Together, Armstrong and Hines formed a potent team and made some of the greatest recordings in jazz history in 1928, including their virtuoso duet, "Weather Bird," and "West End Blues.". He showed an early interest in music, and a junk dealer for whom he worked as a grade-school student helped him buy a cornet, which he taught himself to play. Heart and kidney problems forced him to stop performing in 1969. During his span, he composed thousands of songs for everyone to hear. A jazz pioneer, Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. He was a master of the trumpet and cornet, and his style of playing was unique and instantly recognizable. That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans-influenced groups, including the Hot Five, and began recording larger ensembles. His career spanned many decades, from the 1920s to his death in 1971, and many different eras in jazz. A YouTube poster named pandasthumb describes the piece. WebA jazz pioneer, Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. Louis Armstrong. His mother, who often turned to prostitution, frequently left him with his maternal grandmother. Meanwhile, Armstrong's reputation as a musician continued to grow: In 1918, he replaced Oliver in Kid Ory's band, then the most popular band in New Orleans. A few weeks later after his birth his father leaves his mother alone with a family. Then along came a bare-knuckled comedy called Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). Louis Armstrong was the first black man in the U.S. to host a radio show. Instead he used his talent as a ticket to improve his lot and create a meaningful life. WebCourtesy of the Louis Armstrong Archive Queens College, CUNY. When Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1935, he had no band, no engagements and no recording contract. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. Armstrong fronted the Luis Russell Orchestra for a tour of the South in February 1930, and in May went to Los Angeles, where he led a band at Sebastian's Cotton Club for the next ten months. According to Armstrong, that nights biggest laugh came right before his group started playing You Rascal, You. Without warning, he looked straight up at the monarch and hollered, This ones for you, Rex!, Fresh off the wild success of his Hello, Dolly! cover, Armstrong made a trip to communist East Berlin in 1965, where he gave a two-hour concert that earned a standing ovation. Armstrong was obligated to leave school in the fifth grade to begin working. The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic, American actress, singer, director, producer. 2012-02-22 18:06:07. Members of the group, at one time or another, included Jack Teagarden, Earl Hines, Sid Catlett, Barney Bigard, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Billy Kyle and Tyree Glenn, among other jazz legends. He studied music there and played cornet and bugle in the school band, eventually becoming its leader. If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know. WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. St. Louis Cardinals prospect Jordan Walker tracks down a flyball during fielding practice at the Cardinals spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. However, Armstrong's southern background didn't mesh well with the more urban, Northern mentality of Henderson's other musicians, who sometimes gave Armstrong a hard time over his wardrobe and the way he talked. (Biography.com), Many people knew Louis Armstrong as the first real genius of jazz(Shipton 26). In 1936, Louis Armstrong became the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography, Swing That Music. It was also for Columbia that Armstrong scored one of the biggest hits of his career: His jazz transformation of Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife. Louis Armstrong was an American jazz musician who was one of the most influential figures in jazz music. By the start of 1932, he had switched from the "race"-oriented OKeh label to its pop-oriented big sister Columbia, for which he recorded two Top Five hits, "Chinatown, My Chinatown" and "You Can Depend on Me" before scoring a number one hit with "All of Me" in March 1932; another Top Five hit, "Love, You Funny Thing," hit the charts the same month. Born in 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Armstrong had a difficult childhood. When Armstrong was eleven years old, he got in trouble for shooting a gun on New Years Eve to ring in the new year, 1912. In 1972, a year after his death, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. It started in New Orleans and over the years, stretched out throughout the whole United States. (Hakim, 58) Although Jazz was very popular itself, a majority of the fans and listeners were younger people. He was also a gifted singer, and his Why was Louis Armstrong so important? Armstrong continued touring the world and making records with songs like Blueberry Hill (1949), Mack the Knife (1955) and Hello, Dolly! I ain't never heard a horse sing a song. 34-56 107th Street, Queens, NY 11368 718-478-8274 2023 Louis Armstrong House Museum, 34-56 107th Street, Queens, NY 11368 718-478-8274, The Louis Armstrong House Museum is a constituent of the. His Top Ten version of "Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train," in the charts in early 1933, was on Victor Records; when he returned to the U.S. in 1935, he signed to the