelos direitos civis, e fez o seu nome de forma individualizada.
Obviamente isso não o impedia de ter umLouis Armstrong não passou de um chaveirinho de gente branca, mas de certa forma, consciente disso. À certa altura, o documentário deixa claro: ele nunca participou ativamente da luta pelos direitos civis, e fez o seu nome de forma individualizada.
Obviamente isso não o impedia de ter um tremor ao tocar em lugares onde, por exemplo, havia banheiros separados, mesas segregadas, enfim, toda uma estrutura separatista que por outras vozes ecoaram de forma mais visceral para tentar acabar com o racismo estrutural. E como podemos afirmar que ele perdeu a razão?
Há pessoas que são combustível para o conflito, e outras, servem como exemplo pela presença, resignação, mas, acima de tudo, evitando o caos coletivo. Louis Armstrong era um desses caras, e quando toca "What a wonderful world", eu não aguentei, as lágrimas escorreram. Ouçam a música. Sinta a música. E você sentirá a alma desse grande artista.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS