why is louis armstrong important

Preston gave birth to a daughter, Sharon Preston, in 1955. Armstrong fought back, but for many young jazz fans, he was regarded as an out-of-date performer with his best days behind him. "What a Wonderful World" peaked on the U.S. music charts after Armstrong passed away. In addition, his mother did not have a stable job and with his father long out of the picture, life was hard for young Armstrong. (Hakim, 58) Although Jazz was very popular itself, a majority of the fans and listeners were younger people. Why was Louis Armstrong so important? If the gun was not so easily accessible, his firing it and being arrested could have been prevented. During this time, Armstrong taught the band how to swing. In 1922, King Oliver sent for Armstrong to join his band in Chicago. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Also in 1936, Louis Armstrong became the first African American to get featured billing in a major Hollywood movie with his turn in. He was often left with his grandmother, and left school in fifth grade to start working. In December of that year, he was called into the studio to record the title number for a Broadway show that hadn't opened yet: Hello, Dolly! He attended school until he was in the 5th grade, he stopped going to help support his family. Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo," "Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch," was a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis was born in New Orleans where he grew up and learned to play the trumpet. Wiki User. Heebie Jeebies and Hotter Than That, was some of the earliest recordings of Armstrongs scat singing., He was a major piece in the history of jazz music and his career lasted for more than 50 years. He was also a frequent presence on radio, and often broke box-office records at the height of what is now known as the "Swing Era. In 1993, it gained renewed popularity when it was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle. Armstrong decided to take some time off soon after the incident, and spent much of 1934 relaxing in Europe and resting his lip. Armstrong joined Henderson in the fall of 1924 and immediately made his presence felt with a series of solos that introduced the concept of swing music to the band. The musician didn't let the incident stop him, however, and after taking a few weeks off to recover, he was back on the road, performing 300 nights a year into the 1960s. Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. Though he had finally spoken out after years of remaining publicly silent, he received criticism at the time from both Black and white public figures. You might be able to buy a little better booze than the wino on the corner. WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. When Pops (who adored Thiele and Weiss masterwork) passed away on July 6, 1971, What a Wonderful World seemed destined for stateside obscurity. Louis Armstrong was the first black man in the U.S. to host a radio show. Related. ", During the mid-'50s, Armstrong's popularity overseas skyrocketed. Given his popularity, his long career, and the extensive label-jumping he did in his later years, as well as the differing jazz and pop sides of his work, his recordings are extensive and diverse, with parts of his catalog owned by numerous companies. In the summer of 1929, Armstrong headed to New York, where he had a role in a Broadway production of Connie's Hot Chocolates, featuring the music of Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. He was released on June 16, 1914, and did manual labor while trying to establish himself as a musician. Evidently, the show went well. While he was beloved by musicians, he was too wild for most critics, who gave him some of the most racist and harsh reviews of his career. Louis Daniel (Louie) Armstrong is perhaps the most important and influential person in the history of jazz music, swing music, and jazz vocal styling. He sang much as he played, but with a playfulness and a rasp, that would forever be part of American culture (Winfield 167). They were always kind to me, Armstrong once reflected, [I] was just a little kid who could use a little word of kindness. Apart from monetary compensation, Armstrong was given a hot meal every evening and regular invitations to Karnofsky Shabbat dinners. Blessed with, Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901. In 1937, Louis Armstrong became the first African American entertainer to host a nationally sponsored radio show. That same year, his longtime manager, Joe Glaser, passed away. Armstrong spent much of that year at home, but managed to continue practicing the trumpet daily. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. He performed in Europe for the first time in 1932 and returned in 1933, staying for over a year because of a damaged lip. He studied music there and played cornet and bugle in the school band, eventually becoming its leader. The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic, American actress, singer, director, producer. 