It’s a typically hot and humid Friday afternoon in New Orleans. Trumpeter and vocalist James Andrews is sitting in a coffee shop on Royal Street sipping peach tea. When I ask him what he thinks of Louis Armstrong, he becomes suddenly pensive as though contemplating a very serious situation. Eventually, his face lights up and he sits up higher in his chair and shakes his head as he tries to conjure up the words to express his feelings for Armstrong.

He then te...