Karnofsky Tailor Shop: Ida topples New Orleans jazz landmark where Armstrong worked

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Ida topples New Orleans jazz landmark where Armstrong worked

August 30, 2021

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A storied New Orleans jazz site where a young Louis Armstrong once worked toppled when Ida blew through Louisiana as one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the U.S.

The Karnofsky Tailor Shop, where a Jewish family employed Armstrong, collapsed Sunday during the storm. Armstrong would play a small tin horn as he worked on the coal and junk wagons, according to the National Park Service.

The business opened downtown in 1913 and had a residence above it where the late jazz legend would often eat meals. The family, who provided Armstrong a “second home,” lent him money to buy his first cornet.

“Louis said it was the Karnofskys that instilled the love of singing in his heart,” jazz historian and retired photojournalist John McCusker said, according to WWL-TV.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-travel-arts-and-entertainment-new-orleans-16e8cbeb9820469703d45680ef008f28

[Kid Berwyn]

1. Louis Armstrong was fluent in Yiddish.

The family adopted him and he, them.