Birthplace of Jazz: Legends Jazz Legends Character Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the birthplace of jazz. He is considered the most important improviser in jazz, and he taught the world to swing. Armstrong, fondly known as "Satchmo" (which is short for "Satchelmouth" referring to the size of his mouth) or "Pops," had a sense of humor, natural and unassuming manner, and positive disposition that made everyone around him feel good. With his infectious, wide grin and instantly recognizable gravelly voice, he won the hearts of people everywhere. He had an exciting and innovative style of playing that musicians imitate to this day. Throughout his career, Armstrong spread the language of jazz around the world, serving as an international ambassador of swing. His profound impact on the music of the 20th century continues into the 21st century. Childhood Armstrong had what many, today, would refer to as a traumatic or dysfunctional childhood. He and his friends would sing for nickels and pennies on the streets of his native New Orleans.

On New Year’s Eve 1913, just 12 years old, Armstrong was caught firing a gun into the air and sentenced to a boys home for waifs. It was here under the tutelage of Peter Davis, who ran the home, that Armstrong learned how to play the cornet and he was soon playing picnics and parades. Later in life Louis returned year after year to the same waifs home to spread his joy to whoever was housed there. He never forgot Peter Davis or the kids. Jazz Career During the mid 1920’s Armstrong began recording the sessions that would become legendary with his “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” groups. His first record under his own name was “My Heart” cut November 12th 1925. For better than three years Armstrong remained in Chicago churning out a number of famous recordings that earned him worldwide acclaim. Many were with a pianist he had worked with in the Dickerson band named Earl “Fatha” Hines. By the time he returned to New York in 1929 both black and white audiences knew Armstrong the world over.

Fame While in New York, this time around, Armstrong reached a pivotal point in his career; he led the Dickerson band and doubled in a roll on Broadway in the revue called “Hot Chocolates.” His first “popular song” hit came from this show; a song written by Fats Waller called “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Late Career Armstrong spent most of the 1940's touring and playing live. He was so busy, it wasn't until the 50's and 60's that most of his recordings were made.Armstrong was recorded in a variety of settings; from small groups with Oscar Peterson on piano, to two albums with Ella Fitzgerald, to big band and orchestral accompaniment. The bulk of these recordings can be found on the Verve record label. Introduction George Vital Laine aka Papa Jack (September 21, 1873 - June 1, 1966) was the most busy and perhaps the most important band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I. Managing Bands Laine was a drummer, but was more noted for his skills at arranging and booking bands.

He often had several different bands playing parades, dances, and advertising events around town at the same time. He ususally used the band name "Reliance" for parade marching band jobs. Reliance Brass Band Near the turn of the century, Laine organized his famous Reliance Brass Band which he lead for nearly 20 years. The market demand for music in the early 1900s eventually called for three separate units of this group, plus four others, the Tuxedo Band, Laine's Band, the Formal Band, and another, with no name at all. As the crave for vernacular dance music grew, Laine also included dance bands, adding pianists, guitarists and string bassists with brass band players. Laine's love of music and his role in it's perpetuation is reflected in his creation of a children's band. Laine often turned his house into a dormitory to ensure performers were available early for picnics, excursions, and out-of-town parades. Beyond Segregation Laine's musicians included individuals from most of New Orleans' many ethnic groups-- French, Italian, German, Jewish, Latin American, etc. It also included African American musicians.

Laine started leading bands before the Jim Crow codes went into effect in New Orleans. Even after segregation laws started demanding "whites" and "colored" be kept separate, Laine continued to hire light and medium light skinned African-American musicians, claiming that they were "Cuban" or "Mexican" if any segregationist tried to start trouble. Hence some musicians who played with black bands like those of Buddy Bolden and Joe King Oliver also played with Laine. Thus there was a wide cross-fertilization of musical ideas in the Laine organization. The age of his musicians spanned the full gamut of years. Some had a great deal of formal musical training while others, none. His bands were made up of readers and fakers (those who could read music and those who could not), a winning combination in playing both standards and the evolving new music. In 1904, he combined New Orleans musicians with St. Louis locals at the St. Louis Exposition in Missouri, playing with the group briefly before returning to New Orleans.

Musicians' Careers Proprelled New Orleans musicians who first spread jazz around the USA in the 1910s and 1920s got their start in the Laine bands. As a bandleader, Laine hired many musicians, 150 of whom are now identifiable. A third of them became mainstays of early jazz. Many of these musicians went on to perform with such groups as Tom Brown's Band From Dixie, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the Louisiana Five, Jimmy Durante's Original New Orleans Jazz Band, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and became internationally famous. Some still retain this fame today, including Tom Brown, Nick LaRocca, Larry Shields, Eddie Edwards, Tony Sbabaro, Alcide Nunez, Achille Baquet, George Brunies, and Chink Martin. Retirement Laine retired from the music booking business by 1920, but he lived a long life past 90, and was interviewed a number of times, providing first hand accounts of the early days of the development of New Orleans jazz.

Childhood Sidney Bechet was born in New Orleans in May 1897, of Creole ancestry, grew up in a middle class environment. His father, Omar, who was a shoemaker, played the flute as a hobby. Indeed, music had an important role in the Bechet household, as Sidney's four brothers also played instruments. His brother, Leonard, played the clarinet and trombone, and it was to the former instrument that eight- year-old Sidney was attracted. Leonard, whose main interest was the trombone, passed along his clarinet to his younger brother. At first, Sidney played in the family musicales - waltzes, quadrilles, and the polite music of the middle class. But as he grew into adolescence, Sidney was attracted to the syncopated music played in the dance halls and brothels in the Storyville District. As a boy, he would watch the street parades in which jazz bands played and was so attracted to the music, that he often played hooky from school. As he became more proficient on the clarinet, Sidney played in local jazz bands, such as the Young Olympians.

