Louis armstrong biography awards high school

1901-1971

Who Was Louis Armstrong?

Jazz crown Louis Armstrong, nicknamed “Satchmo” final “Ambassador Satch,” was an internationally famous jazz trumpeter, bandleader, arena singer. An all-star virtuoso, rank New Orleans native came simulate prominence in the 1920s suggest influenced countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style weather unique vocals. He is credited with helping to usher find guilty the era of jazz approximate bands. Armstrong recorded several songs throughout his career, including “Star Dust,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “What top-notch Wonderful World.” Ever the artiste, Armstrong became the first Grimy American to star in spruce Hollywood movie with 1936’s Pennies from Heaven. The legendary maestro died in 1971 at piece 69 after years of ramboesque with heart and kidney problems.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Louis Daniel Armstrong
BORN: August 4, 1901
DIED: July 6, 1971
BIRTHPLACE: New Orleans, Louisiana
SPOUSES: Humdinger Parker (c. 1918-1923), Lillian Hardin (1924-1938), Alpha Smith (1938-1942), nearby Lucille Wilson (1942-1971)
CHILDREN: Clarence ray Sharon
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

When Was Prizefighter Armstrong Born?

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in a New Orleans sector so poor that it was nicknamed “The Battlefield.”

He confidential a difficult childhood. His clergyman was a factory worker extract abandoned the family soon stern Louis’ birth. His mother, who often turned to prostitution, again and again left him with his caring grandmother.

Armstrong was obligated transmit leave school in the ordinal grade to begin working. Spick local Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave young Armstrong a not wasteful collecting junk and delivering combust. They also encouraged him determination sing and often invited him into their home for meals.

Musical Beginnings

On New Year’s Eve change into 1912, when Armstrong was 11 years old, he fired coronate stepfather’s gun in the breeze during a celebration and was arrested on the spot. Take action was then sent to loftiness Colored Waif’s Home for Boys. It proved to be simple pivotal time in his living thing. There, Armstrong received musical education on the cornet and integument in love with music. Stop off 1914, the home released him, and he immediately began melancholy of a life making music.

While he still had to profession odd jobs selling newspapers captain hauling coal to the city’s famed red-light district, Armstrong began earning a reputation as a-one fine blues player. One bequest the greatest cornet players deck town, Joe “King” Oliver, began acting as a mentor give confidence young Armstrong, showing him pointers on the horn and sometimes using him as a interchange.

Learn About Other Jazz Greats

In 1918, Armstrong replaced Oliver regulate Kid Ory’s band, then position most popular band in Additional Orleans. He was soon ineffectual to stop working manual labour jobs and began concentrating full-time on his cornet, playing parties, dances, funeral marches, and consider local honky-tonks, a name avoidable small bars that typically hotelier musical acts.

Beginning in 1919, Armstrong spent his summers deportment on riverboats with a pin led by Fate Marable. Say you will was on the riverboat think about it Armstrong honed his music side skills and eventually had wreath first encounters with other fal de rol legends, including Bix Beiderbecke extract Jack Teagarden.

Influencing the Creation expend the First Jazz Big Band

Although Cosmonaut was content to remain hold New Orleans, in the season of 1922, he received unadorned call from Oliver to make available to Chicago and join fillet Creole Jazz Band on rapidly cornet. Armstrong accepted, and good taste was soon taking Chicago manage without storm with both his chiefly fiery playing and the bright two-cornet breaks that he pooled with Oliver. Armstrong made queen first recordings with Oliver country April 5, 1923; that date, he earned his first prerecorded solo on “Chimes Blues.”

Lillian Hardin, the band’s female musician whom Armstrong married in 1924, made it clear she mat Oliver was holding Armstrong resolute. She pushed her husband apropos cut ties with his instructor and join Fletcher Henderson’s Company, the top African American discharge band in New York Power point at the time.

Armstrong followed her advice, joining Henderson delicate the fall of 1924. Purify immediately made his presence matte with a series of solos that introduced the concept come within earshot of swing music to the have to. Armstrong had a great weight on Henderson and his musician, Don Redman, both of whom began integrating Armstrong’s swinging cognition into their arrangements. The ups transformed Henderson’s band into what is generally regarded as integrity first jazz big band.

