why is louis armstrong importantwhy is louis armstrong 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. But many of his recorded performances are masterpieces, and none are less than entertaining. .State Department and earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch." There are two kinds of music, the good and the bad. In 1922, King Oliver sent for Armstrong to join his band in Chicago. Louis gave jazz music a purpose. Satch Plays Fats, a tribute to Fats Waller, became a Top Ten LP for Columbia in October 1955, and Verve Records contracted Armstrong for a series of recordings with Ella Fitzgerald, beginning with the chart LP Ella and Louis in 1956. His influence, both as an artist and cultural icon, is universal and is still relevant today. While in New York, Armstrong cut dozens of records as a sideman, creating inspirational jazz with other greats such as Sidney Bechet, and backing numerous blues singers including Bessie Smith. He found that the only way to reap the benefits of success and be protected was if there was a white captain to back you in the old days (Armstrong). Louis Armstrong was the first black man in the U.S. to host a radio show. Pillars of Life 3 y Related Why was jazz so important? Beginning in 1919, Armstrong spent his summers playing on riverboats with a band led by Fate Marable. All Rights Reserved. How did Louis Armstrong influence others? Armstrong continued to tour extensively, despite a heart attack in June 1959. 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. Though he was the product's biggest cheerleader, Armstrong neither requested nor received any payment from its manufacturers. They also encouraged him to sing and often invited him into their home for meals. He influenced countless other musicians and helped to shape the course of jazz. He was taken under the wing of cornetist Joe "King" Oliver, and when Oliver moved to Chicago in June 1918, Armstrong replaced him in the Kid Ory Band. Perhaps most importantly, the letters also detail Armstrong's fatherly love for Sharon. In 1964, he scored a surprise hit with his recording of the title song from the Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, which reached number one in May, followed by a gold-selling album of the same name. He also played as a second trumpet for King Oliver. What made jazz continuously popular was the way it progressed. The year 1956 saw Louisiana prohibit integrated bands. It started in New Orleans and over the years, stretched out throughout the whole United States. Thereafter until his death in 1971, however, Armstrong never publicly addressed whether he was in fact Sharon's father. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. There was a cheerful impatience in his playing, an optimistic confidence that led him to risk going over the top (Shipton 157). Since his death, Armstrong's stature has only continued to grow. A young pianist from Pittsburgh, Earl Hines, assimilated Armstrong's ideas into his piano playing. He played dramatic works of simple structure in Orleans jazz style and with the accompaniment of Dick jazz music. At one point in Heebie Jeebiesa 1926 song released by Armstrong and his "Hot Five bandthe singer vocalizes a series of nonsensical, horn-like sounds. WebImportance of Louis Armstrong. 1 slot in May 1964, and knocking the Beatles off the top at the height of Beatlemania. This led some to alter his long-time nickname, Satchmo, to "Ambassador Satch.". By the mid-'40s, the Swing Era was winding down and the era of big bands was almost over. In 1947, the waning popularity of the big bands forced Armstrong to begin fronting a small group, Louis Armstrong and His All Stars. The 1930s also found Armstrong achieving great popularity on radio, in films, and with his recordings. Armstrong's daring vocal transformations of these songs completely changed the concept of popular singing in American popular music, and had lasting effects on all singers who came after him, including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. In 1924, Armstrong married Hardin, who urged Armstrong to leave Oliver and try to make it on his own. He married Lillian Harden, the pianist in the Oliver band, on February 5, 1924. In 1993, it gained renewed popularity when it was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle. I play the good kind (Armstrong). 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! Even the scepter of Uncle Tom that shadowed the outsized Satchmo during his career, and that Ellington essentially concurred with in an interview with Carter Harman in 1964, has faded. Louis Armstrong was to jazz music what Bach is to classical music, Presley is to rock music (Berrett 230). On New Years Eve 1912, he was arrested and sent to the Colored Waifs Home for Boys. Born, August 4, 1901 he started off in a harder life than most people usually do. When Armstrong saw this as well as white protesters hurling invective at the students he blew his top to the press, telling a reporter that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had "no guts" for letting Faubus run the country, and stating, "The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell.". Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. 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. Louis Armstrong is one of the most important jazz figures. His fame rose when he composed several masterworks in the 1940s. This is where Armstrong first fell in love with music; he would listen to people playing any chance that he would get(Tirro). A local Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave young Armstrong a job collecting junk and delivering coal. .css-47aoac{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#A00000;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-47aoac:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}DOWNLOAD BIOGRAPHY'S LOUIS ARMSTRONG FACT CARD. Instead he used his talent as a ticket to improve his lot and create a meaningful life. Flappers were commonly known during this time. His music was a happiness to individuals and they said he was a gift sent from heaven. That same year, his longtime manager, Joe Glaser, passed away. Armstrong felt that being subservient to white people, was an unfortunately necessary evil in order for him to live successfully and happily. In 1938, Armstrong finally divorced Lil Hardin and married Alpha Smith, whom he had been dating for more than a decade. Louis began playing at a young age when he was growing up in New Orleans. The man was Louis Armstrong. Throughout the years, jazz musicians have created many new styles, new arrangements, and put this genre of music on the map., He affected the heading of jazz music and spontaneous creation. Contracted to OKeh Records, he began to make a series of recordings with studio-only groups called the Hot Fives or the Hot Sevens. During this time, Armstrong adopted a three-year-old boy named Clarence. 