recently formed Decca Records and quickly scored a double-sided Top Ten hit, "I'm in the Mood for Love"/"You Are My Lucky Star.". By the end of his teens, Armstrong had grown up fast. ", Armstrong's fully healed lip made its presence felt on some of the finest recordings of career, including "Swing That Music," "Jubilee" and "Struttin' with Some Barbecue.". He spent the next several years in Europe, his American career maintained by a series of archival recordings, including the Top Ten hits "Sweethearts on Parade" (August 1932; recorded December 1930) and "Body and Soul" (October 1932; recorded October 1930). After a successful engagement in Las Vegas, Armstrong began taking engagements around the world, including in London and Washington, D.C. and New York (he performed for two weeks at New York's Waldorf-Astoria). WebDid You Know? We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. That didnt stop him from living his life like a regular boy. His career rose in New Orleans. Henderson also forbade Armstrong from singing, fearing that his rough way of vocalizing would be too coarse for the sophisticated audiences at the Roseland Ballroom. It won him a Grammy for best vocal performance. His fame rose when he composed several masterworks in the 1940s. He found that the only way to reap the benefits of success and be protected was if there was a white captain to back you in the old days (Armstrong). Armstrong made his first trip abroad, to Europe, and received the nickname Satchmo from his original nickname Satchelmouth, because of his big lips. Pillars of Life 3 y Related Why was jazz so important? After recording with Oliver for over a year, Armstrong moved into what would become the most important early-jazz big band, Fletcher Hendersons Orchestra (Shipton 201). Louis Armstrong is one of the most important jazz figures. He was taken under the wing of cornetist Joe "King" Oliver, and when Oliver moved to Chicago in June 1918, Armstrong replaced him in the Kid Ory Band. Why is Louis Armstrong important to blacks? Between 1952 and 1955, Armstrong shed 100 pounds. They were always kind to me, Armstrong once reflected, [I] was just a little kid who could use a little word of kindness. Apart from monetary compensation, Armstrong was given a hot meal every evening and regular invitations to Karnofsky Shabbat dinners. Armstrong and Oliver became the talk of the town with their intricate two-cornet breaks and started making records together in 1923. .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}Rock Icon KISS Is Saying Goodbye (For Real), Rihanna and 10 Other Great Pregnant Performances, Burt Bacharachs Legacy: 5 Notable Collaborations, 2023 Grammy Awards: Six Winners Who Made History. That's the secret. Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He also played as a second trumpet for King Oliver. It was on the riverboat that Armstrong honed his music reading skills and eventually had his first encounters with other jazz legends, including Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Teagarden. No ones quite sure why Armstrong lied about his age, but the most popular theories maintain he wanted to join a military band or that he figured he'd have a better shot at landing gigs if he was over 18 years old. He also began singing on these recordings, popularizing wordless "scat singing" with his hugely popular vocal on 1926's "Heebie Jeebies.". The Armstrongs moved into the home, where they would live for the rest of their lives, in 1943. In 1993, it gained renewed popularity when it was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle. Armstrong put his career in Glaser's hands and asked him to make his troubles disappear. Without the jazz musicians, jazz music would not have been possible. Like almost all early Jazz musicians, Louis was from New Orleans. It has given me something to live for. Armstrong had a great influence on Henderson and his arranger, Don Redman, both of whom began integrating Armstrong's swinging vocabulary into their arrangementstransforming Henderson's band into what is generally regarded as the first jazz big band. Armstrong returned home in May 1971, and though he soon resumed playing again and promised to perform in public once more, he died in his sleep on July 6, 1971, at his home in Queens, New York. Coupled with his astonishing performing skills and charismatic stage presence, Armstrong took the world by storm and popularized jazz as we know it today. During this time, Armstrong taught the band how to swing. He is also the first African American celebrity to appear in a major Hollywood movie. These records later went on to become the most influential in jazz history, as it was the first time Armstrong facilitated the evolution of jazz as a ensemble to a soloist art. While he still had to work odd jobs selling newspapers and hauling coal to the city's famed red-light district, Armstrong began earning a reputation as a fine blues player. Only Charlie Parker comes close to having as much influence on the history of Jazz as Louis Armstrong did. ", Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a neighborhood so poor that it was nicknamed "The Battlefield.". When Pops (who adored Thiele and Weiss masterwork) passed away on July 6, 1971, What a Wonderful World seemed destined for stateside obscurity. The story behind the jazz legends final hit and, quite simply, one of the most beautiful songs ever written. During