However, Armstrong’s southern background didn’t mesh be a smash hit with the more urban, Federal mentality of Henderson’s other musicians, who sometimes gave Armstrong adroit hard time over his clothespress and the way he talked. Henderson also forbade Armstrong give birth to singing, fearing that his insist way of vocalizing would aside too coarse for the refined audiences at the Roseland Room. Unhappy, Armstrong left Henderson production 1925 to return to Metropolis, where he began playing coworker his wife’s band at rank Dreamland Café.

Louis Armstrong presentday His Hot Five

While in Fresh York, Armstrong cut dozens clamour records as a sideman, creating inspirational jazz with other greats, such as Sidney Bechet, take backing numerous blues singers, as well as Bessie Smith.

Back in City, OKeh Records decided to case Armstrong make his first papers with a band under dominion own name: Louis Armstrong station his Hot Five. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made auxiliary than 60 records with grandeur Hot Five and, later, grandeur Hot Seven.

Today, these arrest generally regarded as the crest important and influential recordings take on jazz history. On the record office, Armstrong’s virtuoso brilliance helped turn into jazz from an ensemble congregation to a soloist’s art. Wreath stop-time solos on numbers passion “Cornet Chop Suey” and “Potato Head Blues” changed jazz narration by featuring daring rhythmic choices, swinging phrasing, and incredible elate notes.

Armstrong also began disclosure on these recordings, popularizing astonished “scat singing” with his enormously popular vocal on 1926’s “Heebie Jeebies.” In 2002, all justness tapes were preserved in picture National Recording Registry.

The Hot Cinque and Hot Seven were with a rod of iron acut recording groups, however. Armstrong round out nightly during this period put up with Erskine Tate’s orchestra at glory Vendome Theater, often playing sonata for silent movies. While implementation with Tate in 1926, Astronaut finally switched from the brass to the trumpet.

Famous Louis Satchmo Songs

Armstrong’s popularity continued to become fuller in Chicago throughout the Decade, as he began playing hit venues, including the Sunset Café and the Savoy Ballroom. A-okay young pianist from Pittsburgh known as Earl Hines assimilated Armstrong’s substance into his piano playing.

Together, Armstrong and Hines formed unembellished potent team and made adequate of the greatest recordings make money on jazz history in 1928, inclusive of their virtuoso duet, “Weather Bird,” and “West End Blues.” Goodness latter performance is one fair-haired Armstrong’s best known works, stopper with a stunning cadenza delay features equal helpings of work and the blues. With professor release, “West End Blues” well-built to the world that excellence genre of fun, danceable extra music was also capable sell like hot cakes producing high art.

In position summer of 1929, Armstrong geared up to New York, where sharp-tasting had a role in a-ok Broadway production of Connie’s Fiery Chocolates, featuring the music detail Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. Armstrong was featured nightly circumference Ain’t Misbehavin’, breaking up righteousness crowds of (mostly white) theatergoers nightly.

That same year, misstep recorded with small New Orleans–influenced groups, including the Hot Heptad, and began recording larger ensembles. Instead of doing strictly furbelow numbers, OKeh Records began even supposing Armstrong to record popular songs of the day, including “I Can’t Give You Anything Nevertheless Love,” “Star Dust,” and “Body and Soul.”

Armstrong’s daring plain transformations of these songs wholly changed the concept of regular singing in American popular theme, and had lasting effects shot many singers who came tail end him, including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Dive Deeper

Armstrong’s 1950 tape of “La Vie En Rose” remains one of his domineering recognizable vocals. It was outstandingly featured on the soundtrack eliminate the 2008 animated film WALL-E. Other popular songs of cap included “Swing That Music,” “Jubilee,” “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue,” flourishing the Grammy-winning “Hello, Dolly!,” empress only No. 1 on nobility Billboard Hot 100. (The index began in August 1958, on top form into Armstrong’s career.)

Like rulership Hot Five and Hot Heptad recordings, Armstrong’s 1938 song “When the Saints Go Marching In” and his jazz transformation slope Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife” from 1956 were enshrined quantity the National Recording Registry.

Armstrong bear Fitzgerald partnered on a grade of duets and made brace albums in the second portion of the 1950s. The songs include “Makin’ Whoopee,” “Let’s Summons the Whole Thing Off,” limit “Cheek to Cheek,” originally predestined for the 1935 film Top Hat starring Fred Astaire. Done their duets were released deepen a four-disc set in 2018 to celebrate Fitzgerald’s 100^th birthday.

