Boston Common - Niche Media - A side of Boston that's anything but common.
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY GORDON PARKS/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES I n 1955, jazz usually lurked in dark grottoes of the night, but on July 8 it sashayed into the sunshine when Louis Armstrong headlined the first outdoor jazz concert at Castle Hill on the Crane Estate. Since 1951 Castle Hill had hosted classical and opera concerts on its Grand Allée, the spectacular lawn rolling down to the ocean, and the genteel string quartets fit right in with the Downton Abbey vibe of the estate. The Louis Armstrong show kicked off a series of jazz concerts at Castle Hill that continued until 1969, and they brought more than swinging new sounds to the estate. "I was with a cute guy the night of the Duke Ellington show, so I really enjoyed that one a lot," recalls M.L. Scudder, who lived nearby and attended many of the concerts. Indeed, the jazz series attracted a bigger, younger, more diverse audience, and the famously congenial Louis Armstrong was the perfect ambassador to win over any skeptics in the community. "He could really charm the bark off the trees," Scudder recalls. "And of course he could blow that trumpet like you wouldn't believe." Armstrong's concert drew an audience of more than 5,000, and over the years some of the biggest stars in jazz performed at Castle Hill, including Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone. Almost six decades later, the concert tradition is still going strong. Every Thursday this summer, from July 10 to August 28, guests will roll out their picnic blankets for an evening of music—even some big-band jazz on August 7—for a taste of the sounds that helped put the historic estate on the pop-music map. 290 Argilla Road, Ipswich, 978-356-4351; thetrustees.org BC Hip Cats on the Lawn IN 1955 LOUIS ARMSTRONG BROUGHT THE SWINGING SOUNDS OF JAZZ TO CASTLE HILL FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. BY JENNIFER DEMERITT Louis Armstrong wowed the crowd at Castle Hill on July 8, 1955. 6 BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM F ront Runners