A note from Ricky Riccardi, Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon consultant
Louis Armstrong Hot Five Centennial Celebration feat Andrew Stephens
Louis Armstrong remains a beloved figure in 2026, best known for timeless hits like “What a Wonderful World,” “Hello, Dolly,” and “La Vie En Rose.” Millions of fans still listen to his music, the airport in his hometown in New Orleans is named after him, and the home he lived in for the last 28 years in Corona, Queens is now a museum (full disclosure: I have worked as a Director for the Louis Armstrong House Museum since 2009).
But most of the general public is not aware that Armstrong might very well be the most influential musician of the 20th century. One can name hundreds of important instrumentalists and hundreds of important vocalists, but Louis Armstrong is the only figure who completely changed the way people played music on their instruments and he completely changed the way people sang. And he did it over the course of three years in Chicago with a studio band: the Hot Five.
The very first Hot Five session took place on November 12, 1925, but it wasn’t released until early 1926, making 2026 the centennial celebration for the music that would go on to change the course of jazz and American popular music. It is that period of Armstrong’s career that will be the focus of a very special “Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon” concert at the Grunin Center on November 8 at 3 p.m.
The tri-state area is filled with great trumpeters, but not everyone can pull off the music of Armstrong’s Hot Five period, which requires complete command of the instrument. For the Grunin Center show, the role of Armstrong will be played by the incredible Andrew Stephens. Stephens might not be a household name–yet–but neither was Armstrong at the time of the first Hot Five session.
Stephens came up in the traditional jazz camps that were popular in California, and eventually graduated from Julliard, where he proved that he could truly do it all (he has finished second in the prestigious Carmine Caruso Trumpet Competition). “I love all styles of jazz, and probably feel the most at ease playing bebop,” Stephens says, “but the music of the Hot Five is the most fulfilling and fun for me to play.” Though he’s listened to Armstrong’s 1920s recordings since he was a teenager, Stephens says he has “truly become obsessed with it in the last four years. It’s what I listen to on the subway, on planes, with friends, long drives, basically any chance I get. There was only so much listening I could do before I needed to play this music, because it is still very obscure despite its massive influence.”
Last year, with the Hot Five centennial gearing up, Stephens assembled a group of like-minded musicians who loved this music as much as he did. Stephens began writing arrangements of Armstrong’s 1920s work, sometimes faithfully transcribing them from the original records, other times coming up with fresh takes on familiar favorites. “Beyond my own personal enjoyment in playing these songs, I want to bring them out into the light and back into the standard repertoire,” Stephens says. “The music of the Hot Five and Seven is so unique, every song has elements of true weirdness and pure brilliance, always in perfect harmony. It hits you right between the eyes, makes you dance, and is as deep, challenging, and interesting as anything I’ve ever played.”
Stephens will be assisted on November 8 with his regular crew, made up of some of the finest young traditional jazz musicians on the New York scene, including Sam Chess on trombone, Evan Arntzen on clarinet, Brennen Ernst on piano, Devan Kortan on banjo, and Jen Hodge on bass. Don’t expect to hear “What a Wonderful World” at this show; instead Stephens and his cohorts will set the Grunin Center stage ablaze with their performances of “Cornet Chop Suey,” “Potato Head Blues,” “West End Blues,” and many others classic numbers that will serve as a testament to Armstrong’s enduring legacy and to the fact the music is in such good hands thanks to Stephens and his group. “Ultimately I am running this project in order to play as much of this music as I can, and to bring it the recognition it deserves from the jazz community and the public at large,” Stephens says. Be a part of that community at the Grunin Center at 3 p.m. on November 8 on the campus of Ocean County College.
Get your tickets for Louis Armstrong Hot Five Centennial Celebration feat Andrew Stephens today!