Is it true that Louis Armstrong dedicated the song Go Down Moses to his foster father - a Jew?

Several sources claim that one of the main hits of the famous jazzman is dedicated to his foster father - a native of Lithuanian Jews. We checked whether this is really so.

In several sources telling about the life of the American jazzman Louis Armstrong, there is about the following fragment: “Armstrong adored his Jewish parents, wrote a book published in New Orleans about them, always talked to Yiddish and dedicated his song about the Jews who left Egypt, Let My Peole Go Father. He wrote her to his father’s anniversary in 1939, for the first time he performed in the New Orleans synagogue for Hanuk's holiday. ” There are similar statements in article Russian -speaking "Wikipedia", resource materials Stuki-Druki and thematic site Jewish.ru, publications in "Live magazine" And the book "50 people who have changed the world".

The childhood of Louis Armstrong born in 1901 was difficult. The future musician was raised by the mother in the dysfunctional area of ​​New Orleans, and the boy began to earn earlier. At the age of six, he became help The household family Karnovsky - Jews who moved to America from the Russian Empire. The head of the family even lent Little Louis money for the purchase of a cornet, his first musical instrument. At the same time, how Emphasize In the New York Museum of the singer, the Karnovsky family did not adopt the boy, although it was very close to him. At the age of 11 years Louis Placed The shelter for homeless boys, which he left two years later.

Let us begin the analysis with the statement about the book that Armstrong devoted to his “Jewish parents” and published in New Orleans. Apparently, we are talking about Louis Armstrong + The Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., The Year of 1907, in which the jazzman recalls his childhood and communicating with the Karnovsky family. Armstrong wrote This small book two years before his death, when he was lying in a hospital in New York. They found this text only ten years later, so talking about a special publication in New Orleans is unreasonable. At the same time, Armstrong really responds about the Karnovsky family in this book very warmly and with great gratitude.

As for the star of David, then, indeed, It has been preserved A few photos where the musician is depicted without a shirt and a pendant with a six -pointed star is visible on his neck. The authors of various popular science publications are evaluated from “fluently” to “fluently” by Armstrong. It is likely that some words and expressions were known to him, but there are no reliable evidence of this, like the corresponding memories in books or audio recordings.

Finally, Louis Armstrong did not devote the song to Go Down Moses (also known as Let My People Go). Moreover, not even he wrote it. This composition appeared Not later than the middle of the XIX century, it was a song of black slaves, which were inspired by a biblical plot. The version performed by Louis Armstrong was Recorded Only in 1958 in New York. It was not possible to find confirmation that he had ever performed Go Down Moses in the synagogue in New Orleans. On the website of the city Jewish community about this also Not mentioned.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/biography/
2. https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrongli0000noll
3. https://archive.org/details/satchmomylifeinn001956mbP
4. https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrongin00arms