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The longest tootle | 1, 2, 3


Narrator: When any musician in the world heard Louis Armstrong for the first time, they gnawed their arm off with envy, then said the angels probably wanted to sound like Louis. When you consider a bunch of angels talking in gruff voices and singing "Hello, Dolly," you realize what a stupid aspiration that is.

Gary Giddins: Louis changed jazz because he was the only cat going "Do da dep do wah be be," while everyone else was doing "Do de dap dit dit dee."




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Crouch: And that was very profound.

Marsalis: Like gumbo.

Crouch: Uh-huh.

Matt Glaser: I will always have this fantasy that when Louis performed in Belgium, Werner Heisenberg was in the audience, and he was blown away by Louis' freedom and that's where he got the idea for his uncertainty principle. And I will always believe that even if you say it's crazy.

Giddins: It's crazy.

Marsalis: Because the uncertainty principle, applied to jazz, means you never know if a cat is going to go "Dap da de do ba ta bah" or "Dap da de do bip de beep."

Crouch: And that can be very profound.

Narrator: The Savoy Ballroom brought people of all races, colors and political persuasions together to get sweaty as Europe moved closer and closer to the brink of World War II.

First Savoy Dancer: We didn't care what color you were at the Savoy. We only cared if you were wearing deodorant.

Second Savoy Dancer: Word!

Glaser: I'll bet Arthur Murray was on the dance floor and he was thinking about Louis and that's where he got the idea to open a bunch of dance schools.

Crouch: And that was very profound.

Giddins: Let's talk about Louis some more. We've wasted three minutes of this 57-part documentary not talking about Louis!

Marsalis: He was an angel, a genius and much better than "Cats."

Crouch: He invented the word "cats."

Marsalis: He invented swing, he invented jazz, he invented the telephone, the automobile and scat singing.

Crouch: People today wonder why it's called scat singing. But back then -- don't kid yourself -- they knew what it meant.

Marsalis: There was even a song, "Don't Give Me None of Your Scat."

Crouch: And that was very --

The others: -- Profound!

Crouch: Word!

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