His playing so impressed Bunk Johnson, the legendary cornet player, that Sidney was invited to join Johnson's band, the Eagle Band. Sidney gained much experience, playing in dance halls, and for picnics, and parties. Early Career Bechet left New Orleans for the first time when he was 19, traveling to Chicago with pianist, Clarence Williams and his variety show. He recorded a few sides there with Williams in 1923 for the Okeh label, released under the name of Rosetta Crawford accompanied by King Bechet Trio. Bechet plays some very soulful clarinet and saxophone on these sides. He then joined up with King Oliver. Bechet's big break came in 1919 when the composer-conductor Will Marion Cook asked him to join his Southern Syncopated Orchestra for an engagement in London where he came to the attention of the noted Swiss Conductor, Ernst Ansermet, who conducted the music of Stravinsky for the Ballets Russa. Ansermet wrote in a Swiss musical Journal, The extraordinary clarinet virtuoso Bechet is an artist of genius!

Soprano Saxophone Though starting out as a clarinetist, Bechet eventually became even better known as a virtuoso of the soprano saxoph one. He first tried to play on a beat-up old soprano sax he purchased in a pawn shop. Such was the difficulty of the soprano sax; an instrument extremely difficult to play in tune that he gave up and obtained his money back from the pawnbroker. A year latter in London, he purchased a brand new instrument and tried again. This time he was successful and succeeded in making the soprano saxophone an important voice in jazz. Aging Career In 1932, Bechet and his friend, trumpet player Tommy Ladnier, formed their own band, the New Orleans Feetwarmers. The New Orleans Feetwarmers 1932 sides are the epitome of Hot Jazz. Bechet's soprano sax playing is nothing short of amazing on the song "Shag". Ernest Meyers's scat singing solo on that same song has to be one of the finest examples of Jazz singing ever recorded. Unfortunately the records didn't sell well. When engagements for the Feetwarmers became scarce, Ladnier and Bechet opened a dry cleaning shop in Harlem.

In the Forties Bechet worked regularly in New York with Eddie Condon and tried to start a band with Bunk Johnson. Bechet was a popular figure of the Dixieland revival of the late Forties often recording with Mezz Mezzrow. 1000+ images about Louis Armstrong on Pinterest | 1920s, Louis armstrong and Jazz Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong is a vocalist, and actor.Louis Armstrong pics for share, discography, with tour and latest song, chord youtube and new albums. 10 Pins4 Followers jazz music: Trumpet. The Legends - Louis Armstrong In this blog you can find information about jazz music and mainly about jazz legends. We will also speak about less known artists, various jazz festivals, and of course about the musical instruments that are used by jazz artists. Saturday, April 14, 2012 Trumpet. The Legends - Louis Armstrong The art of jazz revolves around several key instruments: the piano, the bass, the saxophone and, of course, the trumpet. Bold, brassy and flashy, the trumpet is the centerpiece for many jazz compositions.

It has been the favorite instrument of numerous jazz greats, and its sounds have graced some of the most influential styles in jazz music. Early jazz music styles, such as ragtime and boogie-woogie, featured mostly the piano and a few other key instruments. The introduction of Dixieland-style jazz helped bring the trumpet to the forefront of jazz, especially when played by legends such as Louis Armstrong. From there, the trumpet went on to become a staple of the jazz orchestras of the 1920s and '30s (including those fronted by Armstrong). The trumpet's prominence faded slightly in the 1940s and '50s with the advent of bebop, a style that was popularized more by the saxophone--but the trumpet was far from dead. It saw resurgence in the "cool jazz" styles, and although it again experienced something of a decline in the fusion era of the 1970s, by the end of the 20th century, prominent musicians were again playing it. The Legends - Part Two Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the birthplace of jazz.

He is considered the most important improviser in jazz, and he taught the world to swing. Armstrong, fondly known as "Satchmo" (which is short for "Satchelmouth" referring to the size of his mouth) or "Pops," had a sense of humor, natural and unassuming manner, and positive disposition that made everyone around him feel good. With his infectious, wide grin and instantly recognizable gravelly voice, he won the hearts of people everywhere. He had an exciting and innovative style of playing that musicians imitate to this day. Throughout his career, Armstrong spread the language of jazz around the world, serving as an international ambassador of swing. His profound impact on the music of the 20th century continues into the 21st century. Armstrong grew up in a poor family in a rough section of New Orleans. He started working at a very young age to support his family, singing on street corners for pennies, working on a junk wagon, cleaning graves for tips, and selling coal. His travels around the city introduced him to all kinds of music, from the blues played in the Storyville honky-tonks to the brass bands accompanying the New Orleans parades and funerals.

The music that surrounded him was a great source of inspiration. A born musician, Armstrong had already demonstrated his singing talents on the streets of the city and eventually taught himself to play the cornet. He received his first formal music instruction in the Colored Waif's Home for Boys, where he was allegedly confined for a year and a half as punishment for firing blanks into the air on New Year's Eve. As the young Armstrong began to perform with pick-up bands in small clubs and play funerals and parades around town, he captured the attention and respect of some of the older established musicians of New Orleans. Joe "King" Oliver, a member of Kid Ory's band and one of the finest trumpet players around, became Armstrong's mentor. When Oliver moved to Chicago, Armstrong took his place in Kid Ory's band, a leading group in New Orleans at the time. A year later, he was hired to work on riverboats that traveled the Mississippi. This experience enabled him to play with many prominent jazz musicians and to further develop his skills, learning to read music and undertaking the responsibilities of a professional gig. In 1922, Oliver invited Armstrong to Chicago to play second cornet in his Creole Jazz Band.

As a member of Oliver's band, Armstrong began his lifetime of touring and recording. In 1924, he moved on to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra at the Roseland Ballroom. Armstrong continued his touring and recording activities with Henderson's group and also made recordings with Sidney Bechet, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith. In 1925, Armstrong returned to Chicago and made his first recordings as a band leader with his Hot Five (and later his Hot Seven). From 1925 to 1928 he continued a rigorous schedule of performing and recording, which included Heebie Jeebies, the tune that introduced scat singing to a wide audience and West End Blues, one of the most famous recordings in early jazz. During this period, his playing steadily improved, and his traveling and recording activities introduced his music to more and more people. In 1929, Armstrong returned to New York City and made his first Broadway appearance. His 1929 recording of Ain't Misbehavin' introduced the use of a pop song as material for jazz interpretation, helping set the stage for the popular acceptance of jazz that would follow.

