He played dramatic works of simple structure in Orleans jazz style and with the accompaniment of Dick jazz music. WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. Encyclopdia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them. Career highlights, compiled by the Louis Armstrong House Museum: 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. He would attend parades, funerals, churches and go to cheap cabarets to be able to hear some of the greats play, Little Louis sung in a vocal quartet in his early teens. WebLouis Armstrongs ability to use his career to change the music and jazz industry forever is another great example of why Louis Armstrong exhibits the right. Finding Yourself, Dropping, Halfway. Since New Orleans style jazz known to man, it was one of the broadest genres of jazz. 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. Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. Louis Armstrong recorded many popular songs like La Vie en Rose, and his theme song When its Sleepy Time Down South. To many young jazz listeners at the time, Armstrong's ever-smiling demeanor seemed like it was from a bygone era, and the trumpeter's refusal to comment on politics for many years only furthered perceptions that he was out of touch. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. Satchmo didn't let the criticism stop him, however, and he returned an even bigger star when he began a longer tour throughout Europe in 1933. 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.". 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. Armstrong was featured in the 1969 film of Hello, Dolly!, performing the title song as a duet with Barbra Streisand. Show More. Louis Armstrongs significance and most famous songs In 1936, he became the first African American jazz musician to write an autobiography. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. What was Louis Armstrongs childhood like? If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know. Making money ain't nothing exciting to me. 1. A young pianist from Pittsburgh, Earl Hines, assimilated Armstrong's ideas into his piano playing. 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. In 1938, Armstrong finally divorced Lil Hardin and married Alpha Smith, whom he had been dating for more than a decade. Louis continued to spread his style by touring other countries. Armstrong was brought up by his mother, Mary (Albert) Armstrong, and his maternal grandmother. 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. He performed all over the world in the 1950s and '60s, including throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Previously, Armstrong had performed throughout Europe, Asia, and Africathough he famously canceled a planned 1957 Soviet Union tour, citing the recent Little Rock crisis. His mother, who often turned to prostitution, frequently left him with his maternal grandmother. Why is Louis Armstrong important to blacks? 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. Handy and Satch Plays Fats. 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. His music was a happiness to individuals and they said he was a gift sent from heaven. 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. 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. Armstrong spent his youth singing on the street for spare change, but he didnt receive any formal musical training until age 11. 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. You might be able to buy a little better booze than the wino on the corner. What are some facts about Louis Armstrong?A Jewish immigrant family helped him buy his first horn. Armstrong first received musical training during a stint in juvenile detention. His wife helped jumpstart his solo career. Armstrong was one of the first celebrities to be arrested for drug possession. Born, August 4, 1901 he started off in a harder life than most people usually do. Armstrong brought. A few weeks later after his birth his father leaves his mother alone with a family. ", 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. By 1932, Armstrong, who was now known as Satchmo, had begun appearing in movies and made his first tour of England. With his amazing voice trumpet he created a band and made some records. Louis Armstrong was to jazz music what Bach is to classical music, Presley is to rock music (Berrett 230). The material may show why Armstrong was not just a giant of jazz music, but a civil rights leader as well. This gift, coupled with Louis Armstrongs already present affinity for the musical sounds of the local New Orleans street bands and brass players that lingered around, helped to brew the perfect storm that would create one of the most prolific players of the 20th century. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. The first important trend in New York Jazz was Hot Jazz that was an incendiary style introduced by Louis Armstrong (Winfield 170). In 1914, the home released him, and he immediately began dreaming of a life making music. A YouTube poster named pandasthumb describes the piece. Armstrong's words made front-page news around the world. 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. 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. The lights dim, and the velvet curtains slide open. That's the secret. After a quick trip with a group of people to Venice, Mozart and his daddy returned back to his hometown Salzburg. He also learned to sing. Bebop, a new form of jazz, had blossomed in the 1940s. 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. 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. Larkin states, "It is impossible to overstate Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong's importance in jazz." We contributed Louis Armstrong. Because of Armstrongs brilliance, his records such as Cornet Chop Suey and Potato Head Blues are esteemed because of his risky rhythmic choices and high notes. Mozart had written over 600 pieces of works, many acknowledged his pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. 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. William Armstrong, his father, was a factory worker who abandoned the family soon after the boy's birth. In 1972, a year after his death, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. 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. WebLouis Armstrong was a key asset to the Harlem Renaissance due to his inspiring music and playing his instruments for African Americans people during this period. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. Study now. Armstrong had gained sufficient individual notice to make his recording debut as a leader on November 12, 1925. With her encouragement, he left Oliver and joined Fletcher Henderson's band in New York, staying for a year and then going back to Chicago in November 1925 to join the Dreamland Syncopators, his wife's group. Pillars of Life 3 y Related Why was jazz so important? 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. In fact, before marrying his fourth wife, he made sure that she could cook a satisfactory plateful. 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.. The movie he appeared in was Pennies from Heaven (1936). The joyous tune perfectly and ironically clashed with the wartime horrors depicted in one montage, so director Barry Levinson added it to his films soundtrack. Louis Armstrong was important in the 1920's because he put a whole new meaning to jazz. 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. Aint that stupid? Between 1952 and 1955, Armstrong shed 100 pounds. https://www.britannica.com/facts/Louis-Armstrong, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (1990), jazz: The cornetist breaks away: Louis Armstrong and the invention of swing. Beginning in 1919, Armstrong spent his summers playing on riverboats with a band led by Fate Marable. Louis Armstrong was the most important and influential musician in jazz history. One of the first soloists on record, Louis was at the forefront of changing jazz from ensemble-oriented folk music into an art form that emphasized inventive solo improvisations. 