Louis Armstrong, a New Orleans native, was always interested in music. He first started to play music at a local tavern. Then after being put in a boy’s military reform school, he began to play in the band. King Oliver was one of Armstrong idols. Louis Armstrong played a major role in history by helping develop many styles that help shape the previous and current Jazz.
Mr. Armstrong had many of talents such as singing, film star, comedian, and being a bandleader. Although he was blessed with many talent, he left an outstanding imprint on Jazz. Louis Armstrong was the first person to bring jazz out of New Orleans and spread it all over the world. His unique technique show different characteristics on a trumpet. For example, in 1922 Louis started to put his style into jazz whenever he joined King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. The way he improvised shocked all sorts of musicians because he was able to improvise a perfect harmony part, no matter how anyone played it.
Armstrong could also start improvising while the tune was still playing. This opened many doors for musicians everywhere and it is still going on today. During 1925 to 1928 Louis made some recordings with many musicians. He called the group Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five. These recording prepared the art of solo improvisation. A lot of people viewed this as the start of traditional Jazz. They also laid the groundwork for the swing era. Some of these recording were Muskrat Ramble, Sweet Little Papa, The King of Zulus, and Fireworks.
Louis Armstrong developed a way of playing as, as an instrumentalist and a vocalist. He was also know for giving Jazz scat singing. Scat singing is the technique of using nonsense syllables to imitate the sound of a horn with the human voice....
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... wasn’t for him there wouldn’t’ be any of us.
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After high school, from 1927-1934, Louis played throughout New Orleans and recorded more than 70 titles for various labels, and at the age of 24, he took his considerable talents as a trumpet player and bandleader to New York City. It was at around this time that Louis coined the expression "Swing," as well as many others, and once The Louis Prima Band played their version of Big Band inspired, Dixieland Jazz infused "Swing" music at the Famous Door Club, the entire 52nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway was dubbed "Swing Street." Thus, a whole new era of music began. Even the "King Of Swing," Benny Goodman wouldn't have near the notoriety without the Prima penned "Sing Sing Sing," which is still considered a Swing Era classic.
When it comes to jazz music, there is one name that everyone knows, whether they’ve never listened to jazz before or if they’ve listened to it their whole lives. That name is Louis Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the pioneers of jazz music, from his humble beginnings in one of New Orleans roughest districts, “the Battlefield”, to playing concerts for sold out crowds in Chicago and New York City, Louis left a massive impact on the way America listened to music for a long time. One of his premier tracks, “West End Blues”, left an impact on jazz music, which other musicians would try to emulate for years.
His “hot bop” style was heard in places like the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theatre. Everyone from all over the country would come to see him. Armstrong recorded such works as I’m in the Mood for Love, and You Rascal You (http://library.thinkquest.org/26656/english/music.html). Another famous person during this era was Coleman Hawkins, a saxophone player. Hawkins is recognized as the first great saxophonist of jazz.
Jazz music did not become successful on its own. Its huge success during the 1940’s and 1950’s is due to the talented jazz singers and musicians who contributed to music. One of the successful musicians who contributed to Jazz was Louis Jordan. Jordan was an African American singer, bandleader and best known for his amazing technique and style while playing the saxophone. What set Jordan apart from all the other Jazz singers of his time was his appearance; being a comedian before going into music helped him appeal a wider and a more diverse audience. Appealing a more diverse audience was especially important during a time where segregation was an ongoing problem. His success was also due to his amazing band, the Tympany Five. The band included
In the 1920’s, pop culture thrived. Radio became a large form of entertainment. Jazz developed as a new form of music. Louis Armstrong, a trumpeter from New Orleans among others, led the emergence of jazz. During th...
The magnificent stories of Billie Holiday, the great Louis Armstrong, and Adelaide Hall are about how they struggled, conquered, and worked through the Harlem Renaissance. From realizing they all left an impact on the world. They were very successful African American musicians. It takes a lot to write and express different feelings especially to the world, but they all did in song and in action.
