At the Frauenthal before the show began.
My friend, Trish, is in the black beret.
Thanks again, Trish, for inviting me!
On Friday, April 28, I was blessed to be invited to see a Louis Armstrong Tribute performance featuring Byron Stripling at the Frauenthal Theater. Byron did triple duty, playing trumpet, singing, and conducting for the two-hour (minus fifteen-minute intermission) concert that included fourteen timeless classics that Louis Armstrong was connected with during his musical career.
Byron sounded like Frank Sinatra when he sang, and that is no exaggeration. His voice was deep and resonant in just the right way. His trumpet skills were amazing, and the wonderful acoustics in The Frauenthal made him sound that much better. His range from high to low and how long he was able to sustain the notes was unbelievable. Not only did he play, sing, and conduct with superb skill, he was also a first class emcee who kept the audience fully engaged the whole time.
Playing along with Byron were the West Michigan Symphony and three jazz ensemble musicians: Micah Thomas on piano, Jim Rupp on drums, and Paul Keller on bass. These guys enhanced the music with their contributions. Byron mentioned Micah recently being on a Tiny Desk Concert and I was able to find it here. My kind of jazz!!!!!!
Tunes covered:
Tiger Rag
St. James Infirmary
Motherless Child
Do You Know What it Means To Miss New Orleans
Royal Garden Blues
Birth of the Blues
Sweet Georgia Brown
St. Louis Blues
Basin Street Blues
Down By the Riverside
Battle Hymn of the Republic
What a Wonderful World
Amen/This Little Light
When the Saints Go Marching In
It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been at any musical performance including a symphony orchestra. It’s been years.
The following video includes some rapport-building with the audience and then “Motherless Child.”
Tao Talk 
That surely sounds like it was a great show. Of course, there was only one Louis Armstrong, especially when it came to his vocals.
Since you evidently enjoy Satchmo, I think you might like Taj Mahal’s new album “Savoy”, which I coincidentally covered today. It’s a great collection of renditions of the Great American Songbook. Perhaps contrary to what you might expect, these covers sound really vibrant, and Mahal does a superb job on vocals – in fact, he sometime reminds me a bit of Armstrong!
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It was a fantastic show, Christian. He didn’t try to sing like Satchmo (except a few notes, to show he could) and his own voice was smooth as silk. I will check you your post on “Savoy” in the near future, sounds pretty good!
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Hope you dig “Savoy”. While I’ve for a long time that Taj Mahal’s talents go beyond the blues and have included elements of world music, an album with covers of jazz standards did surprise me. Best of all, he sounds terrific and apparently is backed by a top-notch band!
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I love the sound of this show!
It sounds fab! xo
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Yes, it was such a good show. My phone can’t capture the full sound of it.
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Jealous
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I lucked into that ticket 🙂
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This sounds wonderful. How lovely you could attend.
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❤
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Wow! What a great event to attend. Looks like it was a sumptuous evening
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It was and that piano player is an up-and-comer.
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Sounds wonderful I’d love to see something like that. Such an amazing artist Louis Armstrong and from what I understand an equally amazing person.
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Randy, you know how it goes, for every one who gets a chance to make the big time, there are dozens/hundreds? that make magical music that we only hear of by chance. It was a wonderful night of music.
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Lucky you! (K)
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