These records later went on to become the most influential in jazz history, as it was the first time Armstrong facilitated the evolution of jazz as a ensemble to a soloist art. It did not gain as much notice in the U.S. until 1987, when it was used in the film Good Morning, Vietnam, after which it became a Top 40 hit. His resurgence in the '60s with hit recordings like 1965's Grammy-winning "Hello Dolly" and 1968's classic "What a Wonderful World" solidified his legacy as a musical and cultural icon. Copy. Louis did his first performance on stage in 1930 to spread his Jazz style. Doctors advised him not to play but Armstrong continued to practice every day in his Corona, Queens home, where he had lived with his fourth wife, Lucille, since 1943. Armstrong's popularity continued to grow in Chicago throughout the decade, as he began playing other venues, including the Sunset Caf and the Savoy Ballroom. Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo," "Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch," was a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis Armstrong, also known as Ambassador Satch, was unofficially adopted by a family of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania who had a junk hauling business in Louisiana. Armstrongs unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. Back in America in 1935, Armstrong hired Joe Glaser as his manager and began fronting a big band, recording pop songs for Decca, and appearing regularly in movies. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. This essay will have an introduction of the king of jazz music -- Louis Armstrong and his great influence on jazz history. Louis Armstrongs significance and most famous songs In 1936, he became the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography. Each of the books on jazz music will mention his name. Armstrong had a difficult childhood: His father was a factory worker and abandoned the family soon after Louis's birth. According to this document, the performers actual birth date was August 4, 1901. With his amazing voice trumpet he created a band and made some records. Armstrong's new manager, Joe Glaser, organized a big band for him that had its premiere in Indianapolis on July 1, 1935; for the next several years, he toured regularly. It won him a Grammy for best vocal performance. Its popularity brought many people together, even through the years of racial discrimination and the Great Depression. Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis Satchmo Armstrong. He was known for both his joyous ways with the trumpet and his peculiarly touching and funny vocal style. The family treated Armstrong like a member, bought him his first trumpet, and encouraged his musical aspirations. Flappers were commonly known during this time. He made his first recordings with Oliver on April 5, 1923; that day, he earned his first recorded solo on "Chimes Blues.". The 1930s also found Armstrong achieving great popularity on radio, in films, and with his recordings. He dropped out of school at 11 to join an informal group, but on December 31, 1912, he fired a gun during a New Year's Eve celebration, and was sent to reform school. After recording with Oliver for over a year, Armstrong moved into what would become the most important early-jazz big band, Fletcher Hendersons Orchestra (Shipton 201). However, a heart attack two days after the Waldorf gig sidelined him for two months. However, had his upbringing been different, his musical talents may never have been established to grow and thrive into one of the most internationally influential jazz musicians ever. The pistol should have been stored in a locked, Armstrong did not define himself by his background and could have grown up to be just another poor child from a broken home. This newfound popularity introduced Armstrong to a new, younger audience, and he continued making both successful records and concert appearances for the rest of the decade, even cracking the "Iron Curtain" with a tour of Communist countries such as East Berlin and Czechoslovakia in 1965. Eldridge is the obvious link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Instead of doing strictly jazz numbers, OKeh began allowing Armstrong to record popular songs of the day, including "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," "Star Dust" and "Body and Soul.". Mob bosses from New York City and Chicago threatened Louis Armstrong in attempts to control his management contract. WebCourtesy of the Louis Armstrong Archive Queens College, CUNY. She pushed her husband to cut ties with his mentor and join Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, the top African American dance band in New York City at the time. For the first time, Armstrong was really able to demonstrate his unique voice during those recording sessions. Armstrong was obligated to leave school in the fifth grade to begin working. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Only Charlie Parker comes close to having as much influence on the history of Jazz as Louis Armstrong did. Today, these are generally regarded as the most important and influential recordings in jazz history; on these records, Armstrong's virtuoso brilliance helped transform jazz from an ensemble music to a soloist's art. Armstrong's four marriages never produced any children, and because he and wife Lucille Wilson had actively tried for years to no avail, many believed him to be sterile, incapable of having children. Then along came a bare-knuckled comedy called Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). The Hot Five and Hot Seven were strictly recording groups; Armstrong performed nightly during this period with Erskine Tate's orchestra at the Vendome Theater, often playing music for silent movies. Armstrong continued touring the world and making records with songs like Blueberry Hill (1949), Mack the Knife (1955) and Hello, Dolly! He faced tremendous adversity, ignorance and hatred in his life, and fought back without sinking to the level of those who opposed him. We contributed Louis Armstrong. He attended Colored Waifs Home in 1913 for eighteen months. How did Louis Armstrong influence others? Why Is Louis Armstrong Important. Related. Louis Armstrong is one of the first great soloists in the 1920s musicians. He was abandoned by his father, a boiler stoker, shortly after his birth and was raised by his paternal grandmother. Armstrong had a great influence on Henderson and his arranger, Don Redman, both of whom began integrating Armstrong's swinging vocabulary into their arrangementstransforming Henderson's band into what is generally regarded as the first jazz big band. His fame rose when he composed several masterworks in the 1940s. After trying it, he said that defecation sounded like Applause. Enamored, the musician began handing out packets to admirers, loved ones, and