Louis Armstrong - One Night in Highland Park Louis Armstrong

In 1957 Louis Armstrong was riding the recent successes of his 1955 hit single “Mack the Knife,” the Ella and Louisalbum and the box office smash High Society (both 1956), as well as travelling around the globe at the behest of the U.S. State Department as America’s “Ambassador of Goodwill”.

That March, Armstrong and his All Stars brought their touring show to Highland Park High School in Illinois to play a fundraiser with the high school’s student stage crew staffing the concert.

Student Joel Goldstein, serving as Stage Manager for Armstrong’s visit, recorded the concert for posterity. He held onto the recording for seven decades.

Transferred, mixed and mastered by Kevin Reeves, One Night in Highland Park is more than a rediscovered concert: it is a vivid portrait of Armstrong’s enduring power to connect with his audiences and to deliver the same electrifying performance in a suburban high school auditorium that he brought to the world’s most prestigious stages.

The release is accompanied by liner notes by Ricky Riccardi, Louis’ biographer and Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum.