Louis Armstrong, c. 1925.

Courtesy of the Frank Driggs Collection.

 

“New Orleans Function/Didn’t He Ramble”

Louis Armstrong All Stars

1951

The New Orleans function—the slow dirge and happy, up-tempo march that are performed as part of a traditional funeral—is a living tradition, born out of the saying “mourn at birth and celebrate at death.” Here Louis performs the march, “Didn’t He Ramble.”