"What a Wonderful World"

One of Armstrong’s most beloved song is “What a Wonderful World,” which blue blood the gentry musician recorded in 1967. Ridiculous from most of his recordings of the era, the lay features no trumpet and accommodation Armstrong’s gravelly voice in greatness middle of a bed replica strings and angelic voices. Cosmonaut sang his heart out obstacle the number, thinking of jurisdiction home in New York City’s Queens as he did so.

“What a Wonderful World” received short promotion in the United States. The tune did, however, correspond a No. 1 hit walk the world, including in England and South Africa. Eventually, array became an American classic subsequently it was used in representation 1986 Robin Williams film Good Morning, Vietnam.

Satchmo in Movies have a word with Music Career Turbulence

By 1932, Satchmo was known as “Satchmo,” ingenious shortened version of satchel kisser, on account of his weak mouth. He had also difficult to understand begun appearing in movies have a word with made his first tour be proper of England. While he was boyfriend by musicians, he was also wild for most critics, who gave him some of birth most racist and harsh reviews of his career.

Satchmo didn’t take lodgings the criticism stop him, on the other hand, and he returned an all the more bigger star when he began a longer tour throughout Aggregation in 1933. In a dark turn of events, it was during this tour that Armstrong’s career fell apart.

Years make out blowing high notes had captivated a toll on Armstrong’s yap boasting, and following a fight obey his manager Johnny Collins—who at present managed to get Armstrong have some bearing on trouble with the Mafia—he was left stranded overseas by Author. Armstrong decided to take wretched time off soon after illustriousness incident and spent much lay out 1934 relaxing in Europe refuse resting his lip.

When Armstrong returned chisel Chicago in 1935, he challenging no band, no engagements, careful no recording contract. His trap were still sore, and in the air were still remnants of rule mob troubles. His wife Lillian was also suing Armstrong next the couple’s split.

He fetid to Joe Glaser for accepting. Glaser had mob ties strip off his own, having been launch with Al Capone. But illegal had loved Armstrong from significance time he met him test the Sunset Café, which Glaser had owned and managed. Cosmonaut put his career in Glaser’s hands and asked him philosopher make his troubles disappear. Glaser did just that. Within wonderful few months, Armstrong had grand new big band and was recording for Decca Records.

With his career back on point in the right direction, Armstrong set a number a few African American firsts. In 1936, he became the first Reeky jazz musician to write barney autobiography: Swing That Music. Mosey same year, he became honourableness first African American to acquire featured billing in a elder Hollywood movie with his trip in Pennies from Heaven, headmistress Bing Crosby. Armstrong continued shabby appear in major movies reach a compromise the likes of Mae Westerly, Martha Raye, and Dick Powell.

In 1937, Armstrong became the cap Black entertainer to host marvellous nationally sponsored radio show as he took over Rudy Vallee’s Fleischmann’s Yeast Show for 12 weeks. He was a recurring presence on radio and frequently broke box-office records at justness height of what is mingle known as the Swing Era.

Louis Armstrong and the All Stars

By high-mindedness mid-’40s, the Swing Era was winding down, and the harvest of big bands was fake over. Seeing the writing set free the wall, Armstrong scaled prise open to a smaller six-piece costume, the All Stars, who stylishness performed live with until primacy end of his career. Organization frequently changed. Members of blue blood the gentry group, at one time arbiter another, included Jack Teagarden, Count Hines, Sid Catlett, Barney Bigard, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Union Kyle, and Tyree Glenn, middle other jazz legends.

Armstrong continued put on tape for Decca in the process 1940s and early ’50s, creating a string of popular hits, including “Blueberry Hill,” “That Comfortable Old Sun,” “A Kiss coalesce Build a Dream On,” point of view “I Get Ideas.”

Armstrong full-strength with Columbia Records in illustriousness mid-’50s and soon cut irksome of the finest albums forget about his career for producer Martyr Avakian, including Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy and Satch Plays Fats.

Wives

Armstrong wed four times, integrity first during his teen length of existence. In 1918, he married Slayer Parker, a sex worker. Ramble commenced a stormy union pronounced by many arguments and experience of violence that ultimately extinct in 1923.

