One of the foremost musicians of the 20th
century, jazz pioneer. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901 and grew
up poor, often singing on the street for money. In 1912 he was arrested for firing
off a pistol on New Year's Eve and was reprimanded to a youth home. It was there
Armstrong first learned to play the coronet, a trumpet-like brass instrument and when he
was released in 1914, he began playing in local jazz bands.
He soon caught the attention of jazz
godfather King Oliver, who found Armstrong jobs in more prominent groups. In the
early '20s Armstrong joined Oliver's group with whom he made his earliest recordings, then
moved to New York to work with Fletcher Henderson's jazz orchestra. Throughout the
1920's, Armstrong recorded a series of classic singles, both with Henderson's group and
with noted blues and jazz singers. He later formed his own bands, the Hot Five and
the Hot Seven, and earned the nickname "SATCHMO" short for "Satchel
Mouth" thanks to his huge trumpet-inflated cheeks.
In 1927, Armstrong switched from coronet
to trumpet; that same year he popularized nonsense-syllable "scat" singing with
the single "Heebies
Jeebies." As the years wore on, Armstrong's popularity only grew, as his
swinging style and unique, gravelly voice dominated the radio airwaves, making him the
most famous jazz musician. In the mid-30's he toured Europe, the first of many
foreign tours that introduced the entire world to America's most vital new musical
style. Armstrong's trumpet style and vocal phrasing became enormously influential
for both jazz musicians and pop singers; in addition, his prominent solos transformed jazz
from an ensemble form of music to one based heavily on solos and the interplay of
individual musicians.
Unfortunately by the mid-1940s jazz had
begun to shift towards "bop", and Armstrong's style was no longer considered
current. Breaking up his band, Armstrong founded a sextet called the All-Stars, a
Dixieland/swing group with a humorous stage-presence. He continued touring until his
death in New York on July 6, 1971. As popular as ever, SATCHMO has been honored on
a postage stamp, and his music remains widely available with nearly every cut he recorded
on countless loving reissues.