Louis Armstrong was the first great trumpet soloist in jazz. His unmistakable trumpet and vocals allowed him to continue doing what he loved most, making people happy. Armstrong was loved by many people, whether they were white, Africa...
He is the greatest and most important musician in jazz history, and he made an innovation of jazz music. It is no exaggeration to say that, in a sense, Armstrong pioneered jazz history.
George Gershwin composed some of the most noticeable blues pieces of the nineteen twenties. Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and Piano Concerto in F, Rhapsody No. 2. Louis Armstrong, by far the king of the trumpet is the poster boy for pure jazz. With his revolutionary playing, he was able to break the trend of the typical “Dixieland” jazz music with his solos alone.
...onal attention. He held this widely held regard until his death in 1971. His performances in Jazz showed how beautiful the music was, and how compelling the msucial experience was through his sense of structural logic and combined superior instrumental skill. Armstrong’s music was sophisticated, virtuosic, and emotionally expressive. As a soloist, he was able to test his creative instrumental abilities, well establishing his musical identity. Armstrong stands out from the rest of the Jazz musicians in that he has “superior choice of notes and shape of his lines, incomparable basic quality of tone, incomparable sense of swing, and the subtly varied repertory of vibratos and shakes he embellishes individual notes.”
Louis Armstrong, without a doubt, influenced the genre of music we all know as jazz. “Armstrong, to a greater extent than any other early jazz musician, transformed a regional folk music into an international art form through the virtuosity of his playing as the first great jazz soloist” (Oxford). From his not-so-easy childhood to his massive success, I will inform you about this musician’s life, career, and the legacy he leaves behind.
Louis Armstrong’s Influential Career Louis Armstrong was the most successful and talented jazz musician in history. His influence and expansive career continues to make waves in the jazz world. That is what made him become what he is to many today – a legend. Born on August 4, 1901, in the poorest section of New Orleans, Armstrong grew up with his grandparents due to his parents’ separation. On January 1, 1913 he made a mistake which turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. At a New Year’s celebration in downtown New Orleans, Louis Armstrong, also known as “Satchmo” and “Satch”, fired a pistol into the air and was placed in the Colored Waifs’ Home. It was there that he was introduced to Peter Davis – the brass band leader who taught him how to play the cornet (Brown 17). Soon after he began playing, Armstrong was made leader of the band – something he was extremely proud of. In June of 1914, Armstrong was free to leave the Waifs’ Home. He was hired by various cabarets throughout the city, as well as for picnics, dances, and funerals. It was at one of these places that he was spotted by the famous Joe ‘King’ Oliver. King Oliver found Armstrong stand-in slots at orchestras and other venues. In 1918, he was offered the vacant seat left by Oliver in the band the Brown Skinned Babies. Kid Ory, leader of the band, once said that after Louis joined them he, “…improved so fast it was amazing.
He continued harvesting his craft after his release from the reform school in 1914 by doing manual labor during the day and playing his trumpet at night. The earlier part of his career continued through frequent events at the time such as brass band parades in various places. Although he was both self-taught and receiving lessons, he continued learning on his own by listening to other jazz greats at the time, such as Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and the one artist that ultimately became his mentor, and even his father figure, Joe “King” Oliver, who plays a very important role later on in Armstrong’s life and career. Over the next few years, Armstrong would continue playing in different brass bands and would eventually go on to become a national phenomenon, with his being a young musician with great
Louis Armstrong was a jazz musician and was nicknamed Satchmo. He was considered the founding father of jazz and king of jazz. He played a role in the civil rights movement and was known to be the first scat singer. His band the, Hot Five, was one of the popular bands known for making swing music trendy. His music set the standards for jazz till this day. Louis Armstrong is still known as one of the greatest African- American entertainers.
... Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and others, helped to create the jazz that we have until today.