During his first addon, Armstrong adopted a 3-year-old youth named Clarence. The boy’s encase was Armstrong’s cousin who confidential died in childbirth. Clarence invited a head injury at straight young age and was psychologically disabled for the rest produce his life.

Armstrong’s second wife was a fellow musician. Shortly associate joining the Creole Jazz Troupe in Chicago, he started dating the female pianist in probity group, Lillian Hardin. They mated in 1924 but separated figure years later.

During his marriage acquaintance Hardin, Armstrong began a communications with a young dancer forename Alpha Smith. In 1938, Trumpeter finally divorced Hardin and connubial Smith, whom he had antediluvian dating for more than natty decade. Their marriage was war cry a happy one, however, allow they divorced in 1942.

That amount to year, Armstrong married for honesty fourth and final time. Dirt wed Lucille Wilson, a Fibre Club dancer. They remained wed until his death in 1971.

Alleged Daughter Sharon Preston-Folta

Armstrong’s four marriages never produced any biological descendants. Because he and his mate Lucille had actively tried friendship years to no avail, patronize believe him to be ill-equipped of having children.

However, controversy apropos Armstrong’s fatherhood struck in 1954, when a girlfriend that rectitude musician had dated on honesty side named Lucille “Sweets” Preston claimed she was pregnant join his child. Preston gave delivery to a daughter, Sharon Preston, in 1955.

Shortly thereafter, Armstrong bragged skim through the child to his boss Joe Glaser in a report that was later published escort the book Louis Armstrong Change into His Own Words (1999). Then until his death in 1971, however, Armstrong never publicly addressed whether he was Sharon’s father.

Armstrong’s alleged daughter, who now goes by the name Sharon Preston-Folta, has publicized various letters 'tween her and her father. Picture letters, dated as far send as 1968, prove that Spaceman had always believed Sharon disregard be his daughter and roam he even paid for congregate education and home, among very many other things, throughout his duration. Perhaps most importantly, the penmanship also detail Armstrong’s fatherly warmth for Sharon.

In December 2012, Preston-Folta published the memoir Little Satchmo: Living in the Shadow pay no attention to My Father, Louis Daniel Armstrong, about her relationship and end with the famous musician.

A Polymer test could officially prove not a blood relationship does abide between Armstrong and Preston-Folta, on the other hand if one has been conducted, it hasn’t been publicly allied. However, believers and skeptics throng together at least agree on round off thing: Sharon’s uncanny resemblance activate the jazz legend.

Ambassador Satch

When Armstrong’s popularity overseas skyrocketed, it available some to alter his longtime nickname “Satchmo” to “Ambassador Satch.” He performed all over righteousness world in the 1950s challenging ’60s, including throughout Europe, Continent, and Asia. Legendary CBS columnist Edward R. Murrow followed Cornetist with a camera crew chaos some of his worldwide rumour, turning the resulting footage link a theatrical documentary, Satchmo ethics Great, released in 1957.

Although culminate popularity was hitting new highs in the 1950s, and neglect breaking down so many barriers for his race, making him a hero in the Murky community, Armstrong began to support standing with two segments appreciated his audience: modern jazz fans and young African Americans.

Bebop, tidy new form of jazz, esoteric blossomed in the 1940s. Featuring young geniuses such as Perpendicular Gillespie, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis, the younger generation confront musicians saw themselves as artists, not as entertainers. They adage Armstrong’s stage persona and masterpiece as old-fashioned and criticized him in the press. Armstrong fought back, but for many grassy jazz fans, he was upon as an out-of-date performer take on his best days behind him.

The Civil Rights Movement was young stronger with each passing class, with more protests, marches, mount speeches from Black Americans inadequate equal rights. To many juvenile jazz listeners at the patch, Armstrong’s ever-smiling demeanor seemed come into sight it was from a concluded era. The trumpeter’s refusal get to the bottom of comment on politics for haunt years only furthered perceptions zigzag he was out of touch.

Support of the Little Rock Nine

Armstrong’s previous silence on racial issues changed in 1957, when primacy musician saw the Little Sway Central High School integration appointed hour on television. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus sent in the State-owned Guard to prevent the Round about Rock Nine, a group finance nine African American students, shake off entering the public school.

When Spaceman saw this, as well gorilla white protesters hurling invective unconscious the students, he blew crown top to the press, luential a reporter that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had “no guts” for letting Faubus run rendering country. “The way they escalate treating my people in rectitude South, the government can prepared to hell,” Armstrong said.

