RICKY RICCARDI AND SUMMER CAMARGO
"There are 12 seconds that changed the course of jazz -- the opening of Louis Armstrong's 1928 trumpet solo on 'West End Blues'." That's a line from Ricky Riccardi's book, Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong (Oxford University Press: 2025).
At 3:00pm on Sunday, February 1, 2026, Riccardi, Director of Research Collections at New York's Louis Armstrong House Museum, will make a presentation on "Louis Armstrong's Early Years." It will be the New Jersey Jazz Society's Jersey Jazz LIVE! February event, honoring Black History Month, at the Madison (NJ) Community Arts Center.
The author of two other books about Armstrong -- What a Wonderful World and Heart Full of Rhythm -- Riccardi will chronicle the trumpet legend's early years through recordings, videos, and live music. There will be a multi-media presentation, plus, he said, "I'll provide new information I've learned about Armstrong's upbringing in New Orleans while researching Stomp Off, Let's Go, and there'll be a tribute to his mentor, King Oliver."
Riccardi will play some of the most famous recorded moments of Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven bands, and then he will sit down at the piano and play a short set of duets with "the phenomenal trumpeter Summer Camargo to illustrate just how vital and fresh this music remains."
Reviewing Stomp Off, Let's Go, Andy Hamilton of the UK's Jazz Journal wrote: "It's a classic biography and an excellent introduction to the work of one of the 20th century's greatest musicians."Jersey Jazz Magazine's Joe Lang added: "Armstrong is among the most significant musicians ever to perform, and this volume completes a masterful biographical and critical examination of his life."
The Madison Community Arts Center is located at 10 Kings Road in Madison, NJ. The Jersey Jazz LIVE! programs begin at 3:00pm. Admission is $15 for NJJS members and $20 for non-members. Student admission is $5 with valid ID. Tickets are available for purchase online. There will be light refreshments for purchase.
Funding for Jersey Jazz LIVE! has been made possible, in part, by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of The National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has been provided by The Summit Foundation.
