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Louis armstrong impact on american culture
Louis armstrong his importance to jazz
Discuss Armstrong’s contribution to the development of jazz
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In the 1920’s, jazz entertainer, Louis Armstrong’s influence ascended across the nation. Armstrong was notably one of the first prominent African-American performers to be accepted across racial lines; this was especially significant in an America that was still very much segregated. Known for his “gravelly” voice and improvisational skills, Armstrong was well sought after for collaborations and performances throughout America. In 1932 Fleischer Studios approached Louis Armstrong about accompanying and appearing in a Betty Boop cartoon short produced by the studio. He agreed to make the cartoon in order to advertise and promote his traveling band and its recordings; however, beyond this motivation, Armstrong was also afforded the ability to comment on American culture and racial tensions. Even though he was considered to refrain from publicly politicizing his race, in “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You,” through his accompaniment, Louis Armstrong craftily commented on racial themes without it being recognized by his audience.
Although Louis Armstrong’s music was accepted across racial lines, this cannot be understood in terms of white acceptance of his African American culture. Caucasian Americans accepted Louis Armstrong’s music because it didn’t provide discordance with their skewed notions of African American culture. They could continue to listen to his music, while understanding the music within a context that they were comfortable with, from “primitive” origins by innately musical blacks guided by their unruly passions. Louis Armstrong was not unaware of the perception that much of his audience had. His success was owing to his charisma and his ability to be an exceptional entertainer in spite of these misconcept...
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...rtoon is one of guile and cunning. Much like singers at the time were known for sliding into notes and pitches, Armstrong slides artfully into themes of racial injustice in America, while maintaining a safe distance from provoking the audience. He merely leaves the interpretation there for those who seek it. For others, the cartoon can be read on the surface, which is probably what most of the audience saw when they viewed the cartoon short. Way too many African Americans of the era viewed Louis Armstrong as a sellout due to the fact that he didn’t politicize his ethic identity within his career; ultimately, Louis Armstrong did what he had to do, to do what he loves – share his music talents. However, this in no way came at the expense of him having his own opinions on American culture. He simply had to demonstrate these conceptions in an artful and smooth manner.
Jazz as a general genre reached its peak in the thirties. Jazz was incredibly popular with both the Black community, and the white community; however, Jazz reached the adolescents the most. Jazz music was associated with the African American culture during this time of increible racial tension, subsequently the ‘teens’ of this generation began to tune into this genre for its rebelistic qualities. Popular forms of jazz music often included, Dixieland/’hot’ jazz, classical jazz, and bebop. The defining artist of hot jazz was Louis Armstrong. This music was characterized by collective improvised solos, around melodic structure, that ideally built up to an emotional and "Hot" climax. The rhythm section, which typically consists of percussion, bass, banjo, or guitar helps to support this crescendo, many times in the style of a
and the people around him. His mother did not even care enough to keep his birth
But Armstrong and his jazz, more often than not, supported the civil rights movement. For example, in his 1929 song, “Black and Blue,” Armstrong speaks out, or moreso, sings out, against racism. This was a precarious topic to sing about as a black musician, let alone in front of white audiences. And later, in response to the Little Rock Crisis in 1957, Armstrong openly criticized the prevention of desegregation and canceled his tour in the Soviet Union as cultural ambassador of the United States in retaliation
His boisterous personality influenced many aspects of American culture, and his contributions and influence on Jazz are immeasurable. Nobody has done more for Jazz than Louis Armstrong, without question he is a Jazz legend (Friedwald). Armstrong excelled at everything he performed. A renaissance man of our time, his appreciation for music and life showed in his performances, and his talent showed his techniques and improvisation. Louis’s technique and improvisation on the trumpet set the standard for Jazz musicians (Friedwald). Fellow trumpeter Dizzie Gillespie credited Armstrong with this honor stating, “If it weren’t for him there wouldn’t be any of us.” This reputation would lend him to be referred to as Jazz royalty. With his trumpet and his scat singing he revolutionized Jazz. Though vocally limited, his understanding of how to use his voice beyond his natural abilities led to his perfection of scat (Edwards). Scatting allowed him to perfect his improvisational skill. Scatting, or scat singing would come to be known as the “House that Satch Built” and Armstrong the “Original Man of Scat.”