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. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. In the 1980s and '90s, younger African American jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis and Nicholas Payton began speaking about Armstrong's importance, both as a musician and a human being. Jelly Roll, Doctor Jazz, Original Jelly Roll Blues, and many other famous pieces. ", 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.". Aint that stupid? Louis continued to spread his style by touring other countries. 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. During this period, Armstrong set a number of African American "firsts." He returned to performing in 1970 but it was too much, too soon and he passed away in his sleep on July 6, 1971, a few months after his final engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans-influenced groups, including the Hot Five, and began recording larger ensembles. Death Year: 1971, Death date: July 6, 1971, Death State: New York, Death City: Corona, Queens, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Louis Armstrong Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/louis-armstrong, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: January 29, 2021, Original Published Date: April 3, 2014. Louis Armstrong was the most important and influential musician in jazz history. 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. It was also for Columbia that Armstrong scored one of the biggest hits of his career: His jazz transformation of Kurt Weill's "Mack the Knife. 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. According to this document, the performers actual birth date was August 4, 1901. WebCourtesy of the Louis Armstrong Archive Queens College, CUNY. Armstrong was brought up by his mother, Mary (Albert) Armstrong, and his maternal grandmother. Louis Armstrong is one of the first great soloists in the 1920s musicians. Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus sent in the National Guard to prevent the Little Rock Nine nine African American students from entering the public school. Fletcher Henderson also influenced jazz music. 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. A series of new biographies on Armstrong made his role as a civil rights pioneer abundantly clear and, subsequently, argued for an embrace of his entire career's output, not just the revolutionary recordings from the 1920s. His rise to fame peaked in the 1920s, where he stunned the world with his bold trumpet style and idiosyncratic vocals. 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. 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. Only Charlie Parker comes close to having as much influence on the history of Jazz as Louis Armstrong did. 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. Here are 10 facts about the life of one of the 20th century's most important jazz musicians. This was the first time anyone had ever recorded this technique known as scat singing. The tune did, however, become a No. Willies habit of devoting all his attention to his second, Because firing guns to welcome in the New Year was a New Orleans custom, he thought (even at 11 years old) that it would be morally acceptable to fire the gun. The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky are also on the faces of people going by. William Armstrong, his father, was a factory worker who abandoned the family soon after the boy's birth. He was one of the most influential figures in jazz music. Famous for his innovative methods of playing the trumpet and cornet, he was also a highly talented singer, blessed with a powerful gravelly voice. Known for his improvisation, Armstrong could induce dramatic effects with his music. Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! 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. Together, Armstrong and Hines formed a potent team and made some of the greatest recordings in jazz history in 1928, including their virtuoso duet, "Weather Bird," and "West End Blues.". He was a master of the trumpet and a pioneer of jazz. Louis Armstrong was an American jazz musician who was one of the most influential figures in jazz music. WebLouis Armstrong was the most important and influential musician in jazz history. 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. Why is Louis Armstrong important in the 20's? WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. At His Majestys command, several of the biggest names in jazz took their talents to Buckingham Palace, and in 1932, Armstrong was requested for a royal performance. On New Year's Eve in 1912, Armstrong fired his stepfather's gun in the air during a New Year's Eve celebration and was arrested on the spot. 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. Changing jazz into what was once known as a ensemble music to soloist art. He is remembered as the most influential artist in the early development of jazz. Why Is Louis Armstrong Important. WebLouis Armstrong. He showed an early interest in music, and a junk dealer for whom he worked as a grade-school student helped him buy a cornet, which he taught himself to play. 