Article by Nanette Wiser
All images courtesy of Little Satchmo Documentary LLC, Copyright 2021.
In the new documentary, “Little Satchmo”, we discover the behind-the-scenes story of Sharon Preston-Folta, whose 2018 memoir captivated my heart. “Little Satchmo – Living in the Shadow of My Father, Louis Daniel Armstrong,” reveals her life with mother Lucille Preston, 98, who was Louis Armstrong’s love and Sharon’s father.
Sharon is Louis’ only child, never publicly revealed. “This is a secret I could no longer keep,” says Sharon in the book and the documentary. “But now, it’s time to tell my story.” Sharon is both narrator and executive producer of this provocative film, started in December 2019. Produced during the pandemic using archival and b-roll shots of places where she, her mother and father lived in NYC, film clips of her mom and first husband dancing and a four-day shoot in Sarasota at Sharon’s house in September 2020.
Producers Lea Umberger and J.C. Guest, director John Alexander and Crook and Nanny Production Company had great material to work with. Sharon’s personal collection of Louis Armstrong correspondence, photos, audio tapes and legal documents were accepted into the Library of Congress. The film is a Southern Documentary Fund with support from PBS Reel South, and it has already picked up high praise from Rolling Stone and other media.
In July, the 50th anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s death July 6, “Little Satchmo” will have its world premiere in Europe at an Oscar-qualifying festival this summer (May 2021 announcement), and Sharon will be interviewed by Radio France as well. A U.S. debut is in the works. It’s not surprising that the documentary will first be shown in Europe, says Sharon. “Since the late sixties, jazz has been extremely popular in Europe. In America, rock has replaced jazz as the innovative music. In Europe, jazz artists past and present are honored, and swing music and my father are still extremely popular in Germany.”
What is a woman when no one sees that the blood of a legend runs through her veins, asks the documentary. That need to reveal her legacy drove her to write the book and produce the documentary.
“When I got to a certain age in my 50s, I started looking at my legacy and realizing that this secret, I needed to understand it more, but my mother wasn’t forthcoming with information,” she explains. “In researching the book, I understood why all the stories excluded my mother, but why his only child? The will said he had no children. It became clear to me that unless I found my voice and told my story the way it actually happened, I would be erased forever.”
Sharon’s mother met Louis Armstrong when she and her husband Luther were booked by agent Joe Glaser as an act Slim & Sweets. They opened for some of the great jazz performers of the day, including Louis Armstrong (who had the same agent) .Louis liked them both and knew her family, so when she lost her husband to stomach cancer, Louis said after the funeral, “I am supposed to take care of you. And did.” Both fell hard for each other.
“The first four years were filled with a whirlwind of romance and secrecy. Mom would travel far and wide to meet Louis; they also would get together when he was in town.” Louis’s wife, Lucille Armstrong, knew about Sharon, but never acknowledged she or her mother.
Sharon and her mother’s relationship was complicated, and at first, she did not want Sharon to write the book or do a documentary. “My mom, who passed last March, thought about him always, loving him was part of who she was,” says Sharon. “We depended on him and he was very much part of our lives, but when he died, we were each other’s only resource.” When my mother found out the will said I didn’t exist, she opened up about their relationship and eventually agreed to be videotaped.”
Sharon hopes people will learn more about her beloved father, a serious artist and complicated man who loved both Sharon and her mother. “We were his family; he took care of us as if we were part of his public life. I want people to know he wanted to be a father, but he made choices to keep us a secret because of his fame and marriage, right or wrong.”
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Pinellas County arts and culture mavens know Sharon Preston-Folta well as WUSF’s Senior Account Executive, Community Partnerships & Marketing. Previously, she worked for blockbuster NYC media companies (ABC Radio, CBS Radio, KISS FM) before relocating from The Big Apple to Sarasota in 2004; her mother joined her in 2006. A style icon and brilliant raconteur, Sharon hosts two radio shows on Sarasota’s WSLR: Town Talk Tampa Bay, a public affairs show that highlights issues affecting people of color and highlighting people doing great things in the community, and an arts/music show, Radio Reset.