LOUIS ARMSTRONG
Genres: Classic (1920s) Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Dixieland, Original New Orleans Jazz, Jazz Related Soundtracks • United States

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was a trumpet player, singer, and bandleader, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential artists in the history of jazz. Armstrong was born and brought up in New Orleans, a culturally diverse town with a unique musical mix of creole, ragtime, marching bands, and blues. Although from an early age he was able to play music professionally, he didn't travel far from New Orleans until 1922, when he went to Chicago to join his mentor, King Oliver. Oliver's band played primitive jazz, a hotter style of ragtime, with looser rhythms and more improvisation, and Armstrong's role was mostly backing.  Slow to promote himself, he was eventually persuaded by his wife Lil Hardin to leave Oliver, and In 1924 he went to New York to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra.  At the time, there were a few other artists using the rhythmic innovations read more...