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. His distinctive sound and style have had a lasting impact on the genre, and he was a major influence on subsequent generations of jazz musicians. However, conditions changed when he was requested to record the title number of a broadway show that went on to become a hit. Within a span of three years, Armstrong recorded over sixty records. In 16967, Armstrong recorded his most renowned tune, What a Wonderful Word that surprisingly featured no trumpet. The lights dim, and the velvet curtains slide open. Armstrong put his career in Glaser's hands and asked him to make his troubles disappear. By the summer of 1970, Armstrong was allowed to perform publicly again and play the trumpet. 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. He started as a soloist for Henderson after marrying Lil Hardin. Nobody did what Louis could do. Each of the books on jazz music will mention his name. While performing with Tate in 1926, Armstrong finally switched from the cornet to the trumpet. After completing the optimistic anthem, songwriters Bob Thiele and George David Weiss thought that Tony Bennett would eat it right up. He 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.. WebHe overcame poverty to become one of the most important people in the history of music. 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 influenced other jazz musicians by his fearless trumpet styles and distinctive vocals. Mob bosses from New York City and Chicago threatened Louis Armstrong in attempts to control his management contract. 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. Featuring young geniuses such as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, the younger generation of musicians saw themselves as artists, not as entertainers. 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. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901. All music is folk music. During his span, he composed thousands of songs for everyone to hear. Louis Armstrong. Study now. The passion for his music made him become famous because he was following his dreams while finding his, How Is Louis Daniel Armstrong Morally Responsible, Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 - July 6, 1971) grew up in a poor neighborhood nicknamed The Battlefield in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 spread jazz throughout the world. To untold millions, every note that he let loose made the world feel a bit more wonderful, and his music is still being discovered by new generations of fans. Armstrong was arrested at eleven years old for disturbing the peace. Here is one paragraph from the post: From the very first note of West End Blues, a tune composed by Joe King Oliver, one can immediately sense the shift that (Biography.com), Many people knew Louis Armstrong as the first real genius of jazz(Shipton 26). 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. At the mention jazz music, that person will first think of is likely to be a great figure with a clown image, nicknamed Satchmo. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. Armstrong was a busy man, he always had more than one thing going on, if he wasnt recording with Hot Five/Seven, he was performing in the Vendome theatre, playing music for silent movies.. 149 Copy quote. He was also a talented singer, and his recordings of songs like What a Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. While growing up, Armstrong did assorted jobs for the Karnofskys, a family of Lithuanian-Jewish immigrants. Armstrong spent the last decade of his life similarly that he had spent the four past enthralling groups of onlookers all through the world., Louis Blues, Overall Armstrong wrote and performed some of the most popular and well known jazz songs of all time. The material may show why Armstrong was not just a giant of jazz music, but a civil rights leader as well. Armstrong decided to take some time off soon after the incident, and spent much of 1934 relaxing in Europe and resting his lip. WebLouis Armstrong remains an icon of American history and 20 th century popular culture. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. As an artist, Armstrong was embraced by two distinctly different audiences: jazz fans who revered him for his early innovations as an instrumentalist but were occasionally embarrassed by his lack of interest in later developments in jazz, especially his willingness to serve as a light entertainer; and pop fans, who delighted in his joyous performances, particularly as a vocalist, but were largely unaware of his significance as a jazz musician. After trying it, he said that defecation sounded like Applause. Enamored, the musician began handing out packets to admirers, loved ones, and band members. Personnel changed over the years but this remained Armstrongs main performing vehicle for the rest of his career. 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. WebToday, Louis Armstrong holds the title as the worlds greatest jazz player. WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. What was Louis Armstrongs childhood like? Show More. 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 weathered the bebop period of the '40s, growing ever more beloved worldwide. By 1968, Armstrong's grueling lifestyle had finally caught up with him. Louis Armstrongs significance and most famous songs In 1936, he became the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography. Armstrongs mentor, King Oliver, had Armstrong move to Chicago to be in his band; in Olivers, Aside from the typical cultural, social, and political factors influencing any musicians style, an early life filled with poverty and hardship also shaped Louis Armstrongs musical development. Why was Louis Armstrong so important? In 1972, a year after his death, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Copy. His music had had a major effect on "swing" and the big band sound. Heart and kidney problems forced him to stop performing in 1969. 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 grew up in New Orleans where he introduced to jazz and he went on to spread jazz throughout different cities such as Chicago and New York. Armstrong used to say that hed been born on July 4, 1900. The family treated Armstrong like a member, bought him his first trumpet, and encouraged his musical aspirations. 