The close friendship Jack Bradley had with Louis Armstrong gave him unrestricted access to his hero for over 12 years.
He took thousands of photographs of the great jazz musician and saved his sound recordings, fan letters — and even handkerchiefs.
Now a small portion of his vast collection is featured in a new exhibition opening on Tuesday at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens.
Museum archivist Ricky Riccardi says it’s the largest collection of Louis Armstrong material in private hands.
Among the highlights is a rare, never-published photograph of Armstrong weeks before his death. It shows him at home playing the trumpet along with one of his recordings.
Armstrong died in 1971 in the house that is now the museum.
The exhibition runs until March 29.
