Louis+Armstrong+and+Invisible+Man+Unit

toc =1: Prologue & Chapters 1-5= =﻿2: Chapters 6 - 10= =﻿3: Chapters 11-15= =﻿4: Chapters 16-20= =﻿5:Chapters 21-25 & Epilogue=

=﻿Music in the Prologue (pages 3-14)=

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"Now I have one radio-phonograph; I plan to have five. There is a certain acoustical deadness in my hole, and when I have music I want to feel its vibration, not only with my ear but with my whole body. I'd like to hear five recordings of Louis Armstrong playing and singing "What Did I Do to Be so Black and Blue" -- all as the same time. Sometimes now I listen to Louis while I have my favorite dessert of vanilla ice cream and sloe gin. I pour the red liquid over the white mound, watching it glisten and the vapor rising as Louis bends that military instrument into a beam of lyrical sound. Perhaps I like Louis Armstrong because he's made poetry out of being invisible" ( 7 - 8).=====

Click on the above link and explore some connections with Armstrong and jazz.

 = The phonograph = = [|The Louis Armstrong house museum] =

= A sloe gin fizz = = [|"What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue" performed by Louis Armstrong] = = = =Comments:= =In the paragraph above, Ellison combines the colors of red, white, and blue as he describes having a sloe gin fizz (red) over vanilla ice cream (white) and listening to the blues (blue!). The colors suggest America and patriotism in an ironic way. He expresses a wish to have not one, but five phonograph players for his music. I wonder why? The five fingers of the hand allusion to Washington's speech? The five senses?= =Mrs. Muirheid, January 25, 2011=