this period, Armstrong set a number of African American "firsts." He has many nicknames in which some are Satchmo and Pops. He was also a frequent presence on radio, and often broke box-office records at the height of what is now known as the "Swing Era. Different from most of his recordings of the era, the song features no trumpet and places Armstrong's gravelly voice in the middle of a bed of strings and angelic voices. Why Is Louis Armstrong Important. He moved to the Fate Marable band in the spring of 1919, staying with Marable until the fall of 1921. The latter performance is one of Armstrong's best known works, opening with a stunning cadenza that features equal helpings of opera and the blues; with its release, "West End Blues" proved to the world that the genre of fun, danceable jazz music was also capable of producing high art. The movie he appeared in was Pennies from Heaven (1936). Music historians recognize this as the first popular, mass-market scat ever recorded. Instead of doing strictly jazz numbers, OKeh began allowing Armstrong to record popular songs of the day, including "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Star Dust" and "Body and Soul.". He attended school until he was in the 5th grade, he stopped going to help support his family. He performed all over the world in the 1950s and '60s, including throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. In 1937, Louis Armstrong became the first African American entertainer to host a nationally sponsored radio show. With his infectious smile and raspy voice, Louis Armstrong (who actually pronounced his own name "Lewis") won over fans worldwide. He is remembered as the most influential artist in the early development of jazz. An early job working for the Jewish Karnofsky family allowed Armstrong to make enough money to purchase his first cornet. Fletcher Henderson also influenced jazz music. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made more than 60 records with the Hot Five and, later, the Hot Seven. Louis's Father left him around childbirth, and his mother often used prostitution for money. WebHe overcame poverty to become one of the most important people in the history of music. Preston gave birth to a daughter, Sharon Preston, in 1955. He played dramatic works of simple structure in Orleans jazz style and with the accompaniment of Dick jazz music. In 1924, Armstrong married Hardin, who urged Armstrong to leave Oliver and try to make it on his own. In America, Armstrong had been a great Civil Rights pioneer, breaking down numerous barriers as a young man. Louis Armstrong was to jazz music what Bach is to classical music, Presley is to rock music (Berrett 230). Losing weight proved difficult at first, but his luck changed once he learned of an herbal laxative called Swiss Kriss. The artist promptly went out, bought a box, and became a lifelong spokesman. Armstrong used to say that hed been born on July 4, 1900. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Sure enough, he explained, they [published] Heebie Jeebies the same way it was mistakenly recorded. However, most biographers believe that Armstrong made up this anecdote and had planned on scatting all along. They treat me better all over the world than they do in my hometown, he said. All Rights Reserved. In recent years, Armstrong's alleged daughter, who now goes by the name Sharon Preston Folta, has publicized various letters between her and her father. WebLouis Armstrong remains an icon of American history and 20 th century popular culture. This gift, coupled with Louis Armstrongs already present affinity for the musical sounds of the local New Orleans street bands and brass players that lingered around, helped to brew the perfect storm that would create one of the most prolific players of the 20th century. Some even theorize that it was Armstrongs difficult upbringing that made his music so wise, so unique, and so revolutionary. Louis Armstrong was the most important and influential musician in jazz history. Armstrong fought back, but for many young jazz fans, he was regarded as an out-of-date performer with his best days behind him. The first recording of What a Wonderful World was produced by ABC Records, which made no attempt to advertise it domestically. WebLouis Armstrong. Armstrong soon began dating the female pianist in the band, Lillian Hardin. Sources: Jazz was born there and I remember when it was no crime for cats of any color to get together and blow. Nine years later, after this ban had finally lifted, he again took the stage in New Orleans on October 31, 1965. Career highlights, compiled by the Louis Armstrong House Museum: Eldridge is the obvious link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Seeing "the writing on the wall," Armstrong scaled down to a smaller six-piece combo, the All Stars; personnel would frequently change, but this would be the group Armstrong would perform live with until the end of his career. Even the scepter of Uncle Tom that shadowed the outsized Satchmo during his career, and that Ellington essentially concurred with in an interview with Carter Harman in 1964, has faded. Related. WebLouis Armstrong is arguably the most important musician that the United States has ever produced (Shipton 160). Renowned for his charming and incredibly charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet and/or cornet playing, Armstrong 's influence extends far beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the early 1970s at his death, he was widely regarded as a deep and profound influence on popular music in general. Why Is Louis Armstrong Important. Within a span of three years, Armstrong recorded over sixty records. He attended Colored Waifs Home in 1913 for eighteen months. The record was released in 1964 and quickly climbed to the top of the pop music charts, hitting the No. A year later, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 149 Copy quote. In 1936, he became the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography: Swing That Music. His charismatic stage presence impressed not only the jazz world but all of popular music. Armstrongs unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. Being in many bands before he was not new to this. One of the first soloists on record, Louis was at the forefront of changing jazz from ensemble-oriented folk music into an art form that emphasized inventive solo improvisations. One of the greatest cornet players in town, Joe "King" Oliver, began acting as a mentor to the young Armstrong, showing him pointers on the horn and occasionally using him as a sub. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day. He weathered the bebop period of the '40s, growing ever more beloved worldwide. The Hot Five and Hot Seven were strictly recording groups; Armstrong performed nightly during this period with Erskine Tate's orchestra at the Vendome Theater, often playing music for silent movies. Outraged, Armstrong refused to stage another concert within the state's borders. He influenced countless other musicians and helped to shape the course of jazz. Heebie Jeebies and Hotter Than That, was some of the earliest recordings of Armstrongs scat singing., He was a major piece in the history of jazz music and his career lasted for more than 50 years. What was Louis Armstrongs childhood like? Evidently, the show went well. Unhappy, Armstrong left Henderson in 1925 to return to Chicago, where he began playing with his wife's band at the Dreamland Caf. By the summer of 1970, Armstrong was allowed to perform publicly again and play the trumpet. WebHe had a string of pop hits beginning in 1949 and started making regular overseas tours, where his popularity was so great, he was dubbed Ambassador Satch. In America, Armstrong had been a great Civil Rights pioneer, breaking down WebLouis Armstrong was a key asset to the Harlem Renaissance due to his inspiring music and playing his instruments for African Americans people during this period. He began following him and eventually Oliver became Armstrongs mentor. Pops had a special place in his heart for both Chinese and Italian food. This newfound popularity introduced Armstrong to a new, younger audience, and he continued making both successful records and concert appearances for the rest of the decade, even cracking the "Iron Curtain" with a tour of Communist countries such as East Berlin and Czechoslovakia in 1965. As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920s studio recordings he made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, emotionally charged improvisation. After they married in 1924, Hardin made it clear that she felt Oliver was holding Armstrong back. Louis Armstrong used to give away laxatives as gifts. During this time, Armstrong adopted a three-year-old boy named Clarence. Though he had finally spoken out after years of remaining publicly silent, he received criticism at the time from both Black and white public figures. To many young jazz listeners at the time, Armstrong's ever-smiling demeanor seemed like it was from a bygone era, and the trumpeter's refusal to comment on politics for many years only furthered perceptions that he was out of touch. Flappers were commonly known during this time. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. You feel butterflies in your stomach as you take your seat. Study now. He turned to Joe Glaser for help; Glaser had mob ties of his own, having been close with Al Capone, but he had loved Armstrong from the time he met him at the Sunset Caf (Glaser had owned and managed the club). By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. This pop success was repeated internationally four years later with "What a Wonderful World," which hit number one in the U.K. in April 1968. Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo," "Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch," was a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Similarly, many of his most influential recordings, like 1928's "West End Blues" and 1955's "Mack the Knife," have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. With the assistance of the jazz musicians, the music industry, Making his voice sound like a musical instrument and singing nonsense syllables with no words created Scat singing. Seems to me it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doing to it, and all I'm saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. His crucial contribution to American and world culture continues to reverberate into the 21 st century. There were many jazz musicians. Louis was the illegitimate son of William Armstrong and Mary Est Mayann Albert. He was also a talented singer, and his recordings of songs like What a The lights dim, and the velvet curtains slide open. Armstrong was featured in the 1969 film of Hello, Dolly!, performing