100th Anniversary Celebration of Satchmo’s Birth--A Year Early

July 4, 1900. It’s the date that was universally recognized as Louis Armstrong’s birthday for his entire life. And there was something remarkably appropriate about it. The birthday of the nation and the start of a new century--a century in which Armstrong would be the pivotal force in the creation of an American art form that reached out to be embraced by the entire world.

As it turned out, the date was wrong. Writer Gary Giddins, researching his book “Satchmo,” came across baptismal and census records clearly indicating that Armstrong was born Aug. 4, 1901. Not as auspicious a number, but Satchmo’s story unfolded just the same.

It’s a story filled with fascinating twists and turns, a story not unlike the chronicle of the country itself in its colorful blend of adversity, achievement and optimism. On Monday, in a Labor Day special, KCRW-FM (89.9) will present a marathon of 11 episodes--from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.--of “Satchmo: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong,” the completed portion of a 13-hour centennial tribute that encompasses many aspects of the legendary jazz trumpeter’s life and music.

Funded by, among others, the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, the Wallace Reader’s Digest Fund and National Public Radio member stations, episodes in the series have also been presented weekly on Saturdays at 9 a.m. by jazz station KLON-FM (88.1) since July 4. (Today’s installment is titled “The Big Band Years, Part I,” and includes interviews with Lionel Hampton, Bobby Short and others.)

The series is a co-production of National Public Radio and the Luce Group. Each episode includes archival interviews--including a substantial amount of material from Armstrong himself--performances, history and commentary. New York Daily News writer Stanley Crouch hosts the show and singer Nancy Wilson introduces each episode with an overview.

Jim Luce, who co-produced the series with Tim Owens, also produced a Duke Ellington centennial audio documentary last year. As a longtime jazz fan, he realized that listeners would want to experience a lot of first-person Armstrong.

“It’s great to have a lot of 20th century talking heads and critics and academics talking about Armstrong,” Luce says, “but it’s far more effective to have the man himself talking. So when we got this project on track, I went on an ambitious world tour to track down Louis and others on tape. And we have a total of more than two hours of Louis himself in the series.”

There’s much more: archival interviews with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Jordan, Bing Crosby and others, as well as commentary from such contemporary observers as trumpeters Wynton Marsalis and Nicholas Payton and singer Jon Hendricks. Dan Morgenstern of the Institute of Jazz Studies managed the accuracy of the production from a historical and scholarly point of view.

Interestingly, although the production parallels in many ways one of the principal narrative threads in Ken Burns’ upcoming 19-hour video documentary “Jazz,” the two programs had no connection with each other. But both faced the problem of dealing with an enormously complex individual.

“[Armstrong’s] larger than life,” Luce says. “He was virtually the first jazz artist to do everything--singing, playing, entertaining, the movies, performing abroad. Everything. You name it, he was there first.

“Then there’s the rags-to-riches aspect of his life. Starting out in such incredible poverty and then becoming an icon for the world. I mean, you look at him and you realize, my God, this guy’s life is the history of jazz itself.”

Luce was also determined to include the softer side of the Armstrong persona.

“Think about his soul,” he continues. “His ability to embrace being sent to the Waifs Home when he was a kid--an orphan asylum. Instead of having it be a terrible experience, he embraced the discipline that the home provided and he felt it made him stronger. You know, the first thing he did when he was an adult and went back to New Orleans was to go to the Waifs Home and take a nap in his old bed.”

Nor did Luce avoid dealing with some of the more controversial episodes in Armstrong’s life.

“The tone of the series is celebrational,” he says, “but we didn’t back away from anything, from the fact that he got busted in L.A. for smoking pot, that he has involvements with gangsters, things like that.”

And, following Giddins’ lead, Luce took the point of view that the entire Armstrong needed to be examined, from the jazz adventurer to the successful commercial entertainer.

“Early on, Gary said that if you follow the prophet, you have to embrace the prophet all the way,” Luce says. “And if you do that, you’ll finally conclude in the end that there’s no difference between Satchmo’s classic ‘West End Blues’ and his best-selling ‘Mame.’ It’s all the same genius. And when you’re confronted by all the beautiful things he played, how can you not respond, regardless of the setting.”

Many of the high points in the Armstrong journey are included in 60 five-minute modules that will be distributed--as will the 13-hour documentary--to about 175 to 200 stations around the country.

“Each tells a little story about some facet of a relationship Armstrong had or some sort of episode in his life. We’ve got the story of how ‘Hello, Dolly!’ came about, and how he recorded ‘Mack the Knife’ and suddenly realized he had a hit on his hands. They’re playable this year or next to celebrate either one, or both, of the Armstrong birthdays.”

Luce, who also produces New York’s Caramoor Festival and the annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, views the Armstrong, as well as last year’s Ellington documentary, as high points in his professional and personal life.

“I consider myself blessed,” he says, “to have had the opportunity to deal with Ellington and Armstrong on their centennials. It may sound corny, but I’m proud to know that, if I knew I were going to die tomorrow, that I could say that I have done this work.”

* The 11-hour documentary series “Satchmo: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong” can be heard Monday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on KCRW-FM (89.9). Single installments of the series can also be heard Saturdays at 9 a.m. on KLON-FM (88.1).