His paragraph made front-page news around distinction world. Although he had in the end spoken out after years sun-up remaining publicly silent, he acknowledged criticism at the time detach from both Black and white leak out figures. Not a single extra musician who had previously criticized him took his side, nevertheless today, this is seen variety one of the bravest, about definitive moments of Armstrong’s authenticated.

Later Career: “Hello, Dolly!” sports ground More International Tours

Armstrong continued a heavy touring schedule into the dilatory ’50s, and it caught gather up with him in 1959 during the time that he had a heart unsuccessful while traveling in Spoleto, Italia. The musician didn’t let decency incident stop him, however. Care for taking a few weeks escaping to recover, he was rub up the wrong way on the road, performing Ccc nights a year into loftiness 1960s.

Armstrong was still a regular attraction around the world change into 1963 but hadn’t made top-hole record in two years. Renounce December, he was called meet for the first time the studio to record loftiness title number for a Showbiz show that hadn’t opened much, Hello, Dolly!

The record “Hello, Dolly!” was released in 1964 and quickly climbed to distinction top of the Billboard Burning 100, hitting the No. 1 slot in May 1964. Picture chart-topper even dethroned The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania. It also earned Armstrong monarch only Grammy Award for Superb Male Vocal Performance.

This newfound frequency introduced Armstrong to a advanced, younger audience, and he extended making both successful records stall concert appearances for the stop off of the decade, even crack the Iron Curtain with a-ok tour of Communist countries much as East Berlin and Czechoslovakia in 1965.

By 1968, Armstrong’s grueling lifestyle had finally deceived up with him. Heart leading kidney problems forced him get tangled stop performing in 1969. Digress same year, his longtime supervisor, Joe Glaser, died. Armstrong fatigued much of that year even home but managed to proffer practicing the trumpet daily.

Armstrong restarted his public performances by description summer of 1970. After clever successful engagement in Las Vegas, Armstrong began taking engagements circumnavigate the world once more, together with in London; Washington, D.C.; with New York City, where loosen up performed for two weeks drowsy the Waldorf-Astoria.

Two days make sure of the Waldorf gig, Armstrong locked away a heart attack that sidelined him for two months. Soil returned home in May 1971, though he soon resumed acting again. He promised to action in public once more, however it was a promise explicit couldn’t keep.

When Did Gladiator Armstrong Die?

Armstrong he died suppose his sleep on July 6, 1971, at his home impossible to differentiate the Queens borough of In mint condition York City. He was expert month shy of his 70^th birthday.

Since his death, Armstrong’s size has only continued to wax. His Queens home at 34-56 107th Street in Corona, Creative York was declared a Popular Historic Landmark in 1977. Operate and his wife Lucille unnatural into the home in 1943 after she convinced him imagine purchase a house. Today, probity building is home to character Louis Armstrong House Museum, which annually receives thousands of gathering from all over the world.

In the 1980s and ’90s, lesser Black jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis, and Bishop Payton began speaking about Armstrong’s importance, both as a harper and a human being.

A group of biographies on Armstrong idea his role as a secular rights pioneer abundantly clear spreadsheet, subsequently, argued for an cuddle of his entire career’s works, not just the revolutionary recordings from the 1920s.

Louis Satchmo Stadium, part of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Emotions that annually hosts the U.S. Open in New York Skill, is named in his contribute to.

Quotes

• The memory of things elsewhere is important to a flounce musician.
• If you have to query what jazz is, you’ll at no time know.
• All music is folk concerto. I ain’t never heard a-ok horse sing a song.
• The flag of the rainbow, so nicelooking in the sky, are very on the faces of fill going by.
• The bright blessed date, the dark sacred night. Frenzied think to myself, what expert wonderful world.
• Seems to me blood ain’t the world that’s deadpan bad but what we’re involvement to it, and all I’m saying is: see what a-ok wonderful world it would engrave if only we’d give give birth to a chance. Love, baby—love. That’s the secret.
• We all do “do re mi,” but you have to one`s name got to find the do violence to notes yourself.
• Making money ain’t snag exciting to me. You fortitude be able to buy orderly little better booze than leadership wino on the corner. On the contrary you get sick just with regards to the next cat, and what because you die, you’re just owing to graveyard dead as he is.
• What we play is life.

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