During the next year, he performed in several U.S. states, including California, where he made his first film and radio appearances. In 1931, he first recorded When It's Sleepytime Down South, the tune that became his theme song. In 1932, he toured England for three months, and during the next few years, continued his extensive domestic and international tours, including a lengthy stay in Paris. When Armstrong returned to the U.S. in 1935, Joe Glaser became his manager. Not only did Glaser free Armstrong from the managerial battles and legal difficulties of the past few years, he remained his manager for the duration of his career and helped transform Armstrong into an international star. Under Glaser's management, Armstrong performed in films, on the radio, and in the best theaters, dance halls, and nightclubs. He worked with big bands, playing music of an increasingly commercial nature as well as small groups that showcased his singing of popular songs. In 1942, Armstrong married Lucille Wilson, a dancer at the Cotton Club where his band had a running engagement. The following year, they purchased a home in Corona, Queens, where they lived for the rest of their lives.

In 1947, Armstrong formed a small ensemble called the All-Stars, a group of extraordinary players whose success revitalized mainstream jazz. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, he continued to appear in popular films and made numerous international tours, earning him the title "Ambassador Satch." During a trip to West Africa, Armstrong was greeted by more than one hundred thousand people. In the early 1960's, he continued to record, including two albums with Duke Ellington and the hit Hello Dolly, which reached number one on the Billboard charts. Armstrong performed regularly until recurring health problems gradually curtailed his trumpet playing and singing. Even in the last year of his life, he traveled to London twice, appeared on more than a dozen television shows, and performed at the Newport Jazz Festival to celebrate his 70th birthday. Up until a few days before his death, on July 6, 1971, he was setting up band rehearsals in preparation to perform for his beloved public. Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. As it is known Satchmos discography consists of many hits. Here is my favorite top 10 of his songs: 1. "What A Wonderful World" 2. "Hello Dolly" 1000+ images about Satchmo on Pinterest | Horns, Louis armstrong and Collage art Crystal Clear Louis Armstrong Recordings Surface -- Ain't Misbehavin' from 1929 and Knee Drops from 1928 -- Amazing! See More Jazz | Smithsonian's History Explorer Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources, Date Posted: 3/22/2012 Born in New Orleans in 1901, jazz musician Louis Armstrong (d. 1971)was known for his distinctive trumpet-playing and vocal style. He often improvised jazz riffs using his voice rather than his instrument, “scatting” notes and melodies rather than singing actual words. Armstrong transformed traditional church songs like “When the Saints Go Marching In” into jazz melodies fit for brass bands.

Nicknamed Satchmo, short for “satchel-mouth,” he helped popularize the solo performance in jazz music. His musical style influenced singers Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. Want to suggest a different theme topic? Visit the Contact us page to request a theme that would help you in your classroom. Featured Resources Louis Armstrong: The Quintessential Man with the Horn | WRTI Louis Armstrong: The Quintessential Man with the Horn By Bob Perkins • Aug 4, 2014 Related Programs: Tweet Share Google+ Email Louis Armstrong was to jazz what Einstein was to physics, King to Civil Rights, Shakespeare to comedy and tragedy, and Oprah to televised entertainment. He taught the trumpet to do things the instrument didn't know it was capable of doing, and he could turn a song upside down with that deep, gravelly voice; Armstrong's contributions to the advancement of jazz as an art form are inestimable.

All this, accomplished by a man who was born into abject poverty at Liberty and Perdido streets in New Orleans' Third Ward - better known as "Storyville." Armstrong had very little formal education, and at age 12 was carted off to the city's Colored Waifs Home for celebrating New Year's Eve by firing a gun in the street. This is where he remained for the next two years. Fortunately, he learned to play several instruments while at the home. The trumpet soon became his instrument of choice. Upon his release from the home, Armstrong met cornetist and bandleader Joe "King" Oliver, who became his friend and musical mentor. In years to come, Armstrong - in quick succession - became a much sought-after sideman, revered soloist, bandleader, and jazz legend. His power, lyricism and technique on the trumpet, influenced countless traditional and modern jazz musicians, and his cement-mixer voice, coupled with his ebullient personality, won him millions upon millions of fans, and sold millions upon millions of recordings. There are music critics and jazz fans who go unchallenged when they say Armstrong has been the most influential force in the history of jazz.

During a TV interview conducted by Edward R. Murrow, Armstrong was asked the meaning of the word "cat," which Armstrong often used in describing various personalities. Armstrong responded by offering that a cat can be anybody from the guy in the gutter to a lawyer, doctor, the biggest man or the lowest man. But if they're in there with a great heart, and they all enjoy the same music, then they're cats. Louis Daniel Armstrong departed on July 7, 1971, about a month shy of his 70th birthday. Some knew him as "Satchmo," short for "satchel mouth." And some called him "Pops." He was also a great cat.--BP Tags: Louis Armstrong : Video : Famous : Biography : Information Louis Armstrong Get more books from Amazon.co.uk Louis[1] Armstrong[2] (4 August 1901[3] ï¿½ July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo[4] and Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer.

Armstrong was a charismatic, innovative performer whose inspired, improvised soloing was the main influence for a fundamental change in jazz, shifting its focus from collective melodic playing, often arranged in one way or another, to the solo player and improvised soloing. One of the most famous jazz musicians of the 20th century, he was first known as a cornet player, then as a trumpet player, and toward the end of his career he was best known as a vocalist and became one of the most influential jazz singers. Early life Armstrong often stated in public interviews that he was born on July 4, 1900 (Independence Day in the USA), a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in 1971, it wasn't until the mid-1980s that his true birth date of August 4th, 1901 was discovered through the examination of baptismal records.[5] He was recorded as an illegitimate black child. Louis Armstrong Sings "What A wonderful World! Video Movie Film Clip Mpeg Armstrong was born into a very poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana, the grandson of slaves.

