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From the NYTimes obit...
Howard Armstrong, the last guardian of a vanishing African-American tradition of string-band music, died on Wednesday in Boston, where he lived. He was 94.
Mr. Armstrong played 22 instruments although he was best known as a fiddle and mandolin player. He performed with a virtuoso's panache, pleasing audiences with fast fingers and a droll stage presence. His repertory included blues, standards, country tunes, rags, work songs, jigs, reels, polkas, spirituals, Hawaiian songs and international songs in the seven languages he spoke. His gifts as a musician and raconteur were captured in a 1985 documentary by Terry Zwigoff called "Louie Bluie," a nickname that Mr. Armstrong got from a drunken fan in the 1930's. A documentary by Leah Mahan, "Sweet Old Song," was broadcast last year on PBS, and will be shown again on Aug. 12.
"Maybe that whole love thing is just a grown-up version of Santa Claus; just a myth we've been fed since childhood. So, we keep buying magazines, joining clubs, and doing therapy and watching movies with hit pop songs played over love montages all in a pathetic attempt to explain why our love Santa keeps getting caught in the chimney."
Kate & Leopold (2001)
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