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. On New Years Eve 1912, he was arrested and sent to the Colored Waifs Home for Boys. He was also a gifted singer, and his As a trumpet virtuoso, his playing, beginning with the 1920s studio recordings he made with his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles, charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, emotionally charged improvisation. WebHe overcame poverty to become one of the most important people in the history of music. Born in 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Armstrong had a difficult childhood. While not officially government-sponsored, there are some who believe the concert was arranged by the CIA, which would make this just one of the many taxpayer-funded appearances hed make abroad during the Cold War in an effort to strengthen diplomatic relations overseas. (Biography.com), Many people knew Louis Armstrong as the first real genius of jazz(Shipton 26). As swing and jazz was dominant as the pop music of the early 20th century, his influence is also evident in the transition from swing and jump blues into rock and roll. Not a single jazz musician who had previously criticized him took his side but today, this is seen as one of the bravest, most definitive moments of Armstrong's life. He began touring the country in the 1940s. According to Armstrong, that nights biggest laugh came right before his group started playing You Rascal, You. Without warning, he looked straight up at the monarch and hollered, This ones for you, Rex!, Fresh off the wild success of his Hello, Dolly! cover, Armstrong made a trip to communist East Berlin in 1965, where he gave a two-hour concert that earned a standing ovation. Born, August 4, 1901 he started off in a harder life than most people usually do. You feel butterflies in your stomach as you take your seat. Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. His greatest inspiration was Joe King Oliver. Show More. 1 slot in May 1964, and knocking the Beatles off the top at the height of Beatlemania. Read Full Biography. Armstrong was brought up by his mother, Mary (Albert) Armstrong, and his maternal grandmother. Mentored by the citys top cornetist, Joe King Oliver, Armstrong soon became one of the most in-demand cornetists in town, eventually working steadily on Mississippi riverboats. 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. Music historians recognize this as the first popular, mass-market scat ever recorded. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. The family treated Armstrong like a member, bought him his first trumpet, and encouraged his musical aspirations. He returned to Broadway in the short-lived musical Swingin' the Dream in November 1939. In June 1951 he reached the Top Ten of the LP charts with Satchmo at Symphony Hall ("Satchmo" being his nickname), and he scored his first Top Ten single in five years with "(When We Are Dancing) I Get Ideas" later in the year. He adds, "He was also more than a jazz musician he was an enormously popular entertainer"(pp. In 1938, Armstrong finally divorced Lil Hardin and married Alpha Smith, whom he had been dating for more than a decade. Armstrong soon began dating the female pianist in the band, Lillian Hardin. The first recording of What a Wonderful World was produced by ABC Records, which made no attempt to advertise it domestically. With his infectious smile and raspy voice, Louis Armstrong (who actually pronounced his own name "Lewis") won over fans worldwide. The many years of constant touring eventually wore down Armstrong, who had his first heart attack in 1959 and returned to intensive care at Beth Israel Hospital for heart and kidney trouble in 1968. While he still had to work odd jobs selling newspapers and hauling coal to the city's famed red-light district, Armstrong began earning a reputation as a fine blues player. But you get sick just like the next cat and when you die you're just as graveyard dead as he is. There, he received musical instruction on the cornet and fell in love with music. In April, he reached the charts with his first vocal recording, "Big Butter and Egg Man," a duet with May Alix. Together with his mom, they moved to a better area of New Orleans. Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. Armstrong completed his contract with Decca in 1954, after which his manager made the unusual decision not to sign him to another exclusive contract but instead have him freelance for different labels. Louis Armstrong. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made more than 60 records with the Hot Five and, later, the Hot Seven. 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. A year later, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901. Louis Armstrong was a pivotal musician in the twentieth century, but it was his contributions and his role he made during the Harlem Renaissance movement that is most substantial. Armstrong continued recording for Decca in the late 1940s and early '50s, creating a string of popular hits, including "Blueberry Hill," "That Lucky Old Sun," "La Vie En Rose," "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and "I Get Ideas. He influenced countless other musicians and helped to shape the course of jazz. He fused the jazz style of the place where he grew up with well known jazz of Broadway to coordinate a better than ever kind of jazz. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day. There, under the tutelage of Peter Davis, he learned how to properly play the cornet, eventually becoming the leader of the Waifs Home Brass Band. As if it were not enough that Armstrong would rewire instrumental music for the rest of the century, his singing did the same for vocal music. Perhaps most importantly, the letters also detail Armstrong's fatherly love for Sharon. Why is Louis Armstrong important to blacks? WebLouis Armstrong is arguably the most important musician that the United States has ever produced (Shipton 160). By 1932, Armstrong, who was now known as Satchmo, had begun appearing in movies and made his first tour of England. The latter performance is one of Armstrong's best known works, opening with a stunning cadenza that features equal helpings of opera and the blues; with its release, "West End Blues" proved to the world that the genre of fun, danceable jazz music was also capable of producing high art. .State Department and earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch." He was by far the most enduringly popular man of all the classical composers, and his influence on following Western art music was very good and intense., Intro He was abandoned by his father, a boiler stoker, shortly after his birth and was raised by his paternal grandmother. Armstrong continued to tour extensively, despite a heart attack in June 1959. Then, at the age of five, he was returned to the care of his mother, who at the time worked as a laundress. In 1924, Armstrong married Hardin, who urged Armstrong to leave Oliver and try to make it on his own. After his time in Colored Waifs Home, he wanted to become a musician. During his span, he composed thousands of songs for everyone to hear. He made his film debut in Ex-Flame, released at the end of 1931. Armstrong was one of the first very popular, Being raised in a part of New Orleans known as "The Battlefield" because of its faulty economic situation is not ideal. The bottom line of any country in the world is what did we contribute to the world? Although he is often thought of by the general public as a lovable, clowning personality, a gravel-voiced singer who played simple but dramatic trumpet in a New Orleans-styled Dixieland setting, Armstrong himself was so much more. He is also the first African American celebrity to appear in a major Hollywood movie. In July, Armstrong sailed to England for a tour. The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of Its definitely worth checking out. Dancers loved Hendersons music making Louis Armstrong a celebrity so when he left his old band, this would be a step up. With the assistance of the jazz musicians, the music industry, Making his voice sound like a musical instrument and singing nonsense syllables with no words created Scat singing. 1 hit around the world, including in England and South Africa, and eventually became one of Armstrong's most-beloved songs after it was used in the 1986 Robin Williams film Good Morning, Vietnam. William Armstrong, his father, was a factory worker who abandoned the family soon after the boy's birth. His music was a happiness to individuals and they said he was a gift sent from heaven. Copy. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song. They also encouraged him to sing and often invited him into their home for meals. He played dramatic works of simple structure in Orleans jazz style and with the accompaniment of Dick jazz music. WebToday, Louis Armstrong holds the title as the worlds greatest jazz player. In 1972, a year after his death, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Featuring young geniuses such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, the younger generation of musicians saw themselves as artists, not as entertainers. He was one of America's most significant artists by the late 1930s, and had created a sensation in Europe with live performances and records. He also played as a second trumpet for King Oliver. What made jazz continuously popular was the way it progressed. This essay will have an introduction of the king of jazz music -- Louis Armstrong and his great influence on jazz history. His lips were still sore, and there were still remnants of his mob troubles and with Lil, who, following the couple's split, was suing Armstrong. His influence, both as an artist and WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. 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. He is remembered as the most influential artist in the early development of jazz. Armstrong was arrested at eleven years old for disturbing the peace. Eventually tour ended and Louis went back home to continue his. Eldridge is the obvious link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. Though he was the product's biggest cheerleader, Armstrong neither requested nor received any payment from its manufacturers. Jazz is a genre of music that brought a whole community of people together. Armstrong returned to New York with his band for an engagement at Connie's Inn in Harlem in May 1929. If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know. Within a span of three years, Armstrong recorded over sixty records. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. Mob bosses from New York City and Chicago threatened Louis Armstrong in attempts to control his management contract. Armstrong practiced his instrument and eventually he became the jazz great everyone knows today. Like almost all early Jazz musicians, Louis was from New Orleans. He was raised by his mother Mayann in a neighborhood so dangerous it was called The Battlefield. He only had a fifth-grade education, dropping out of school early to go to work. Between 1952 and 1955, Armstrong shed 100 pounds. Louis Armstrong used to give away laxatives as gifts. The man was Louis Armstrong. He didn't own an instrument at this time, 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. The Hot Fives' recording of "Muskrat Ramble" gave Armstrong a Top Ten hit in July 1926, the band for the track featuring Kid Ory on trombone, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lillian Harden Armstrong on piano, and Johnny St. Cyr on banjo. Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis Satchmo Armstrong. He interprets and contributes to the genre of jazz, creates great form through his performance in the Hot Chocolates, and his work represents a whole for equality and the civil rights movement. The solos Armstrong performed along with his popular scat singing helped make jazz musicians more popular along with making the fans take notice of Armstrong and jazz itself (Rennert 8). By the '50s, Armstrong was widely recognized, even traveling the globe for the US. Armstrong had a difficult childhood: His father was a factory worker and abandoned the family soon after Louis's birth. That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans-influenced groups, including the Hot Five, and began recording larger ensembles. He spent the next several years in Europe, his American career maintained by a series of archival recordings, including the Top Ten hits "Sweethearts on Parade" (August 1932; recorded December 1930) and "Body and Soul" (October 1932; recorded October 1930). 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. He faced tremendous adversity, ignorance and hatred in his life, and fought back without sinking to the level of those who opposed him. But, as a Bayou State native, Armstrongs favorite dish was always rice and beans. An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. WebHe had a string of pop hits beginning in 1949 and started making regular overseas tours, where his popularity was so great, he was dubbed Ambassador Satch. In America, Armstrong had been a great Civil Rights pioneer, breaking down He spread jazz throughout the world. 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. With his amazing voice trumpet he created a band and made some records. WebLouis Armstrongas a musician, as a man, as an icon. Nobody did what Louis could do. Louis continued to spread his style by touring other countries. His music had had a major effect on "swing" and the big band sound. They danced to the jazz music with a whole new style. Sure enough, he explained, they [published] Heebie Jeebies the same way it was mistakenly recorded. However, most biographers believe that Armstrong made up this anecdote and had planned on scatting all along. Though his popularity was hitting new highs in the 1950s, and despite breaking down so many barriers for his race and being a hero to the African American community for so many years, Armstrong began losing his standing with two segments of his audience: Modern jazz fans and young African Americans. He worked for to get his instrument because his mother couldn't afford to buy him one. He also learned to sing. Glaser did just that; within a few months, Armstrong had a new big band and was recording for Decca Records. The book was titled Swing That Music. Jazz was born there and I remember when it was no crime for cats of any color to get together and blow. Nine years later, after this ban had finally lifted, he again took the stage in New Orleans on October 31, 1965. At the mention jazz music, that person will first think of is likely to be a great figure with a clown image, nicknamed Satchmo. It's also worth noting that even though he brought it into popularity, Armstrong in no way invented the technique, which dates back to at least 1906. By the end of the decade, the popularity of the Hot Fives and Sevens was enough to send Armstrong back to New York, where he appeared in the popular Broadway revue, Hot Chocolates. He soon began touring and never really stopped until his death in 1971. WebImportance of Louis Armstrong. In a strange turn of events, it was during this tour that Armstrong's career fell apart: Years of blowing high notes had taken a toll on Armstrong's lips, and, following a fight with his manager Johnny Collins who already managed to get Armstrong into trouble with the Mafia he was left stranded overseas by Collins. Pops had a special place in his heart for both Chinese and Italian food. He began to grow artistically and perfected his improvisational method (Jazz Stars 2). During this period, he switched from cornet to trumpet. But Armstrong also became an enduring figure in popular music due to his distinctively phrased baritone singing and engaging personality, which were on display in a series of vocal recordings and film roles. 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. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. It started in New Orleans and over the years, stretched out throughout the whole United States. The tune did, however, become a No. He made his first recordings with Oliver on April 5, 1923; that day, he earned his first recorded solo on "Chimes Blues.".

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