Louis Armstrong: One Of The Greatest Jazz Musicians In The History Of Music

Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong will always be known as one of the greatest jazz musicians in the history of music. Although he is mostly known for his exceptional trumpet playing, Armstrong was a surprisingly well-rounded musician. That is something you just do not see with most of today’s musicians. He plays with passion and put everything he got into creating great pieces of music. “What he does is real, and true, and honest, and simple, and even noble. Every time this man puts his trumpet to his lips, even if only to practice three notes, he does it with his whole soul” (Satchmo). This was a quote said by Leonard Bernstein, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, in 1956. To have a fellow musician give such praise to him, you know

He grew up in the city that basically invented it. Born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Louis Armstrong and his sister were abandoned by both of their parents. Armstrong lived with his grandmother and uncle until he was five. He eventually returned to live with his mother and attended Fisk School for Boys, a school where music was an integral part of the curriculum. However in 1912, Armstrong dropped out of school and earned money by singing songs on the streets. That same year Armstrong was sent to Colored Waifs’ Home for Boys, a juvenile center, for shooting a gun in the air. It was here that Armstrong developed a serious passion for playing the

I always loved music, and it did not matter what the instrument was or who played it so long as the playing was good” (Armstrong 111). Influenced by the great cornet player Joe “King” Oliver as well as other leading jazz artists, Armstrong felt the time was right to begin playing in local clubs to build his name. Eventually he was offered to play alongside his idol Oliver in Chicago. This lasted a couple of years before he was offered to join Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra in New York. It was with this group that Armstrong switched over to the trumpet. As he moved from group to group Armstrong began to become far superior in playing trumpet than that of others. His amazing technique, compelling swing, sense of harmonies, his gift to create vital melodies, his complex sense of solo design along with his genius created an indelible niche for himself in the realms of jazz. It was these talents that made people want to listen to his music before and after his death on July 6, 1971. From his first song he ever recorded to his last one, Armstrong created sensational music. This first song is one of Louis Armstrong’s finest he ever wrote. Hello Dolly was originally a song from the award winning musical Hello Dolly. Armstrong was asked personally to record the song to help promote the show. The song has an upbeat tempo that makes you just want to get up and dance. In