He spent his youth in poverty in a rough neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, known as ï¿½Back of Townï¿½, as his father, William Armstrong (1881ï¿½1922), abandoned the family when Louis was an infant, and took up with another woman. His mother, Mary Albert Armstrong (1886ï¿½1942), then left Louis and his younger sister Beatrice Armstrong Collins (1903ï¿½1987) in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong and at times, his Uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother and her relatives, and saw his father only in parades. He attended the Fisk School for Boys where he likely had his first exposure to Creole music. He brought in a little money as a paperboy and also by finding discarded food and selling it to restaurants but it wasnï¿½t enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He hung out in dance halls particularly the ï¿½Funky Buttï¿½ which was the closest to his home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille.

He hauled coal to Storyville, the famed red-light district, and listened to the bands playing in the brothels and dance halls, especially Pete Lalaï¿½s where Joe "King" Oliver performed and other famous musicians would drop in to jam. Armstrong grew up at the bottom of the social ladder, in a highly segregated city, but one which lived in a constant fervour of music, which was generally called ï¿½ragtimeï¿½, and not yet ï¿½jazzï¿½. Despite the hard early days, Armstrong seldom looked back at his youth as the worst of times but instead drew inspiration from it, ï¿½Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mineï¿½I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans...It has given me something to live for.ï¿½[6] After dropping out of the Fisk School at eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys in similar straits as he, and they sang in the streets for money. He also started to get into trouble.

Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong (then 11) to play by ear at Dago Tony's Tonk in New Orleans,[7] although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. His first cornet was bought with money loaned to him by the Karnofskys, a Russian-Jewish immigrant family who had a junk hauling business and gave him odd jobs. To express gratitude towards the Karnofskys, who took him in as almost a family member, and fed and nurtured him, Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life.[8] Source Louis Armstrong's stage personality matched his flashy trumpet. Armstrong is also known for his raspy singing voice. Armstrong seriously developed his cornet playing in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for a long term after firing his stepfather's pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration, as police records confirm. Professor Peter Davis (who frequently appeared at the Home at the request of its administrator, Captain Joseph Jones)[9] instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong.

Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader. The Home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen year old began to draw attention to his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career.[10]At fourteen he was released from the Home, and living again with his father and new stepmother, and then back to his mother and also back to the streets and its temptations. Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponceï¿½s where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night. He also played in the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and above all, Joe "King" Oliver, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young musician. Later, he played in the brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and first started travelling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as "going to the University," since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements.

In 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and he resigned his position in Kid Ory's band, then regarded as the best hot jazz group in New Orleans. Armstrong replaced his mentor and played second cornet. Soon he was promoted to first cornet and he also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band, a society band.[11] Background information Joe "King" Oliver, Ella Fitzgerald, Kid Ory Early career On March 19, 1918, Louis married Daisy Parker from Gretna, Louisiana. They adopted a 3-year-old boy, Clarence Armstrong, whose mother, Louis's cousin Flora, died soon after giving birth. Clarence Armstrong was mentally retarded (result of a head injury at an early age) and Louis would spend the rest of his life taking care of him.[12] Louis's marriage to Parker failed quickly and they separated. She died shortly after the divorce. Through his riverboat experiences, Armstrongï¿½s musicianship began to mature. At twenty, he could now read music and he started to be featured in extended trumpet solos, one of the first jazzmen to do this, injecting his own personality and style into his solo turns.

He had learned how to create a unique sound, and also started using singing and patter in his performances.[13]In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to join his Creole Jazz Band, and where he could make a sufficient income so that he no longer need to supplement his music with day labor jobs. It was a boom time in Chicago and though race relations were poor, the ï¿½Windy Cityï¿½ was teeming with jobs for Blacks, who were making good wages in factories and had plenty to spend on entertainment. Oliver's band was the best and most influential hot jazz band in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the centre of the jazz universe. Armstrong lived like a king in Chicago, in his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing nostalgic letters to friends in New Orleans.

As Armstrongï¿½s reputation grew, he was challenged to ï¿½cutting contestsï¿½ by horn men trying to displace the new phenom, who could blow two hundred high Cï¿½s in a row.[14] Armstrong made his first recordings on the Gennett and Okeh labels (jazz records were starting to boom across the country), including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923. At this time, he met Hoagy Carmichael (with whom he would collaborate later) who was introduced by pal Bix Beiderbecke, who now had his own Chicago band. Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis' second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop his newer style away from the influence of Oliver. She had her husband play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skill and improve his solo play, and she prodded him into wearing more stylish attire to make him look sharp and to better offset his growing girth.

Lilï¿½s influence eventually undermined Armstrongï¿½s relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional moneys that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924 and Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top Africanï¿½American band of the day. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence upon Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins, can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period. Armstrong quickly adapted to the more tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and even experimenting with the trombone, and the other members quickly took up Armstrongï¿½s emotional, expressive pulse. Soon his act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers.[15]The Henderson Orchestra was playing in the best venues for white-only patrons, including the famed Roseland Ballroom, featuring the classy arrangements of Don Redman.

Duke Ellingtonï¿½s orchestra would go to Roseland to catch Armstrongï¿½s performances and young hornmen around town tried in vain to outplay him, splitting their lips in their attempts. During this time, Armstrong also made many recordings on the side, arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams; these included small jazz band sides with the Williams Blue Five (some of the best pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet) and a series of accompaniments with Blues singers, including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter. Your browser does not support inline frames or is currently configured not to display inline frames. Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrongï¿½s career and income. He was content in New York but later would concede that she was right and that the Henderson Orchestra was limiting his artistic growth. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as ï¿½the Worldï¿½s Greatest Trumpet Playerï¿½.

At first he was actually a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife.[16]He began recording under his own name for Okeh with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, producing hits such as "Potato Head Blues", "Muggles" (a reference to marijuana, for which Armstrong had a lifelong fondness), and "West End Blues", the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come. The group included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), wife Lil on piano, and usually no drummer. Armstrongï¿½s band leading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him and he was very broad-minded...always did his best to feature each individual".[17] His recordings with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (most famously their 1928 Weatherbird duet) and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to "West End Blues" remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in jazz history.

Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "whip that thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, do that clarinet, boy!"[18] Armstrong also played with ï¿½Erskine Tateï¿½s Little Symphonyï¿½, actually a quintet, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as ï¿½Madame Butterflyï¿½, which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began to scat sing (improvised vocal jazz using non-sensical words) and was among the first to record it, on Heebie Jeebies in 1926. So popular was the recording the group became the most famous jazz band in America even though they as yet had not performed live to any great degree.