When the United States were showing signs of economical growth, the unimaginable happen. When the 1929 stock market crash marked the day that the United States slowly crept into the Great Depression. The Great Depression caused nationwide panic. There was a decrease of production and the sale of goods. Many businesses started to collapse and close. Banks closed down since they took people’s money and invest in stocks. When the stocks crashed, banks went bankrupt and people lost their money and savings. Then there was a rise in unemployment and thousands of workers lost their jobs. Countless amount of people were homeless and they were trying their best to save their money. People were trying to figure out how to deal with their economic difficulties. During that time, people wanted to escape from their problems. They would watch movies and listen to music. At the time Jazz music was very popular. Jazz music had musical freedom and the songs show the way many people felt. It had the power to lift the gloomy spirits of the people affected. Jazz music has a style that appeal to many people, both young and old. One of the earlier Jazz
Louis Armstrong is one of the most well known influential jazz musicians that there is today. Louis played the trumpet like no one would believe. He also was a composer, singer, and even occasionally an actor. Louis’s full name is Louis Daniel Armstrong but was nicknamed Satchmo, Satch, or Pops. Louis didn’t have the best childhood growing up. He was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis’s father was a factory worker but wasn’t a big part of his life because he abandoned Louis and his family shortly after he was born. His mother wasn’t the best influence because she often turned to prostitution and left Louis with his grandmother. Louis also didn’t have the best education because he was forced to leave his school in fifth grade to start working and making money.
Before the war started, a wealthy white man by the name of John Hammond worked to integrate black and white music.1 Since his childhood, he enjoyed the music of numerous black artists, and he wanted to share his love with the rest of America. He used much of his inherited fortune to make this possible. He went against the general opinion of society and his parents, who despised black people. Hammond refused to ignore black artists’ musical abilities because of their color, “I did not revolt against the system, I simply refused to be a part of it.”2 He used his money to organize the most eclectic group of musicians ever assembled, for an integrated audience of his time. Hammond’s efforts made an indelible impact on the music industry. The musicians Hammond introduced in...
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans.
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.
(Singer 216) With minstrel shows being popular at the time along with going “black face” on stage to make fun of colored people, its no surprise this song was intended to be humorous. The original idea for the song came from Dutch Shultz, the “financial angel” for Connie’s Inn where Hot Chocolates was playing. (Singer 216) He came up with the idea of the “funny number” and directed writer Andy Razaf to come up with the Lyrics. Razaf didn’t like the idea of the song but since he was essentially forced to write it, he did it his own way. He made the song about intraracial prejudice between blacks of lighter and darker skin and in doing that went behind Shultz back who just wanted the song for its comic appeal. The song was received well though, by people of all color, and Razaf unknowingly wrote America’s “first racial prejudice song”. (Singer 219) The song ended up being a hit and in 1929 Louis Armstrong recorded his own version of the song; however, in Armstrong’s version he “…dropped the verse and turned the chorus into a threnody for blacks of all shades.” (Teachout 139) Louis took the original songs hidden meaning and highlighted it in a way that made it more noticeable but still subtle. He turned it into a song that, as Ralph Ellington put it, “demanded action, the kind of which I was incapable of” in
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
He was known as the Father of Jazz. He was most notable as an entertainer, however, he was a soloist that provided improvisations in regards to tunes. Louis Armstrong's “What a Wonderful World” is the first song that comes to many minds when discussing jazz. He is also well known for his scat singing, However, he also had a political side. In his song “What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue,” Armstrong talks about the color of his skin as a bad thing and how blacks were treated. In World War II he fulfilled by performing for the soldiers during a recording
The development of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the late 1940s and early 1950s by young African Americans coincided with a sensitive time in America. Civil rights movements were under way around the country as African Americans struggles to gain equal treatment and the same access to resources as their white neighbors. As courts began to vote in favor of integration, tensions between whites and blacks escalated. As the catchy rhythm of Rock ‘n’ Roll began to cross racial boundaries many whites began to feel threatened by the music, claiming its role in promoting integration. This became especially problematic as their youth became especially drawn to ...
In the Process of Completing Research for This Issue, I Realized That What I Want to Say May Be Divided into Two Sections. Part One Surveys the General Topic of Album Art; Part Two (Outlined in the Accompanying Sidebar) Considers the Conspicuous Absence of Black Artists from the Process of Designing Jazz Packages: Covers, Liner Notes Etc. This Second Part Will Be Published in an Upcoming Issue.--R.G.O'M.
The tone of the lyrics perfectly exemplifies Louis’ contemplation or his inner dilemma as a black man. In his lyrics, Louis examines his identity as a black man and declares that his only sin was his skin. The strong statement behind Louis’ lyrics served to