Louis Armstrong Essay - 1547 Words

Louis Armstrong He was born in the south at a time when a black boy could expect nothing but to grow up, work hard at the lowest jobs all his life, and hope somehow, somewhere manage to stay healthy and get a little out of life.(P.1 Collier) Get a little out of life Louis did, a pure genius he revolutionized Americas first true form of art, jazz. Doing a paper on Louis Armstrong has been enjoyable to do and the information that is available on Armstrong is endless. So much that this paper is going to concentrate on Louis Childhood how he got involved with music and the early years of his music career with King Olivers Creole Jazz Band and the recordings of the Hot 5s and Hot 7s. Satchmo, which is only one of his nicknames†¦show more content†¦Louis grew up in New Orleans in a tough area known, as The Battle Field where knife fights and gun play were common. At the age of about seven he moved to black Storyville. It consisted of dance halls honky tonks and brothels. It was an entertainment d istrict like Londons Soho. He grew up with music all around him. He could hear music from outside is house when he woke up and when he went to bed. It is recorded that Louis did attend school at the Fisk school where he learned to read and write. How long he attended this school is another mystery. One fact we do know about Louis is that he was arrested on New Years Eve 1912 for shooting a gun. Louis was around eleven at the time, and this was a very serious offense. He was sent to the Coloreds Waif House a reform school on the out skirts of New Orleans. Here Louis was introduced to organized music in the form of the school band. The school band was run by Captain Joseph Jones in a military fashion that was extremely strict. This is where Louiss life changed from delinquent to a disciplined young man this was also when Louis was introduced to playing a musical instrument. The teacher, Professor Pete Davis, first had reservations of letting Louis play in the schools brass band because he thought Louis was a bad kid. Finally Louis was let into the band, and received his first formal training on an instrument. More importantly than the music training Louis received from Professor Davis were the real lifeShow MoreRelatedLouis Armstrong Essay634 Words   |  3 PagesLouis Armstrong 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 1899Read MoreLouis Armstrong Essay850 Words   |  4 PagesLouis Armstrong 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 Waifs Home for Boys. It wasRead MoreImportance of Louis Armstrong1568 Words   |  7 PagesLouis Armstrong Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and amazingly quick, inventive musical mind still dominate Jazz to this day. Only Charlie Parker comes close to having as much influence on the history of Jazz as Louis Armstrong did. Like almost all early Jazz musicians, Louis was from New Orleans. He was from a very poor family and was sent to reform school when he was twelveRead More Louis Armstrong Essay1336 Words   |  6 Pages Louis Armstrongs Influential Career Louis Armstrong’s Influential Career Louis Armstrong was the most successful and talented jazz musician in history. His influence and expansive career continues to make waves in the jazz world. That is what made him become what he is to many today – a legend. Born on August 4, 1901, in the poorest section of New Orleans, Armstrong grew up with his grandparents due to his parents’ separation. On January 1, 1913 he made a mistake which turned out to be theRead MoreLouis Armstrong Essay1388 Words   |  6 PagesThe Life and Music of Louis Armstrong Among the most popular and appreciated musicians of our time, Louis Satchmo Armostrong brought a musical presence, technical mastery, and imaginative genius that so overwhelmed musicians of his day that he became their principle model, leaving an indelible imprint on the music (Kernfield 27). When reviewing Armstrongs life work, his years with us can be divided into two aspects, his personal life and his music. While giving significant background ofRead MoreThe Legacy Of Louis Armstrong Essay1401 Words   |  6 PagesLouis Armstrong, one of the most influential figures in jazz music, enjoyed a career that spans across 50 years, and through different eras of jazz. Nicknamed† Satchmo†, â€Å"Pops†, and† Ambassador Satch†, Armstrong could do it all, he sang, occasionally acted, composed music, but was most famous for his cornet and trumpet playing. Although Armstrong is well known for his amazing trumpet play, he also influenced the direction that jazz m usic during his time was headed. Over the course of this paper IRead MoreJazz, By Louis Armstrong2718 Words   |  11 PagesJazz midterm 1. Louis Armstrong is credited in the book titled Jazz as the â€Å"single most important figure in the development of jazz.† He is known as the only major figure in Western musical history to have a profound influence as a singer and an instrumentalist. His defining qualities as a performer were the emotion, beauty, and technical mastery he brought to each performance, and he knew how to please an audience. Performing jazz was a personal and powerful experience to him, and it was communicatedRead MoreLouis Armstrong : The Era Of Jazz1449 Words   |  6 PagesLouis Armstrong once said â€Å"If you ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.† Armstrong was conveying the message that jazz is whatever the performer makes of it, for there are no rules or restrictions on what the performer can do. Louis Armstrong was a famous jazz trumpeter from New Orleans who influenced the era of jazz tremendously throughout the years with his unique style, which included bringing in imp rovisation to pieces. The quote stated earlier can be applied to life, showing that in order toRead More Biography of Louis Armstrong Essay1236 Words   |  5 PagesLouis Armstrong was born in one of the poorest sections in New Orleans, August 4, 1901. Louis a hard-working kid who helped his mother and sister by working every type of job there was, including going out on street corners at night to singing for coins. Slowly making money, Louis bought his first horn, a cornet. At age eleven Armstrong was sent to juvenile Jones Home for the colored waifs for firing a pistol on New Year’s Eve. While in jail Armstrong received his first formal music lesson from oneRead MoreThe Jazz Musici Louis Armstrong1078 Words   |  5 Pagesroadhouses, dance halls and places all over the country. It’s a very fast paced sound that was different than what people had heard of before. Louis Armstrong was a very well-known jazz musician during this time. He played the trumpet and was a ve ry good jazz musician. He was in many bands, played in Broadway and traveled playing jazz for people (Wenning). Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana (Woog, 15). He grew up in a very poor area nicknamed, â€Å"The Battlefield.† Armstrong’s