band members. The material may show why Armstrong was not just a giant of jazz music, but a civil rights leader as well. Though Armstrong was content to remain in New Orleans, in the summer of 1922, he received a call from Oliver to come to Chicago and join his Creole Jazz Band on second cornet. He was from a very poor family and was sent to reform school when he was twelve after firing a gun in the air on New Year's Eve. "Hotter Than That" was in the Top Ten in May 1928, followed in September by "West End Blues," which later became one of the first recordings named to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Reel 163 Louis Armstrong, n.d. He also learned to sing. In 16967, Armstrong recorded his most renowned tune, What a Wonderful Word that surprisingly featured no trumpet. Preston gave birth to a daughter, Sharon Preston, in 1955. A year in New York with Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra proved unsatisfying so Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 and began making records under his own name for the first time. Featuring young geniuses such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, the younger generation of musicians saw themselves as artists, not as entertainers. With the decline of swing music in the post-World War II years, Armstrong broke up his big band and put together a small group dubbed His All-Stars, which made its debut in Los Angeles on August 13, 1947. Previously, Armstrong had performed throughout Europe, Asia, and Africathough he famously canceled a planned 1957 Soviet Union tour, citing the recent Little Rock crisis. Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. Show More. He popularized scat singing and was the first musician to have his solo on a recording (Rodgers 85). Louis was born in New Orleans where he grew up and learned to play the trumpet. Beginning in 1919, Armstrong spent his summers playing on riverboats with a band led by Fate Marable. ", Armstrong's fully healed lip made its presence felt on some of the finest recordings of career, including "Swing That Music," "Jubilee" and "Struttin' with Some Barbecue.". This pop success was repeated internationally four years later with "What a Wonderful World," which hit number one in the U.K. in April 1968. One of the greatest cornet players in town, Joe "King" Oliver, began acting as a mentor to the young Armstrong, showing him pointers on the horn and occasionally using him as a sub. The boy's mother, Armstrong's cousin, had died in childbirth. Contracted to OKeh Records, he began to make a series of recordings with studio-only groups called the Hot Fives or the Hot Sevens. To grasp how much the man adored this entre, consider that he often signed his personal letters with Red Beans and Ricely Yours.. His influence, both as an artist and The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. Different from most of his recordings of the era, the song features no trumpet and places Armstrong's gravelly voice in the middle of a bed of strings and angelic voices. The records by Louis Armstrong and His Fiveand later, Hot Sevenare the most influential in jazz. He performed all over the world in the 1950s and '60s, including throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans-influenced groups, including the Hot Five, and began recording larger ensembles. WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. He started as a soloist for Henderson after marrying Lil Hardin. Legendary CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow followed Armstrong with a camera crew on some of his worldwide excursions, turning the resulting footage into a theatrical documentary, Satchmo the Great, released in 1957. He married Lillian Harden, the pianist in the Oliver band, on February 5, 1924. Personnel changed over the years but this remained Armstrongs main performing vehicle for the rest of his career. If the gun was not so easily accessible, his firing it and being arrested could have been prevented. By the start of 1932, he had switched from the "race"-oriented OKeh label to its pop-oriented big sister Columbia, for which he recorded two Top Five hits, "Chinatown, My Chinatown" and "You Can Depend on Me" before scoring a number one hit with "All of Me" in March 1932; another Top Five hit, "Love, You Funny Thing," hit the charts the same month. Finding Yourself, Dropping, Halfway. Jelly Roll, Doctor Jazz, Original Jelly Roll Blues, and many other famous pieces. He was arrested for firing a pistol in He was an all-star virtuoso, and came to prominence in the 1920s playing cornet and trumpet with an excitingly new and improvisational style. WebLouis Armstrong was the protean genius that made African American classical music mislabeled as jazz the most important music event of the 20th century. By February 1927, Armstrong was well-enough known to front his own group, Louis Armstrong & His Stompers, at the Sunset Caf in Chicago. An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. Jazz is a genre of music that brought a whole community of people together. Louis Armstrong used to give away laxatives as gifts. Armstrongs improvised solos transformed jazz from an ensemble-based music into a soloists art, while his expressive vocals incorporated innovative bursts of scat singing and an underlying swing feel. He weathered the bebop period of the '40s, growing ever more beloved worldwide. Armstrong fronted the Luis Russell Orchestra for a tour of the South in February 1930, and in May went to Los Angeles, where he led a band at Sebastian's Cotton Club for the next ten months. The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic, American actress, singer, director, producer. Pillars of Life 3 y Related Why was jazz so important? While growing up, Armstrong did assorted jobs for the Karnofskys, a family of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants. Why Louis Armstrong was important? In the 1950s, he was sometimes criticized for his onstage persona and called an Uncle Tom but he silenced critics by speaking out against the governments handling of the Little Rock Nine high school integration crisis in 1957. Rock Icon KISS Is Saying Goodbye (For Real), DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S LOUIS ARMSTRONG FACT CARD, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Louis Armstrong, Birth Year: 1901, Birth date: August 4, 1901, Birth State: Louisiana, Birth City: New Orleans, Birth Country: United States, Best Known For: Louis Armstrong was a jazz trumpeter, bandleader and singer known for songs like "What a Wonderful World, Hello, Dolly, Star Dust and "La Vie En Rose., Astrological Sign: Leo. But many of his recorded performances are masterpieces, and none are less than entertaining. Louis Armstrong, also known as the king of jazz was born on Augest 4th, 1901, in New Orleans Louisiana; he died July 6, 1971 in Corona Queens New York.