More than a decade after a fire wreaked havoc in a Universal Studios Hollywood building, it’s been revealed the disaster claimed thousands of historic audio recordings as its victims. Among those reported are masters from New Orleans jazz giant, Louis Armstrong.

As reported by the New York Times, it wasn’t until New York Magazine published a story on June 11 that the severity of the 2008 fire became public knowledge. Universal Music Group, the company whose property was destroyed in that fire, estimates it lost approximately 500,000 song titles.

Louis Armstrong, 1953.CreditPhoto Illustration by Sean Freeman & Eve Steben for The New York Times. Source photograph: Library of Congress, via Diomedia

The Times defines master recordings as “one-of-a-kind originals that are the source from which reproductions like CDs, vinyl records and other recordings are derived.” In a different Times article, published on June 11, it’s reported that “The lost works most likely included masters in the Decca Records collection by Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland. The fire probably also claimed some of Chuck Berry’s greatest recordings, produced for Chess Records, as well as the masters of some of Aretha Franklin’s first appearances on record.”

New York Magazine was more direct in its June 11 report, writing “Among the incinerated Decca masters were recordings by titanic figures in American music: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Al Jolson, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland. The tape masters for Billie Holiday’s Decca catalog were most likely lost in total. The Decca masters also included recordings by such greats as Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five and Patsy Cline.”

As details continue to emerge about the specific Armstrong titles that were likely lost in the fire, the Queens, New York Louis Armstrong House Museum containes one of the world’s finest collections of Armstrong memorabilia, including audio recordings. Ricky Riccardi, the Museum’s Director of Research Collections, will be in New Orleans for Satchmo SummerFest 2019, where he’ll be honored with a Spirit of Satchmo award. During the 2018 Satchmo SummerFest, Riccardi  and fellow Armstrong historian Stephen Maitland-Lewis spoke with OffBeat about Armstrong. Check out the video below.