why is louis armstrong important

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 These views changed in 1957, when Armstrong saw the Little Rock Central High School integration crisis on television. Why Is Louis Armstrong Important - 1689 Words | Cram 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. Within a span of three years, Armstrong recorded over sixty records. He was also a talented singer, and his recordings of songs like What a 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. Louis Armstrong is considered a hero for many reasons. The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of 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. 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. 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.. 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. "What a Wonderful World" peaked on the U.S. music charts after Armstrong passed away. Louis Armstrong Louis was the illegitimate son of William Armstrong and Mary Est Mayann Albert. They treat me better all over the world than they do in my hometown, he said. In September, his recording of that song entered the charts, becoming a Top Ten hit. That same year, his longtime manager, Joe Glaser, passed away. During his span, he composed thousands of songs for everyone to hear. Louis Armstrong: History & Major Accomplishments WebLouis Armstrong remains an icon of American history and 20 th century popular culture. He turned to Joe Glaser for help; Glaser had mob ties of his own, having been close with Al Capone, but he had loved Armstrong from the time he met him at the Sunset Caf (Glaser had owned and managed the club). The records by Louis Armstrong and His Fiveand later, Hot Sevenare the most influential in jazz. The movie he appeared in was Pennies from Heaven (1936). 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. Why His rise to fame peaked in the 1920s, where he stunned the world with his bold trumpet style and idiosyncratic vocals. Armstrongs unique singing and masterful improvisation transitioned jazz from the traditional style to a newer, more rhythmic style. The lights dim, and the velvet curtains slide open. He began following him and eventually Oliver became Armstrongs mentor. Nobody did what Louis could do. 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. 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. 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. Armstrong could make an audience cheer, but Roy Eldridge, made those top and bottom notes feel like a natural part of what the horn should do (Friedwald 21). 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 crucial contribution to American and world culture continues to reverberate into the 21 st century. This essay will have an introduction of the king of jazz music -- Louis Armstrong and his great influence on jazz history. Importance of Louis Armstrong He also began singing on these recordings, popularizing wordless "scat singing" with his hugely popular vocal on 1926's "Heebie Jeebies.". Why is Louis Armstrong important? - Answers Preston gave birth to a daughter, Sharon Preston, in 1955. Heart and kidney problems forced him to stop performing in 1969. By the mid-'40s, the Swing Era was winding down and the era of big bands was almost over. WebLouis Armstrong was the protean genius that made African American classical music mislabeled as jazz the most important music event of the 20th century. Another one of Armstrongs notable qualities, scat singing (wordless singing/mummering) was also popularized during this. Louis Armstrong was the first black man in the U.S. to host a radio show. 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. By the end of his teens, Armstrong had grown up fast. 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 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. Read Full Biography. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Louis Armstrong Facts | Britannica The man was Louis Armstrong. 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 Midway through the recording session, he accidentally dropped them and scatted to fill the ensuing silence. Music historians recognize this as the first popular, mass-market scat ever recorded. His influence, both as an artist and cultural icon, is universal and is still relevant today. For this, he is revered by jazz fans. 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. Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901. He also learned to sing. Armstrong continued to tour extensively, despite a heart attack in June 1959. The song for which Pops is most widely remembered, What a Wonderful World, was almost never his song at all. In April, he reached the charts with his first vocal recording, "Big Butter and Egg Man," a duet with May Alix. That same year, Armstrong married for the fourth and final time; he wed Lucille Wilson, a Cotton Club dancer. It started in New Orleans and over the years, stretched out throughout the whole United States. Jazz is a genre of music that brought a whole community of people together. He returned to Broadway in the short-lived musical Swingin' the Dream in November 1939. 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. There was a cheerful impatience in his playing, an optimistic confidence that led him to risk going over the top (Shipton 157). 