They called him “Satchmo”, or “Mr. Jazz.” His given name was Louis Armstrong, and this world-famous jazz trumpeter and singer came to Fargo in September of 1957, performing at NDSU’s fieldhouse for an “enthusiastic” audience of 3,200 fans.
Satchmo’s jazz concert began with his theme song, “Sleepy Time Down South,” and he and his “concert group” of four musicians performed such standards as “Mack the Knife” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in a three-hour tour de force.
Louis Armstrong, who lived from 1901 to 1971, was internationally known by this time as the “ambassador of jazz,” having been a famous dance-band leader, radio star, and movie star for decades. Music lovers wanted to hear Armstrong’s clear trumpet sounds and enjoy his showmanship.
Two journalists from the Fargo Forum, Del Johnson and Cal Olson, interviewed the great Satchmo at the Gardner Hotel prior to Armstrong’s performance that night.
Reporter Del Johnson noted that Louis Armstrong had to prepare his lips for hitting the high notes because he had a groove in his upper lip where the trumpet’s mouthpiece fit. Satchmo “sucked witch hazel from a soggy piece of sterile gauze” to protect his upper lip.
The reporter asked if Satchmo would “remember Fargo.” Armstrong replied, “WILL I remember Fargo? … I DO remember Fargo.” He recalled a previous visit with his big band, when he wrote a song entitled “Someday.”
Armstrong remembered, “It was cold outside. It was winter, and the wind was blowin’ up a storm. ‘Someday’ comes to me. I get out of bed in my drawers and I write it down. Don’t you know I would have lost it in my sleep?”
At the concert, reporter Johnson asked, “How’s the crowd, Satchmo?” Armstrong replied, “Crazy crowd, man. … It’s a sellout.”
Armstrong’s skill as a trumpet player, showman, and gravel-voiced vocalist brought a crescendo of applause for each of his jazz classics.
On this date in 1960, the other reporter, Cal Olson, recalled that at intermission, Louis Armstrong “was wringing wet” with perspiration because he had performed with such enthusiasm. Armstrong needed an entire change of clothes before the last half of the show went on, in order to be at his best on center stage.
It was a night of musical magic in 1957, when showman extraordinaire Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong played his trumpet and sang his songs for 3,200 Fargo fans.
Dakota Datebook written by Steve Hoffbeck
Sources:
- Cal Olson, “Entertainers Fun To Interview,” Fargo Forum, January 19, 1960, p. 4.
- Del Johnson, “3,200 Hear Louis Armstrong Jazz Concert,” Fargo Forum, September 21, 1957, p. 1.
- Del Johnson, “Hi, Dippah,” Fargo Forum, September 22, 1957, p. C6.
- Albin Krebs, “Louis Armstrong, Jazz Trumpeter and Singer, Dies,” New York Times, July 7, 1971, p. 1, 41.
- “Well-Being and Care the Satchmo Way---Part 1,” louisarmstronghouse.org, accessed December 23, 2025.
