Louis Armstrong Trumpet Believed to Have Been Used to Record Album at Pasadena Civic Auditorium Goes Up for Auction

A gold-plated trumpet made in 1948 for jazz great Louis Armstrong, and is believed to be the horn heard on the “California Concerts” album recorded at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in 1951, is scheduled to hit the auction block next month, according to Christie’s New York.

The Selmer Model 19 balanced action medium bore trumpet  was expected to fetch between $60,000 and $80,000 dollars when offered during Christie’s “The Exceptional Sale” on Oct. 14, according to the auction house.

Armstrong gifted the trumpet to friend Duke Donin in 1953, Christie’s said in a written statement. It bears an inscription reading “Duke Donin/from Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong/7/10/53.”

The inscription adds to the horn’s uniqueness, as “only a handful of Armstrong trumpets were ever inscribed,” the statement said. “A similar model from 1946 is held at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.”

Armstrong was known to play his instruments for about five years, then give them away as gifts, according to Christie.

“It is likely that the Donin trumpet was used by Armstrong on ‘The California Concerts,’ a live album recorded in 1951 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium,” the statement said.

It represents a special time in the famed musicians career, Christie’s Senior Specialist Becky MacGuire said.

“This was a time in his life when he was totally in control,” she said. “His distinctive scat singing in that fabulous gravelly voice, his soaring and confident trumpet solos, the fluidity with which he swung in and out of his ensemble: this was the Louis Armstrong that made American jazz.”

More information on the upcoming auction is available on Christie’s website at christies.com/salelanding/index.aspx?lid=1&intsaleid=28775&saletitle=#lot_6281282