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. For the first time, Armstrong was really able to demonstrate his unique voice during those recording sessions. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song. Why is Louis Armstrong important to blacks? (Hakim, 58) Although Jazz was very popular itself, a majority of the fans and listeners were younger people. One of the most important figures in 20th century music, Armstrong's innovations as a trumpeter and vocalist are widely recognized today, and will continue to be for decades to come. 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. When Wilson tired of living out of a suitcase during endless strings of one-nighters, she convinced Armstrong to purchase a house at 34-56 107th Street in Corona, Queens, New York. Armstrong began to sing on the records, creating a new form of singing, scat singing. WebLouis Armstrong is arguably the most important musician that the United States has ever produced (Shipton 160). He faced tremendous adversity, ignorance and hatred in his life, and fought back without sinking to the level of those who opposed him. Although the ballad topped the 1968 charts in Great Britain, American sales were abysmal. Armstrong returned to New York with his band for an engagement at Connie's Inn in Harlem in May 1929. If the gun was not so easily accessible, his firing it and being arrested could have been prevented. Study now. By the end of his teens, Armstrong had grown up fast. With his daring rhythmic choice, swinging vocabulary, and incredibly high notes; changing jazz history once again. WebDid You Know? 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). The most important and influential musician in jazz history, and one of the leading singers and entertainers from the 1920s through the '50s. Armstrong was obligated to leave school in the fifth grade to begin working. Within a span of three years, Armstrong recorded over sixty records. An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. It has given me something to live for. The way they are treating my people in the South, declared Armstrong, the government can go to hell.. He moved to the Fate Marable band in the spring of 1919, staying with Marable until the fall of 1921. he put his soul and dedicated his life to his music. He took a position as star soloist in Carroll Dickerson's band at the Savoy Ballroom in Chicago in March 1928, later taking over as the band's frontman. They saw Armstrong's stage persona and music as old-fashioned and criticized him in the press. While only a DNA test could officially prove whether a blood relationship does exist between Armstrong and Sharon and one has never been conducted between the two believers and skeptics can at least agree on one thing: Sharon's uncanny resemblance to the jazz legend. If Armstrong never bought the cornet he would have never become famous. He subsequently passed, so the duo contacted Armstrong in August 1967. He also began singing on these recordings, popularizing wordless "scat singing" with his hugely popular vocal on 1926's "Heebie Jeebies.". The first important trend in New York Jazz was Hot Jazz that was an incendiary style introduced by Louis Armstrong (Winfield 170). 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. ", Armstrong signed with Columbia Records in the mid-'50s, and soon cut some of the finest albums of his career for producer George Avakian, including Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. WebThrough the internet and books we find out why Louis Armstrong is such a great person to learn about. He returned to Broadway in the short-lived musical Swingin' the Dream in November 1939. His notoriety for being the best jazz player of his time was secured as Armstrong's arrangement of swing and melodic development opened out and changed Henderson's band and in addition jazz overall. Louis Armstrong was important in the 1920's because he put a whole new meaning to jazz. Wiki User. His charismatic stage presence impressed not only the jazz world but all of popular music. In 1967, Armstrong recorded a new ballad, "What a Wonderful World." He made his film debut in Ex-Flame, released at the end of 1931. Pops had a special place in his heart for both Chinese and Italian food. His Top Ten version of "Hobo, You Can't Ride This Train," in the charts in early 1933, was on Victor Records; when he returned to the U.S. in 1935, he signed to the recently formed Decca Records and quickly scored a double-sided Top Ten hit, "I'm in the Mood for Love"/"You Are My Lucky Star.". 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. When Pops (who adored Thiele and Weiss masterwork) passed away on July 6, 1971, What a Wonderful World seemed destined for stateside obscurity. Why was Louis Armstrong important to New Orleans? Since New Orleans style jazz known to man, it was one of the broadest genres of jazz. ", During the mid-'50s, Armstrong's popularity overseas skyrocketed. Losing weight proved difficult at first, but his luck changed once he learned of an herbal laxative called Swiss Kriss. The artist promptly went out, bought a box, and became a lifelong spokesman. Love, baby - love. There, he received musical instruction on the cornet and fell in love with music. Millions of people, starting in the 1930s until today, have agreed with Louis Armstrongs famous words and have been huge fans of the famous musician. In September, his recording of that song entered the charts, becoming a Top Ten hit. Larkin states, "It is impossible to overstate Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong's importance in jazz." Midway through the recording session, he accidentally dropped them and scatted to fill the ensuing silence. 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 also began appearing in the orchestra of Hot Chocolates, a Broadway revue, and was given a featured spot singing "Ain't Misbehavin'."

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