Caili O’Doherty

Bluer Than Blue
Release Date: March 7, 2025
Label: Outside In Music

Lillian “Lil” Hardin Armstrong is a name most jazz aficionados recognize, having read it in the annals and footnotes of jazz history, but often mistakenly gloss over it in passing as a detail in the broader narrative. For pianist Caili O’Doherty, the story of Lil Hardin Armstrong became the caper of an unsung heroine of jazz history. While most will remember that Armstrong was the second wife of jazz icon Louis Armstrong who is often credited with spurring him forward to greatness, few may know the extent of her influence. For O’Doherty, what started as a few lines in a textbook at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College quickly turned into an enigmatic journey of discovery. Through research, study, and the music itself, O’Doherty discovered that not only did Lil Hardin Armstrong’s music become the staple foundation of her husband Louis’s career, but she went on to write hits for greats throughout history such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. With Bluer Than Blue, O’Doherty goes directly to the source, drawing on beloved and deep works from Lil Hardin Armstrong’s and instilling them with new vigor and reinterpretations of O’Doherty’s own masterful devising.

Bluer Than Blue was born, like so many great discoveries, inventions, and works, by questioning what is taken for granted. While studying a course entitled “The Music of Louis Armstrong” under Ricky Riccardi, the Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong Museum, O’Doherty thought it was odd that while Hardin was credited with pushing her husband toward fame, generations of jazz historians simply dismissed her role in Louis’s career. Some, such as Gary Giddins, went so far to state that even though Hardin’s name appears in the credits of many of her husband’s works, that it was because Louis “allowed” her to claim credit. Bold assumptions without factual evidence did not sit well with O’Doherty, and she struck forth to begin researching the matter herself. 

O’Doherty’s research continued through correspondence with Riccardi, and began to culminate in practice when her project highlighting Hardin’s music and influence earned a week-long residency at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2018, and a grant-funded, high-profile performance of Hardin’s music at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, where Bluer Than Blue was recorded in 2021. 

Historically, Hardin was a firm believer in forward motion in jazz. When visited in her home by jazz journalist Chris Albertson in the 1960s, Hardin pointed out her stacks of Thelonious Monk and Dr. Billy Taylor records, stating, “This is what I like to listen to. I only wish I could play that well.” When shown the Gil Evans arrangement of “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue” (which Hardin co-wrote) featuring Cannonball Adderley in that same interview, Hardin was “ecstatic”, leading to her musical taste being described as “thoroughly modern”. The performances of Hardin’s music heard on Bluer Than Blue are all uniquely arranged by O’Doherty, and lean into both the musical sensibilities of the time in which Hardin lived and the modern mode of composition that Hardin adored. In summation, Hardin’s love for the “thoroughly modern” would be met with great enthusiasm in how her music is being honored on Bluer Than Blue.

Part of the beauty of Bluer Than Blue is in the curation of the music. O’Doherty shows wisdom not only in her arrangements of the music, but in her selections from Hardin’s repertoire in such a way to tease audiences with what they know and enrapture them with that which may be wholly unfamiliar. “Let’s Call It Love,” the album’s first single, is a prominent example of the latter. A lesser-known work composed by Hardin in 1937, O’Doherty’s arrangement takes a 12/8 bembe twist on the piece, and spotlights engrossing bassline, which is doubled between the upright bass and the piano’s left hand. The track also features vocals and scat singing by Michael Mayo. Due to Hardin’s fame in contributing to Louis Armstrong’s oeuvre, O’Doherty features perhaps two of Hardin’s most beloved pieces on this album: “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” and “Two Deuces”. O’Doherty’s arrangement of “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue” in particular highlights her nod to and love for jazz history, as she showcases her dynamic stride piano playing, which brilliantly incorporates an iconic lick from Louis Armstrong’s performance of “Tears”, which was co-written with Hardin, and then later made famous in his recording of “Potato Head Blues”. Bluer Than Blue features a distinctive, and arguably now definitive, arrangement of “Just For a Thrill”. Often regarded as Hardin’s most beloved standard, “Just For a Thrill” features the prominent vocals of Tahira Clayton on O’Doherty’s reimagining of the piece.  

With a project spearheaded by such a distinct vision, O’Doherty required a highly dedicated team of musicians who would not only pour their soul into these arrangements, but would take the time to steep themselves in the music and history of Lil Hardin Armstrong from which all these works take their root. When one listens to the end result achieved, it is unequivocally evident that O’Doherty achieved exactly that. The central trio at the core of this album comprises the bandleader Caili O’Doherty on piano, bassist Tamir Shmerling, and drummer Cory Cox. Throughout the album, the various featured personnel rotates per track, and consists of a stellar cast of Nicole Glover on tenor saxophone and vocalists Tahira Clayton and Michael Mayo.  

Bluer Than Blue is more than a retelling of jazz history; it’s more than a love letter to the music of a late genius; and it’s more than a masterwork of informed arranging. At its core, Bluer Than Blue is a profound monument to an unsung hero that captures not only the spirit of the music but the ebullient character of the composer herself.