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. He is remembered as the most influential artist in the early development of jazz. 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. In 1937, Louis Armstrong became the first African American entertainer to host a nationally sponsored radio show. This led some to alter his long-time nickname, Satchmo, to "Ambassador Satch.". Given that Armstrong was only 11, it was (one of) his stepfathers who was responsible for the whole series of events. A year later, he was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was known for both his joyous ways with the trumpet and his peculiarly touching and funny vocal style. However, conditions changed when he was requested to record the title number of a broadway show that went on to become a hit. he is important because he was the first black singer. They also encouraged him to sing and often invited him into their home for meals. He popularized scat singing and was the first musician to have his solo on a recording (Rodgers 85). 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. Since his death, Armstrong's stature has only continued to grow. Jelly Roll Morton was a great pianist and arranger from New Orleans., He not only produce one impressive improvised solo after another, but he also raised the bar for jazz vocals. The story behind the jazz legends final hit and, quite simply, one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Armstrongs unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans-influenced groups, including the Hot Five, and began recording larger ensembles. 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. 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. "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. That same year, his longtime manager, Joe Glaser, passed away. (Armstrong did not function as a bandleader in the usual sense, but instead typically lent his name to established groups.) He made his film debut in Ex-Flame, released at the end of 1931. He was an extraordinary musician and he impacted jazz music immensely. Seeing "the writing on the wall," Armstrong scaled down to a smaller six-piece combo, the All Stars; personnel would frequently change, but this would be the group Armstrong would perform live with until the end of his career. Louis was arrested by Police When he was eleven. WebLouis Armstrongas a musician, as a man, as an icon. 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. Louis Armstrong was successful in jazz because he learned on his own with daily practice while influencing others with his music by making smiles appear on their face. 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. Louis Armstrong was the first black man in the U.S. to host a radio show. 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. After they married in 1924, Hardin made it clear that she felt Oliver was holding Armstrong back. He started as a soloist for Henderson after marrying Lil Hardin. 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. In fifth grade, while being taken care of by his maternal grandmother most of the time, he left school to work. 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.. He also took a series of small parts in motion pictures, beginning with Pennies from Heaven in December 1936, and he continued to record for Decca, resulting in the Top Ten hits "Public Melody Number One" (August 1937), "When the Saints Go Marching In" (April 1939), and "You Won't Be Satisfied (Until You Break My Heart)" (April 1946), the last a duet with Ella Fitzgerald. 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.". Why was Louis Armstrong important to the Harlem Renaissance? The bottom line of any country in the world is what did we contribute to the world? The 1930s also found Armstrong achieving great popularity on radio, in films, and with his recordings. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day. For live dates, he appeared with the orchestras led by Erskine Tate and Carroll Dickerson. The boy's mother, Armstrong's cousin, had died in childbirth. 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. Why was Louis Armstrong so important? Louis began playing at a young age when he was growing up in New Orleans. His rise to fame peaked in the 1920s, where he stunned the world with his bold trumpet style and idiosyncratic vocals. A jazz pioneer, Louis Armstrong was the first important soloist to emerge in jazz, and he became the most influential musician in the music's history. 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. 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 From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made more than 60 records with the Hot Five and, later, the Hot Seven. Why Is Louis Armstrong Important. An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. However, a heart attack two days after the Waldorf gig sidelined him for two months. His greatest inspiration was Joe King Oliver. It was on the riverboat that Armstrong honed his music reading skills and eventually had his first encounters with other jazz legends, including Bix Beiderbecke and Jack Teagarden. 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. Armstrong continued to tour extensively, despite a heart attack in June 1959. 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. 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. Armstrong spent much of that year at home, but managed to continue practicing the trumpet daily. He began to grow artistically and perfected his improvisational method (Jazz Stars 2). During this time, Armstrong taught the band how to swing. 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). Armstrong was still a popular attraction around the world in 1963, but hadn't made a record in two years. (1964), the latter knocking the Beatles off the top of the pop charts at the height of Beatlemania. Meanwhile, Armstrong's reputation as a musician continued to grow: In 1918, he replaced Oliver in Kid Ory's band, then the most popular band in New Orleans. At the school he learned to play cornet. 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). 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 the mid-'50s, Armstrong's popularity overseas skyrocketed. 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. Why is Louis Armstrong important in the 20's? He returned to Broadway in the short-lived musical Swingin' the Dream in November 1939. Because of his long improvised solos, he inspired jazz so that long solos became an important part of jazz pieces and performances. He wrote songs such as The Pearls, Millenburg Joys, Mr. Louis Armstrong was the first black man in the U.S. to host a radio show. That same year, he became the first African American to get featured billing in a major Hollywood movie with his turn in Pennies from Heaven, starring Bing Crosby. Armstrong decided to take some time off soon after the incident, and spent much of 1934 relaxing in Europe and resting his lip. The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic, American actress, singer, director, producer. Pops had a special place in his heart for both Chinese and Italian food. He was arrested for firing a pistol in 1 slot in May 1964, and knocking the Beatles off the top at the height of Beatlemania. 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. Clarence, who had become mentally disabled from a head injury he had suffered at an early age, was taken care of by Armstrong his entire life. Mozart, in his own traditional ways, the right away he did the first three of his 22 performances at that opera. Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. He performed in Europe for the first time in 1932 and returned in 1933, staying for over a year because of a damaged lip. 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.