Louis Armstrong Manuscript and Trumpet Sold : An 11-page ‘History of Jazz’ on ‘Satchmo’ stationery brings in $27,500, and his 1920s trumpet goes for $16,500.

An 11-page handwritten manuscript by Louis Armstrong, entitled “Scanning the History of Jazz” and penned in 1956 on the innovative trumpeter’s personal “Satchmo” stationery, sold for $27,500 Wednesday at an auction of rare books and manuscripts at Sotheby’s in New York City.

Also sold at the auction was a B-flat trumpet owned and played by “Pops”--as Armstrong was affectionately known--which was given to a niece of Armstrong’s by Lucille Armstrong, Armstrong’s widow.

The trumpet--which sold for $16,500--was manufactured in the ‘20s and was “probably used on many of Armstrong’s recordings in ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s,” according to Selby Kiffer, assistant vice president of the books department at Sotheby’s. “It’s difficult to document pieces of memorabilia but here we had ownership by a living family member and we also had photographic information in that the instrument appears in a 1953 portrait of Armstrong as he was being interviewed by Edward R. Murrow.”

The manuscript--in which Armstrong offered opinions and recollections about such things as New Orleans street performances by trumpeters Buddy Bolden, Joe (King) Oliver (his idol and one-time employer), Bunk Johnson and Henry (Red) Allen from as early as 1905--was undertaken at the solicitation of a Yale freshman in 1956, for possible publication in the Yale Daily News, the school’s newspaper. (The individual retained ownership of the document and made it available to Sotheby’s.)

The manuscript was never published in the Yale Daily News, but it was published in the December, 1971 issue of Esquire magazine, just months after the trumpeter’s death on July 6, 1971.

Kiffer said that the bidding for the manuscript “was quite spirited and concentrated between between a couple of dealers and a private collector, who was the successful bidder.” That bidder, a woman who deals in books and manuscripts, also purchased the trumpet. Kiffer noted that the activity in jazz memorabilia brought on by the auction, and the solid figures for which the Armstrong items sold, may result in more rare jazz manuscripts and instruments being made available for auction.

Studio Scene: Mark Masters, the South Pasadena-based composer and arranger, brought a long-sought-after dream to life last week when he recorded two of his favorite players--tenor saxophonist Billy Harper and trombonist Jimmy Knepper--with his Mark Masters Jazz Orchestra.

“Jimmy Knepper is the trombone. He transcends all eras of the instrument,” Masters said in praise of the musician who currently plays with Mingus Dynasty (a band of ex-Charles Mingus-ites) and who has played with such noted ensembles as the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis and Toshiko Akiyoshi jazz orchestras. “He’s in his 60s and yet he’s one of the most modern players around. And he’s so lyrical.

“And Billy Harper, I called him and told him, ‘I worship the ground you walk on. Will you play on my record?’ and he said, ‘Sure.’ I had heard him on the records he did with (arranger) Gil (Evans) and then finally found some of his own recordings. I’m really attracted to the way he writes and plays.”

Masters’ four-day recording session laid down tracks for five Harper originals and five jazz classics and pop standards--”Giant Steps,” “Windows” and “Passion Flower” among the latter. All songs were arranged by Masters, who was eager for the date: “I spent half the year writing the charts, and I don’t feel I could have been better prepared.”

He helped his cause by engaging top Los Angeles-area musicians to back up the two featured soloists, among them trumpeters Carl Saunders and Clay Jenkins, trombonist Rick Culver and reedmen Mike Turre, Jerry Pinter and Danny House.

Masters, who names Evans, Pete Rugolo and Shorty Rogers as chief influences, has two albums out, including “Silver Threads Among the Blues” (Seabreeze). He produced the Knepper-Harper date--”I can’t do this kind of thing too often,” he says, referring to the session’s considerable expense--and plans to shop for a label for it soon.

Just Out: LaserLight--a label best known for its mass-marketing of budget-priced CDs (average price: $5.98) of public domain classical material--has issued its first jazz releases: “Tommy Newsom and the Late Show All-Stars,” featuring the saxophonist, arranger and assistant conductor for Doc Severinsen’s “Tonight Show” Orchestra; and “Diversity,” the premier jazz date by saxophonist Charles Neville of the famed New Orleans-based Neville Brothers. Retail price is a mere $6.98. “The company can afford to sell these dates at this price because of their extensive domestic distribution network, which places their product in stores like Target and K mart,” says Ralph Jungheim, the Santa Monica free-lance producer who oversaw both sessions. . . . Of interest to hard-bop fans will be the several long-out-of-print, classic sessions from the Time label--led by Max Roach, Sonny Clark, Stanley Turrentine and Kenny Dorham, and others--that have been reissued under the Bainbridge banner.

TOP 10 JAZZ LPs

1. Roots Revisited--Maceo Parker

2. Freddie Freeloader--Jon Hendericks

3. Droppin’ Things--Betty Carter

4 We Are in Love--Harry Connick Jr.

5. Music From “Mo’ Better Blues”--Branford Marsalis Quartet with Terrance Blanchard

6. Big Boss Band Featuring Count Basie Orchestra--George Benson

7. African Exchange Student--Kenny Garrett

8. On the Other Hand--Michel Camilo

9. The Marksman--Mark Whitfield

10. Live at the Blue Note--Oscar Peterson Trio

SOURCE: Billboard