Young musicians across the country, black and white, were turned on by Armstrongï¿½s new type of jazz.[19] After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Cafï¿½ for Al Capone associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was soon renamed Louis Armstrong and his Stompers, though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends as well as successful collaborators. Armstrong returned to New York, in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra of the successful musical Hot Chocolate, an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist/composer Fats Waller. He also made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'", his version of the song becoming his biggest selling record to date.[20] He started to work at Connieï¿½s Inn in Harlem, the second nightspot in fame to the Cotton Club, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong also had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael.

His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the new RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted a characteristic warmth to vocals and immediately became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby. Armstrong's famous interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style, and his innovative approach to singing songs that had already become standards. Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated many features of his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is stated by sobbing horns, which are memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh" ..."Sure" ... "Way down, way down". In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody entirely, and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing.

In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing." As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation stone for the art of jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gritty coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was much imitated and endlessly impersonated. His scat singing style was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby. The Depression of the early Thirties was especially hard on the Jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Hendersonï¿½s band broke up. King Olivier made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens.[21] Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 seeking new opportunities.

He played at the New Cotton Club in LA with Lionel Hampton on drums, and the band drew the Hollywood crowd which could still afford a lavish night life, and radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame. Armstrong was convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence. He returned to Chicago in late 1931, and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, Armstrong visited New Orleans and got a heroï¿½s welcome, and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as ï¿½Armstrongï¿½s Secret Nineï¿½ and got a cigar named after himself.[22] But soon he was on the road again and after a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, Armstrong decided to go to Europe to escape. After returning to the States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collinsï¿½ erratic behaviour and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him.

Finally, he hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, his mob troubles, and his debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again. In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first black to host a sponsored, national broadcast.[23] He finally divorced Lil in 1938 and married longtime girlfriend Alpha. After spending many years on the road, he settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing. During the subsequent thirty years, Armstrong played more than three hundred gigs a year.

Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to support and finance a 16-piece touring band. The All Stars Following a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with Jack Teagarden, Armstrong's manager Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947 and established a six-piece small group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and dixieland musicians, most of them ex-big band leaders. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club. This group was called the All Stars, and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Barrett Deems and the Filipino-American percussionist, Danny Barcelona.

During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He appeared on the cover of Time Magazine on February 21, 1949. In 1964, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!". The song went to #1 on the pop chart, making Armstrong the oldest person to ever accomplish that feat at age 63. In the process, Armstrong dislodged The Beatles from the #1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs.[24] Armstrong kept up his busy tour schedule until a few years before his death in 1971. In his later years he would sometimes play some of his numerous gigs by rote, but other times would enliven the most mundane gig with his vigorous playing, often to the astonishment of his band. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch." While failing health restricted his schedule in his last years, within those limitations he continued playing until the day he died. Personality The nickname Satchmo or Satch is short for Satchelmouth (describing his embouchure).

In 1932, then Melody Maker magazine editor Percy Brooks greeted Armstrong in London with "Hello, Satchmo!" shortening Satchelmouth (some say unintentionally), and it stuck. Early on he was also known as Dippermouth. This is a reference to the propensity he had for refreshing himself with the dipper (ladle) from a bucket of sugar water which was always present on stage with Joe Oliver's band in Chicago in the early nineteen-twenties. The damage to his embouchure from his high pressure approach to playing is acutely visible in many pictures of Louis from the mid-twenties. It also led to his emphasizing his singing career because at certain periods, he was unable to play. This did not stop Louis though, because after setting his trumpet aside for a while, he amended his playing style and continued his trumpet career. Friends and fellow musicians usually called him Pops, which is also how Armstrong usually addressed his friends and fellow musicians (except for Pops Foster, whom Armstrong always called "George").

He was also criticized for accepting the title of "King of The Zulus" (in the New Orleans African American community, an honoured role as head of leading black Carnival Krewe, but bewildering or offensive to outsiders with their traditional costume of grass-skirts and blackface makeup satirizing southern white attitudes) for Mardi Gras 1949. Whatever the case, where some saw a gregarious and outgoing personality, others saw someone trying too hard to appeal to white audiences and essentially becoming a minstrel caricature. Some musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences, and for not taking a strong enough stand in the civil rights movement suggesting that he was an Uncle Tom. Billie Holiday countered, however, "Of course Pops toms, but he toms from the heart." Armstrong, in fact, was a major financial supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists, but mostly preferred to work quietly behind the scenes, not mixing his politics with his work as an entertainer.

The few exceptions made it more effective when he did speak out; Armstrong's criticism of President Eisenhower, calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 made national news. As a protest, Armstrong cancelled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell" and that he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people.[25] The FBI kept a file on Armstrong, for his outspokenness about integration.[26] He was an extremely generous man, who was said to have given away as much money as he kept for himself. Armstrong was also greatly concerned with his health and bodily functions. He made frequent use of laxatives as a means of controlling his weight, a practice he advocated both to personal acquaintances and in the diet plans he published under the title Lose Weight the Satchmo Way.

Armstrong's laxative of preference in his younger days was Pluto Water, but he then became an enthusiastic convert when he discovered the herbal remedy Swiss Kriss; he would extol its virtues to anyone who would listen and pass out packets to everyone he encountered, including members of the British Royal Family. (Armstrong also appeared in humorous, albeit risquï¿½, advertisements for Swiss Kriss; the ads bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet ï¿½ as viewed through a keyhole ï¿½ with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!'")[27] The concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Big Butter & Egg Man", "Cheesecake", "Cornet Chop Suey", and, especially, "Struttinï¿½ with Some Barbecue".[28] He kept a strong connection throughout his life to the cooking of New Orleans, always signing his letters, "Red beans and ricely yours,".[29] Although Armstrong is not known to have fathered any children, he loved children and would go out of his way to entertain the neighbourhood kids in Corona, and to encourage young musicians.

