As I hinted last month, there is a cadenza to my time at the Bix Beiderbecke festival. On my way to Rhinelander, WI, where I spent the rest of August—anything to escape Lancaster’s summer heat and humidity—I went via Chicago to catch the Cellar Boys at the second of their regular weekly gigs, the Honky Tonk Barbecue at 18th and Racine in the Pilsen neighborhood. You may recall that last year I wrote about my first visit to their Tuesday spot at the Green Mill on the North Side. On this trip I planned to arrive early enough to snag a parking space, and in so doing had time to do something I always enjoy when I have the opportunity: exploring the city—any city, actually, whether I’ve been there before or not—on my bicycle.
My reading this summer was Ricky Riccardi’s third and final installment of his Louis Armstrong biography, which I’ve just finished. Titled Stomp Off, Let’s Go, it covers Armstrong’s earliest years, and was released a few months ago. I highly recommend it. It is very well written and documented, with 70 of its 466 pages devoted to footnotes.
