When jazz great Louis Armstrong’s plane touched down in Accra—the capital of what was then the British Gold Coast—on a spring morning in 1956, thousands of spectators awaited him on the tarmac. Cries of “Armstrong Akwaaba!”—Welcome, Armstrong!—went up as the world-famous trumpeter and his All Stars musicians appeared. At that moment, more than a dozen African bands began serenading them with a joyous rendition of “All for You!,” a song recorded by Accra’s own E.T. Mensah, a trumpet player, saxophonist, and vocalist who was among the many revelers. America’s King…