Armstrongï¿½s gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly. Many of the favourite themes of his life he shared with correspondents around the world. He avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, instant takes on music, sex, food, childhood memories, his heavy ï¿½medicinalï¿½ marijuana use, and even his bowel movements, which were gleefully described.[30] He had a fondness for lewd jokes and dirty limericks as well. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.[31] Music In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. The greatest trumpet playing of his early years can be heard on his Hot Five and Hot Seven records.

The improvisations which he made on these records of New Orleans jazz standards and popular songs of the day, to the present time stack up brilliantly alongside those of any other later jazz performer. The older generation of New Orleans jazz musicians often referred to their improvisations as "variating the melody"; Armstrong's improvisations were daring and sophisticated for the time while often subtle and melodic. He often essentially re-composed pop-tunes he played, making them more interesting. Armstrong's playing is filled with joyous, inspired original melodies, creative leaps, and subtle relaxed or driving rhythms. The genius of these creative passages is matched by Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, which extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In these records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what was essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression. Armstrong's work in the 1920s shows him playing at the outer limits of his abilities. The Hot Five records, especially, often have minor flubs and missed notes, which do little to detract from listening enjoyment since the energy of the spontaneous performance comes through.

By the mid 1930s, Armstrong achieved a smooth assurance, knowing exactly what he could do and carrying out his ideas with perfectionism. As his music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it. He had a hit with his playing and scat singing on "Heebie Jeebies" when, according to some legends, the sheet music fell on the floor and he simply started singing nonsense syllables. He also sang out "I done forgot the words" in the middle of recording "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas". Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet. During his long career he played and sang with the most important instrumentalists and vocalists; among the many, singing brakeman Jimmie Rodgers, Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Bessie Smith, and notably with Ella Fitzgerald.

His influence upon Bing Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music: Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931). The New Grove Dictionary Of Jazz describes Crosby's debt to Armstrong in perfect detail, although it does not acknowledge Armstrong by name: "Crosby...was important in introducing into the mainstream of popular singing an Afro-American concept of song as a lyrical extension of speech...His techniques - easing the weight of the breath on the vocal cords, passing into a head voice at a low register, using forward production to aid distinct enunciation, singing on consonants (a practice of black singers), and making discreet use of appoggiaturas, mordents, and slurs to emphasize the text - were emulated by nearly all later popular singers". Armstrong recorded three albums with Ella Fitzgerald: Ella and Louis, Ella and Louis Again, and Porgy and Bess for Verve Records. His recordings Satch Plays Fats, all Fats Waller tunes, and Louis Armstrong Plays W.C.

Handy in the 1950s were perhaps among the last of his great creative recordings, but even oddities like Disney Songs the Satchmo Way are seen to have their musical moments. And, his participation in Dave Brubeck's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors was critically acclaimed. For the most part, however, his later output was criticized as being overly simplistic or repetitive. Armstrong had many hit records including "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", and "Stompin' at the Savoy". "We Have All the Time in the World" featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and enjoyed renewed popularity in the UK in 1994 when it featured on a Guinness advert. It reached number 3 in the charts on being re-released. In 1964, Armstrong knocked the Beatles off the top of the Billboard Top 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a #1 song.

In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with the highly sentimental pop song "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month; however, the single did not chart at all in America. The song gained greater currency in the popular consciousness when it was used in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam, its subsequent rerelease topping many charts around the world. Armstrong even appeared on the 28 October 1970 Johnny Cash Show, where he sang Nat "King" Cole's hit "Rambling Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel # 9."" Armstrong enjoyed many types of music, from the most earthy blues to the syrupy sweet arrangements of Guy Lombardo, to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera. Armstrong incorporated influences from all these sources into his performances, sometimes to the bewilderment of fans who wanted Armstrong to stay in convenient narrow categories. Armstrong was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence. Some of his solos from the 1950s, such as the hard rocking version of "St.

Louis Blues" from the WC Handy album, show that the influence went in both directions. Radio, films and TV Armstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a band leader or musician. His most familiar role was as the bandleader cum narrator in the 1956 musical, High Society, in which he sang the title song and performed a duet with Bing Crosby on "Now You Has Jazz". In 1947, he played himself in the movie New Orleans opposite Billie Holiday, which chronicled the demise of the Storyville district and the ensuing exodus of musicians from New Orleans to Chicago[4]. He was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s. He was heard on such radio programs as The Story of Swing (1937) and This Is Jazz (1947), and he also made countless television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Louis Armstrong has a record star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 7601 Hollywood Boulevard. Many of Armstrong's recordings remain popular.

More than three decades since his passing, a larger number of his recordings from all periods of his career are more widely available than at any time during his lifetime. His songs are broadcast and listened to every day throughout the world, and are honored in various movies, TV series, commercials, and even anime and computer games. "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" was included in the computer game Fallout 2, accompanying the intro cinematic (and the year after in the movie Sleepless in Seattle). His 1923 recordings, with Joe Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band, continue to be listened to as documents of ensemble style New Orleans jazz, but more particularly as ripper jazz records in their own right. All too often, however, Armstrong recorded with stiff, standard orchestras leaving only his sublime trumpet playing as of interest. "Melancholy Blues," performed by Armstrong and his Hot Seven was included on the Voyager Golden Record sent into outer space to represent one of the greatest achievements of humanity.

Most familiar to modern listeners is his ubiquitous rendition of "What a Wonderful World." Argentine writer Julio Cortï¿½zar, a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Thï¿½ï¿½tre des Champs-ï¿½lysï¿½es in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortï¿½zar's short stories. Cortï¿½zar once called Louis Armstrong himself "Grandï¿½simo Cronopio" (Most Enormous Cronopio). Armstrong also appears as a minor character in Harry Turtledove's Timeline-191 series. When he and his band escape from a Nazi-like Confederacy, they enhance the insipid mainstream music of the North. Louis Armstrong is also referred to in The Trumpet of the Swan along with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Three siblings in the film are named Louis, Billie, and Ella. The main character, Louis, plays a trumpet, an obvious nod to Armstrong.

