Complex sentence: Lewis, almost totally unknown outside of New Orleans, impressed many listeners, and he made his first recordings under his own name for American Music Records, while staying with Bunk Johnson's newly popular band through 1946, including a trip to New York City.
Split into simpler sentences: Lewis, almost totally unknown outside of New Orleans, impressed many listeners, and he made his first recordings under his own name for American Music Records. Lewis stayed with Bunk Johnson's newly popular band through 1946, including a trip to New York City.