ARMSTRONG, Louis (1901-1971).

Festival programme signed by Louis Armstrong, 1948, with later gift inscription from Mick Jagger.

Programme for the Festival International du Jazz in Nice, France, 22-28 February 1948, signed in green ink on the front cover by headliner Louis Armstrong, additionally signed throughout by members of Armstrong’s All-Star band – pianist Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines, bassist Arvell Shaw, singer Velma Middleton, clarinettist Barney Bigard, drummer Big Sid Catlett – and other festival performers, by jazz critic and producer Hugues Panassié next to his introduction on Armstrong, and with a later gift inscription in black ballpoint pen on the first page by Mick Jagger ‘Happy Birthday from Mick 2018 Coventry!’.

The 1948 Festival International du Jazz in Nice is generally considered to have been the first significant international jazz festival. Armstrong headlined as part of his 1948 European Tour, with a short-lived All-Star band that included Hines, Shaw, Middleston, Bigard, Catlett, and trombonist Jack Teagarden.

Wire-stitched in original colour printed wraps with silk cord, bifolium carrying four pages of text, picture insert with artist portraits, original promotional wraparound paper band loosely inserted, 310 x 242 mm.

[With:] a concert programme for Louis Armstrong and His Concert Group, c.1949, signed in green ink ‘Louis Armstrong’ on the front cover next to his portrait illustration by Bertrand Zadig, additionally signed throughout by band members Jack Teagarden, Barney Bigard and drummer Cozy Cole, who had replaced Sid Catlett by this date, with an annotation from a previous owner indicating that the concert was held at Windsor, Ontario, in 1949. Wire-stitched in the original pictorial wraps, 304 x 227 mm.