Louis Prima: The Wildest documentary screening + Q&A

The Prima Memorial Series
Louis Prima: The Wildest documentary screening
+ Q&A with producers Joe Lauro and Don McGlynn

Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024
12 - 2 p.m.

Diboll Gallery
3rd floor of The Commons, Tulane University

Refreshments served
Free and open to the public

Before Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett or Engelbert Humperdinck ever played the stages of Vegas, there was Louis Prima. One of America's most hypnotic and original performers, Prima's career spanned several decades and turned out hits like "That Old Black Magic," "Sing, Sing, Sing," "Just a Gigolo," "I Ain't Got Nobody" and "Jump, Jive an' Wail." In Disney's animated classic The Jungle Book, Prima created the "hep" voice of King Louie the orangutan. This film profiles the magnetic Louis Prima in a nostalgic historical journey through the music scenes of a racy New Orleans, the swinging jazz culture of uptown New York and Las Vegas's formative years.

Following the screening, Anthony J. Sylvester of the Gia Maione Prima Foundation will moderate a talkback session with the film’s producers, Joe Lauro and Don McGlynn.

The Prima Memorial Series presents discourse and discussion around American popular music, including its origins in American jazz.

Sponsored by Tulane University Special Collections, the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, and the Gia Maione Prima Foundation

For more information about the event, contact Melissa A. Weber at mweber3@tulane.edu.

Image credit: Louis Prima papers, Tulane University Special Collections