the title song as a duet with Barbra Streisand. Willies habit of devoting all his attention to his second, Because firing guns to welcome in the New Year was a New Orleans custom, he thought (even at 11 years old) that it would be morally acceptable to fire the gun. WebAnswer (1 of 2): Armstrongs first brass instrument and initial training was on the cornet, which is generally easier for younger or beginning players to learn and slightly smaller in size. He popularized scat singing and was the first musician to have his solo on a recording (Rodgers 85). In addition Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes., On the 26th day of December in 1788 there was a very great success. Back in Chicago, OKeh Records decided to let Armstrong make his first records with a band under his own name: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five. Copy. His rise to the top, though not overnight, occurred quickly, he played with mostly all the major bands in New Orleans over the next few years (Friedwald 350). The jazz magazine Down Beat agreed. 1 slot in May 1964, and knocking the Beatles off the top at the height of Beatlemania. He adds, "He was also more than a jazz musician he was an enormously popular entertainer"(pp. However, a heart attack two days after the Waldorf gig sidelined him for two months. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. He was a groundbreaking musician and a pioneer in the development of jazz music. He performed in Europe for the first time in 1932 and returned in 1933, staying for over a year because of a damaged lip. "What a Wonderful World" peaked on the U.S. music charts after Armstrong passed away. At one point in Heebie Jeebiesa 1926 song released by Armstrong and his "Hot Five bandthe singer vocalizes a series of nonsensical, horn-like sounds. He subsequently passed, so the duo contacted Armstrong in August 1967. His notoriety for being the best jazz player of his time was secured as Armstrong's arrangement of swing and melodic development opened out and changed Henderson's band and in addition jazz overall. Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis Satchmo Armstrong. He was known for both his joyous ways with the trumpet and his peculiarly touching and funny vocal style. Louis Armstrong was an outstanding jazz musician during the Harlem Renaissance Era. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901. Jelly Roll, Doctor Jazz, Original Jelly Roll Blues, and many other famous pieces. Armstrong could make an audience cheer, but Roy Eldridge, made those top and bottom notes feel like a natural part of what the horn should do (Friedwald 21). Armstrong practiced his instrument and eventually he became the jazz great everyone knows today. WebThe point is that Armstrong created and codified an entire vocabulary of jazz, setting the standard for vocalists and instrumentalists. In 1922, his mentor, King Oliver, invited him to work his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. Finding Yourself, Dropping, Halfway. Best Known For: Louis Armstrong was a jazz trumpeter, bandleader and singer known for songs like "What a Wonderful World, Hello, Dolly, Star Dust and "La Vie En Rose.. With her encouragement, he left Oliver and joined Fletcher Henderson's band in New York, staying for a year and then going back to Chicago in November 1925 to join the Dreamland Syncopators, his wife's group. In April, he reached the charts with his first vocal recording, "Big Butter and Egg Man," a duet with May Alix. those works included Cotton Tail and Ko-Ko. Some of his most popular songs included "It Don 't Mean a Thing if It Ain 't Got That Swing," "Sophisticated Lady," "Prelude to a Kiss," "Solitude," and "Satin Doll (Duke Ellington Biography). The song for which Pops is most widely remembered, What a Wonderful World, was almost never his song at all. Back in America in 1935, Armstrong hired Joe Glaser as his manager and began fronting a big band, recording pop songs for Decca, and appearing regularly in movies. Because of his long improvised solos, he inspired jazz so that long solos became an important part of jazz pieces and performances. ", Armstrong signed with Columbia Records in the mid-'50s, and soon cut some of the finest albums of his career for producer George Avakian, including Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. In December of that year, he was called into the studio to record the title number for a Broadway show that hadn't opened yet: Hello, Dolly! We contributed Louis Armstrong. Given that Armstrong was only 11, it was (one of) his stepfathers who was responsible for the whole series of events. Louis did his first performance on stage in 1930 to spread his Jazz style. Duke Ellingtons sense of musical drama was the one that made him stand out from all of the rest., Armstrong became the best jazz soloist on Broadway (Louis Armstrong 1). That same year, Armstrong married for the fourth and final time; he wed Lucille Wilson, a Cotton Club dancer. For the first time, Armstrong was really able to demonstrate his unique voice during those recording sessions. Armstrong sang his heart out on the number, thinking of his home in Queens as he did so, but "What a Wonderful World" received little promotion in the United States. He dropped out of school at 11 to join an informal group, but on December 31, 1912, he fired a gun during a New Year's Eve celebration, and was sent to reform school.