In the original EB White book, he is referred to by name by a child who hears Louis playing and comments "He sounds just like Louis Armstrong, the famous trumpet player". Death Louis Armstrong died of a heart attack on July 6, 1971, at age 69, the night after playing a famous show at the Waldorf Astoria's Empire Room. Shortly before his death he stated, "I think I had a beautiful life. I didn't wish for anything that I couldn't get and I got pretty near everything I wanted because I worked for it."[32] He was residing in Corona, Queens, New York City, at the time of his passing. He was interred in Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, in Queens, New York City. His honorary pallbearers included Governor Rockefeller, Mayor Lindsay, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett and Bobby Hackett.

Awards and honours Grammy Awards Armstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972, by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artist significance to the field of recording.[33] Grammy Award at 7601 Hollywood Blvd. Legacy On December 31, 1999, US President Bill Clinton announced that Armstrong's trumpet was among several items of national memorabilia that were to be interred in a Millennial time capsule to be opened 100 years later.[36] Today, the house where Louis Armstrong lived at the time of his death (and which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977) is a museum. The Louis Armstrong House & Archives, at 34-56 107th Street (between 34th and 35th Avenues) in Corona, Queens, presents concerts and educational programs, operates as an historic house museum and makes materials in its archives of writings, books, recordings and memorabilia available to the public for research.

The museum is operated by the City University of New York's Queens College, following the dictates of Armstrongï¿½s will. The museum was opened to the public on October 15, 2003. In 2005, it was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.[37][38] The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. Yet, his irrepressible personality both as a performer, and as a public figure later in his career, was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer. As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation. Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him. Armstrong is considered by some to have essentially invented jazz singing.

Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddens and others (See Ken Burns' Jazz CD Set liner notes). He had an extremely distinctive gravelly voice, which he deployed with great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, or wordless vocalizing. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith's 'big' sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing. On August 4, 2001, the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans' airport was renamed Louis Armstrong International Airport in his honor.

In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925-1928) are preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress.[39] The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site.[40] References and Notes Louis Armstrong - Biography of a Masterful Trumpet Player Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong A Masterful Trumpet Player Studio portrait of American jazz musician and bandleader Louis Armstrong grinning and holding his trumpet. (circa 1945). (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) By Patricia Daniels, Contributing Writer Updated April 28, 2016. Who Was Louis Armstrong? Born into poverty at the turn of the twentieth century, Louis Armstrong rose above humble origins to become a masterful trumpet player and beloved entertainer. He played a key role in the development of one of the early twentieth century's most important new styles of music -- jazz .

Armstrong's inventiveness and improvisational techniques, along with his energetic, dazzling style have influenced generations of musicians. One of the first to perform scat-style singing, he is well-known also for his distinctive, gravelly singing voice. Armstrong wrote two autobiographies and appeared in more than 30 films. Dates: August 4, 1901* - July 6, 1971 Also Known As: Satchmo, Pops Childhood in New Orleans Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to 16-year-old Mayann Albert and her boyfriend Willie Armstrong. Only weeks after Louis' birth, Willie left Mayann and Louis was placed in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance Josephine brought in some money doing laundry for white families, but struggled to keep food on the table. Young Louis Armstrong had no toys, very few clothes, and went barefoot most of the time. Despite their hardships, Josephine made sure that her grandson attended school and church. While Louis was living with his grandmother, his mother briefly reunited with Willie Armstrong and gave birth to a second child, Beatrice, in 1903.

While Beatrice was still very young, Willie once again left Mayann. Four years later, when Armstrong was six years old, he moved back in with his mother, who was then living in a tough neighborhood called Storyville. It became Louis’ job to look after his sister. Working on the Streets By the age of seven, Armstrong was looking for work wherever he could find it. He sold newspapers and vegetables and made a little money singing on the street with a group of friends. Each group member had a nickname; Louis Armstrong's was "Satchelmouth" (later shortened to "Satchmo"), a reference to his wide grin. Armstrong saved up enough money to buy a used cornet (a brass musical instrument similar to a trumpet), which he taught himself to play. He quit school at age eleven to concentrate on earning money for his family. While performing on the street, Armstrong and his friends came into contact with local musicians, many of whom played in Storyville honky-tonks (bars with working-class patrons, often found in the South).

Armstrong was befriended by one of the city's best known trumpeters, Bunk Johnson, who taught him songs and new techniques and allowed Louis to sit in with him during performances in the honky-tonks. Armstrong managed to stay out of trouble until an incident on New Year's Eve 1912 changed the course of his life. The Colored Waif's Home During a New Year's Eve street celebration at the end of 1912, eleven-year-old Louis fired a pistol into the air. He was hauled off to the police station and spent the night in a cell. The next morning, a judge sentenced him to the Colored Waif's Home for an unspecified period of time. The home, a reformatory for troubled black youths, was run by a former soldier, Captain Jones. Jones provided discipline as well as regular meals and daily classes, all of which had a positive effect on Armstrong. Eager to participate in the home's brass band, Armstrong was disappointed that he was not allowed to join right away. The band director surmised that a boy from Storyville who had fired a gun did not belong in his band. Armstrong proved the director wrong as he worked his way up the ranks.

He first sang in the choir and later was assigned to play various instruments, eventually taking over the cornet. Having demonstrated his willingness to work hard and act responsibly, young Louis Armstrong was made leader of the band. He reveled in this role. In 1914, after 18 months at the Colored Waif's Home, it was time for Armstrong to return home to his mother. Becoming a Musician Back home again, Armstrong worked delivering coal during the day and spent his nights in local dance halls listening to music. He became friends with Joe "King" Oliver, a leading cornet player, and ran errands for him in return for cornet lessons. Armstrong learned quickly and began to develop his own style. He filled in for Oliver at gigs and gained further experience playing in parades and funeral marches. When the U.S. entered World War I in 1917, Armstrong was too young to participate, but the war did indirectly affect him. When several sailors stationed in New Orleans became victims of violent crime in the Storyville district, the secretary of the Navy shut the district down, including brothels and clubs.

