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As a kid, I thought Louis Armstrong was hopelessly old-fashioned. Because of course all I knew were songs like "Hello Dolly," which were hopelessly old-fashioned. I knew nothing of the critical role he played in the development of jazz, or his complex and sometimes dark relationships with women, racism, and politics. And I'm not sure seeing his collages would've changed that back then. But now, I feel I understand the guy just a bit better.

Armstrong's collages are untutored and amateurish. They seem to be made with Scotch tape, which yellows in a way that adds an unintended hint of color and age to the collages. But they show a man who had a sense of humor, of history, and a perhaps ambivalent sense about his own place in music history. A man who liked the ladies. And a man who knew that entertainment was also a business - it's almost funny (or maybe it is genuinely funny) to see how often the name of the brand of laxative that he endorsed appears in these collages.

Last week, I learned that Armstrong was a lifelong proponent of marijuana use, and was actually pretty serious about it. This week, I learn he was a visual artist, of sorts. What will next week's revelation be? Did the guy secretly manage the 1936 Yankees from inside the clubhouse?

Tell us: Lots of musicians have made visual art as well - what do these works tell us about the musicians who made them?
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