Louis Armstrong: A Jazz Artist

Langston Hughes was one of the first black men to express the spirit of blues and jazz

If one was to go out into the street, walked up to a random stranger and asked them if they knew who Louis Armstrong was, chances are that they would be able to answer you correctly. Louis Armstrong (Aug 4th, 1901 - Jul 6th, 1971) was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who became one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned many decades, from the 1920s to his death in 1971, and many different eras in jazz. He first came to prominence in the 1920s as a trumpeter and cornet player with no technique as well as being very skilled in scat singing, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, influencing many later jazz artists as well as shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.With his very well-known and recognizable gravelly voice, a technique that was later named “crooning”, Armstrong was an incredibly influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser by bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes on demand. 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. Armstrong was one of the first very popular

Hughes' "The Weary Blues," the speaker portrays a soul vocalist who sings a tune about how he "Ain't got nobody in all this world, /Ain't got nobody but ma self." While the speaker's race is not clear, the depiction of the "negro" artist investigates the distance of blacks in America. All

The person I chose to do my project on is Louis Armstrong. I chose Louis Armstrong because I wanted to do my project on a singer as well as a musician. I chose him because he was one of the few people that I knew about, also because I did some research on him and listened to his music and I thought that he was interesting to write about. My main three things that I’m going to discuss about Louis Armstrong will be his life, his music and influence on others. I’m going to describe how and where Louis Armstrong’s grew up and how he started out his career as a trumpeter. I’m also going to write about how he went through life and how that affected him in the future. Lastly, I’m going to discuss with you how he had an influence on others. I’m going to explain how he impacted the world with his music and how that affected so many people to this day. Louis Armstrong made a great impact in the world and I’m going to teach you all about it.

Many people knew Louis Armstrong as the “first real genius of jazz”(Shipton 26). He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. Louis was the illegitimate son of William Armstrong and Mary Est “Mayann” Albert. He was abandoned by his father, a boiler stoker, shortly after his birth and was raised by his paternal grandmother. Then, at the age of five, he was returned to the care of his mother, who at the time worked as a laundress. Together with his mom, they moved to a better area of New Orleans. This is where Armstrong first fell in love with music; he would listen to people playing any chance that he would get(Tirro). He would attend parades, funerals, churches and go to cheap cabarets to be able to hear some of the greats play

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901 to Mayanne and William Armstrong. His father abandoned his family during Louis' infancy. Louis spent the first years of his life with his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong. After age five, Louis moved back with his mother and his sister, "Mama Lucy." The family was forced to live in stark poverty. Louis got into some trouble when he was just 12 years old and was placed in the Waif's Home for Boys. It was there that he first received musical instruction and learned to play the coronet. He was released from the Waif's Home in June of 1914. He worked selling papers, unloading boats, and selling coal from a cart. Joe Oliver, one of the finest

Louis Armstrong was born on August 4th 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His grandmother had raised him mostly because his father abandoned the family soon after he was born, and his mother had turned to prostitution. Armstrong left school in the fifth grade and began working. The Karnofsky’s gave young Armstrong a job collecting junk and delivering coal. They encouraged him to sing and often times would invite him into their home for meals.

Louis Daniel Armstrong was an American trumpeter born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. He had a poor family, with his dad leaving him soon after his birth. His mom was constantly working and he quit school in fifth grade, so he could work. A jewish family with the last name of Karnofskys gave him a job of collecting junk and delivering. Then, on New Year’s Eve in 1912, he fired his stepfather's gun in the air, immediately getting him arrested. He was then sent to “Colored Waifs Home for Boys” as a juvenile delinquent. There, he got musical instruction, and fell in love with his new talent. In 1914 he was released, wanting to start a new life making music. With the skills that he had, he was playing in marching bands and jazz bands.

Success is a path way, full of mysterious wonders. Many strive to accomplish, while others wait for success to find them. Louis Armstrong’s life was similar to this. Armstrong strived and strived until he reached to a point in his life where he was comfortable with his fourth wife, Lucille Wilson. Armstrong is ultimately known as the creator of jazz and blues. He was awarded this title by using his talents when he was a young boy growing up in a rough neighborhood. Armstrong’s talent was a result of his childhood and young adult life. Growing up, Armstrong was exposed to music in his surroundings. Armstrong obtained this fantastic talent, therefore causing him to establish it in a well minded surrounding; creating his success and fame.

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong was one of the most popular musicians of his time. Upon initiating my research, I was surprised to find conflicting dates as to when he was born. Encarta Africa said he was born in 1901, 1001 things to know about African American history-1898, regular Encarta --1900, "Little Louis and the jazz band" by Angela Shelf Medearis says his date of birth is August 4, 1901. The book "Jazz Stars" by Richard Rennert states that Louis Armstrong was born in 1899, the book "Louis Armstrong" by Sam Tanenhaus says he was born on July 4, 1900. The reason why they have so many different dates is due to the fact that he probably wasn't born in a hastpital and they did not use to keep good records of black

Langston Hughes compositions are known for being the voice of the Harlem Renaissance. A considerable number of his written work shared the feelings of that time. This particular poem "Trumpet Player" mirrors that music can lift the agony remembered, but one always remembers the hardships. The poem shares that freed blacks still experienced the impacts of slavery. Because of this, they held onto music as a method for soothing the agony they persevered.

At the mention jazz music, that person will first think of is likely to be a great figure with a clown image, nicknamed Satchmo. The man was Louis Armstrong. He is a husky singer, often with a trumpet in his hand. He played dramatic works of simple structure in Orleans jazz style and with the accompaniment of Dick jazz music. Each of the books on jazz music will mention his name. Louis Armstrong was to jazz music what Bach is to classical music, Presley is to rock music (Berrett 230). This essay will have an introduction of the king of jazz music -- Louis Armstrong and his great influence on jazz history.

According to the lecture notes, Louis Armstrong was able to revolutionize the role of the soloist in jazz by incorporating the musical element of scat singing. An example of such is the song “Heebie Jeebies” by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five. Additionally, the textbook states that Armstrong had instrumental virtuosity, in other words, skills that were levels above the other trumpeters of his generation. Moreover, Armstrong emphasized logical brilliant solo improvisation that created coherent musical relationships that conveyed them with dramatic depth and pacing. Also from the text, Armstrong possessed and uncanny ability to generate swing in his playing. This was accomplished by the use of certain techniques. These techniques included unequal

My thoughts on the movie are that it was very interesting hearing one of the most famous jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong inspire others with his jazz music. He affected other musicians around him to be inspired by his music. In the 20th century when it was when the Jazz was introduced to the world. Jazz music became the soundtrack to the world which was a craze to the people. Jazz was similar to ragtime music which what people enjoyed to listen and dance to that genre. Overall the movie gave me more information about Jazz and that Louis Armstrong was one of the most popular jazz

Everyone knows Louis Armstrong the trumpeter and singer, the key figure in jazz history, But most have forgotten Armstrong the writer. Armstrong's autobiography, Satchmo, is one of the great American memoirs, a classic portrait of early 20th century African-American life in New Orleans. But this was a small part of his output. Despite an education that ended in 5th grade, he loved to write, and from the 1920s onward, in what he described as "My (54) years traveling on the road playing one night stands," he never went anywhere without his typewriter, dictionary and thesaurus. He used this to write thousands of letters to musicians, fans and friends, and to publish at least 35 magazine articles over the course of his career. Now Duke University