While a large number of New Orleans' musicians moved north, many relocating to Chicago, Armstrong stayed and soon found himself in demand as a cornet player. By 1918, Armstrong had become well-known on the New Orleans music circuit, playing at numerous venues. That year, he met and married Daisy Parker, a prostitute who worked in one of the clubs he played in. Leaving New Orleans Impressed by Armstrong's natural talent, band conductor Fate Marable hired him to play in his riverboat band on excursions up and down the Mississippi River. Armstrong convinced Daisy that it was a good move for his career and she agreed to let him go. Armstrong played on the riverboats for three years. The discipline and high standards that he was held to made him a better musician; he also learned to read music for the first time. Yet, chafing under Marable's strict rules, Armstrong grew restless. He yearned to strike out on his own and find his unique style. Armstrong quit the band in 1921 and returned to New Orleans. He and Daisy divorced that year.

Louis Armstrong Earns a Reputation In 1922, a year after Armstrong quit the riverboats, King Oliver asked him to come to Chicago and join his Creole Jazz Band. Armstrong played second cornet and was careful not to outshine band leader Oliver. Through Oliver, Armstrong met the woman who became his second wife, Lil Hardin , who was a classically-trained jazz pianist from Memphis. Lil recognized Armstrong's talent and thus urged him to break away from Oliver's band. After two years with Oliver, Armstrong quit the band and took a new job with another Chicago band, this time as first trumpet; however, he only stayed a few months. Armstrong moved to New York City in 1924 at the invitation of bandleader Fletcher Henderson . (Lil did not accompany him, preferring to stay at her job in Chicago.) The band played mostly live gigs, but made recordings as well. They played backup for pioneering blues singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, furthering Armstrong's growth as a performer. Just 14 months later, Armstrong moved back to Chicago at Lil's urging; Lil believed that Henderson held back Armstrong's creativity.

"The World's Greatest Trumpet Player" Lil helped to promote Armstrong in Chicago clubs, billing him as "the world's greatest trumpet player." She and Armstrong formed a studio band, called Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five. The group recorded several popular records, many of which featured Armstrong's raspy singing. On one of the most popular of the recordings, "Heebie Jeebies," Armstrong spontaneously launched into scat-singing, in which the singer replaces the actual lyrics with nonsense syllables that often mimic the sounds made by instruments. Armstrong did not invent the singing style, but helped to make it enormously popular. During this time, Armstrong permanently switched from cornet to trumpet, preferring the brighter sound of the trumpet to the more mellow cornet. The records gave Armstrong name recognition outside of Chicago. He returned to New York in 1929, but again, Lil did not want to leave Chicago. (They stayed married, but lived apart for many years before divorcing in 1938.) In New York, Armstrong found a new venue for his talents; he was cast in a musical revue that featured the hit song "Ain't Misbehavin' " and Armstrong's accompanying trumpet solo.

Armstrong displayed showmanship and charisma, gaining a greater following after the show. The Great Depression Because of the Great Depression , Armstrong, like many others, had trouble finding work. He decided to make a new start in Los Angeles, moving there in May 1930. Armstrong found work in clubs and continued to make records. He made his first film, Ex-Flame, appearing as himself in the movie in a small role. Armstrong gained more fans through this widespread exposure. After an arrest for marijuana possession in November 1930, Armstrong received a suspended sentence and returned to Chicago. He stayed afloat during the Depression, touring the U.S. and Europe from 1931 to 1935. Armstrong continued to tour throughout the 1930s and 1940s and appeared in a few more movies. He became well-known not only in the U.S., but in much of Europe as well, even playing a command performance for King George V of England in 1932.

Big Changes for Armstrong In the late 1930s, band leaders such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman helped to propel jazz into the mainstream, ushering in the "swing music" era. The swing bands were large, consisting of about 15 musicians. Although Armstrong preferred working with smaller, more intimate ensembles, he formed a large band in order to capitalize on the swing movement. In 1938, Armstrong married longtime girlfriend Alpha Smith, but soon after the wedding began seeing Lucille Wilson, a dancer from the Cotton Club. Marriage number three ended in divorce in 1942 and Armstrong took Lucille as his fourth (and final) wife the same year. While Armstrong toured, often playing at military bases and army hospitals during World War II , Lucille found them a house in Queens, New York (her hometown). After years of traveling and staying in hotel rooms, Armstrong finally had a permanent home. Louis and the All-Stars In the late 1940s, large bands were falling out of favor, deemed too expensive to maintain. Armstrong formed a six-piece group called Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars.

The group debuted at New York's Town Hall in 1947, playing New Orleans style jazz to rave reviews. Not everyone enjoyed Armstrong's somewhat "hammy" brand of entertainment. Many from the younger generation considered him a relic of the Old South and found his mugging and eye-rolling racially offensive. He was not taken seriously by young up-and-coming jazz musicians. Armstrong, however, saw his role as more than that of a musician -- he was an entertainer. Continued Success and Controversy Armstrong made eleven more movies in the 1950s. He toured Japan and Africa with the All-Stars and recorded his first singles. Armstrong faced criticism in 1957 for speaking out against racial discrimination during the episode in Little Rock, Arkansas in which black students were heckled by whites while attempting to enter a newly integrated school. Some radio stations even refused to play his music. The controversy faded after President Dwight Eisenhower sent federal troops to Little Rock to facilitate integration. On tour in Italy in 1959, Armstrong suffered a massive heart attack. After a week in the hospital, he flew back home. Despite warnings from physicians, Armstrong returned to a busy schedule of live performances.

Number One at Last After playing five decades without a number-one song, Armstrong finally made it to the top of the charts in 1964 with "Hello Dolly," the theme song for the Broadway play of the same name. The popular song knocked the Beatles from the top spot they had held for 14 consecutive weeks. By the late 1960s, Armstrong was still able to perform, despite kidney and heart problems. In spring 1971, he suffered another heart attack. Unable to recover, Armstrong died July 6, 1971 at age 69. More than 25,000 mourners visited the body of Louis Armstrong as it lay in state and his funeral was televised nationally. * Throughout his life, Louis Armstrong claimed that his birth date was July 4, 1900, but documents found after his death confirmed the actual date to be August 4, 1901.

Question: What New Orleans Jazz Legend was commonly known as Satchmo, short for Satchelmouth?
Answer: Louis Armstrong