VIDEO: 88 Years Ago Today, Louis Armstrong Recorded His Historic 'West End Blues'

It was 88 years ago on this day, June 28th, 1928, that Louis Armstrong and his band, The Hot 5, assembled in a Chicago recording studio and waxed a disc that would be among the most iconic and influential recordings in American music, "West End Blues."

The 26-year-old cornet man was a protégée of the great bluesman Joe "King" Oliver, who had written the song and recorded it himself. But Armstrong incorporated two revolutionary aspects to his mentor's composition. The recording opens with his sterling fanfare, the likes of which had never been heard before. Midway through the performance, the legend known as Satchmo, delivers one of the earliest recorded examples of scatting.

As told on Broadway in SHUFFLE ALONG, OR THE MAKING OF THE MUSICAL SENSATION OF 1921 AND ALL THAT FOLLOWED, jazz was making its way into Broadway at the beginning of the decade, but Armstrong's unique performance, and the elevated level of musicianship displayed on this, and other Hot 5 (later Hot 7) recordings, helped accelerate the form's acceptance into theatres and concert halls.

Louis Armstrong himself was featured on Broadway the next year in the revue HOT CHOCOLATES, and returned ten years later as Bottom in a Shakespeare variation called SWINGIN' THE DREAM.

Armstrong lived in Queens, New York with his wife Lucille until his death in 1971. Their home is a national historic landmark and museum. Visit LouisArmstrongHouse.org.