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. Louis Armstrong - Biography, Jazz Musician, Trumpeter, Louis Armstrong recorded many popular songs like La Vie en Rose, and his theme song When its Sleepy Time Down South. After completing the optimistic anthem, songwriters Bob Thiele and George David Weiss thought that Tony Bennett would eat it right up. Is Louis 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. WebBy the '50s, Armstrong was an established international celebrity--an icon to musicians and lovers of jazz--and a genial, infectiously optimistic presence wherever he appeared. But you get sick just like the next cat and when you die you're just as graveyard dead as he is. In recent years, Armstrong's alleged daughter, who now goes by the name Sharon Preston Folta, has publicized various letters between her and her father. Encyclopdia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them. Changing jazz into what was once known as a ensemble music to soloist art. 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. What was Louis Armstrongs childhood like? 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. Being in many bands before he was not new to this. Armstrongs improvised solos transformed jazz from an ensemble-based music into a soloists art, while his expressive vocals incorporated innovative bursts of scat singing and an underlying swing feel. After trying it, he said that defecation sounded like Applause. Enamored, the musician began handing out packets to admirers, loved ones, and band members. Armstrong was brought up by his mother, Mary (Albert) Armstrong, and his maternal grandmother. (Jazz From New Orleans, Jazz music was one of the most popular music genres in the 1920s and 1930s. At the start of Armstrongs career, he married Daisy Parker. When Louis Armstrong was placed in a boys home as a young boy, he was presented with the opportunity to play the cornet. In 1993, it gained renewed popularity when it was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle. Despite failing to make a new record for two years, Armstrong remained a fan favorite. Eldridge is the obvious link between Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. 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 16967, Armstrong recorded his most renowned tune, What a Wonderful Word that surprisingly featured no trumpet. Armstrong used to say that hed been born on July 4, 1900. They danced to the jazz music with a whole new style. 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. He studied music there and played cornet and bugle in the school band, eventually becoming its leader. Seems to me it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doing to it, and all I'm saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. This pop success was repeated internationally four years later with "What a Wonderful World," which hit number one in the U.K. in April 1968. See answer (1) Best Answer. He attended Colored Waifs Home in 1913 for eighteen months. He was a groundbreaking musician and a pioneer in the development of jazz music. He was often left with his grandmother, and left school in fifth grade to start working. 1. In addition Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes., On the 26th day of December in 1788 there was a very great success. He was abandoned by his father, a boiler stoker, shortly after his birth and was raised by his paternal grandmother. Armstrong continued to appear in major films with the likes of Mae West, Martha Raye and Dick Powell. Different from most of his recordings of the era, the song features no trumpet and places Armstrong's gravelly voice in the middle of a bed of strings and angelic voices. Louis Armstrong is one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. That same year, he recorded with small New Orleans-influenced groups, including the Hot Five, and began recording larger ensembles. There were many jazz musicians. 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. 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. Many great performers have come out of the jazz industry, but the most widely known is Louis Satchmo Armstrong. He was born into poverty on August 4, 1901 in the streets of Back o Town (Meckna). In 1947, the waning popularity of the big bands forced Armstrong to begin fronting a small group, Louis Armstrong and His All Stars. Wiki User. This led some to alter his long-time nickname, Satchmo, to "Ambassador Satch.". He influenced countless other musicians and helped to shape the course of jazz. Glaser did just that; within a few months, Armstrong had a new big band and was recording for Decca Records. Armstrong defined what it was to play Jazz. What A Wonderful World: Louis Armstrongs Iconic Ballad Handy and Satch Plays Fats. However, conditions changed when he was requested to record the title number of a broadway show that went on to become a hit. Armstrong decided to take some time off soon after the incident, and spent much of 1934 relaxing in Europe and resting his lip. Louis Armstrong 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. He wrote songs such as The Pearls, Millenburg Joys, Mr. If Armstrong never bought the cornet he would have never become famous. Since New Orleans style jazz known to man, it was one of the broadest genres of jazz. 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. A few weeks later after his birth his father leaves his mother alone with a family. If the gun was not so easily accessible, his firing it and being arrested could have been prevented. Is Louis WebWhy Is Louis Armstrong Important. A year in New York with Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra proved unsatisfying so Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 and began making records under his own name for the first time. 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. They saw Armstrong's stage persona and music as old-fashioned and criticized him in the press. He began to grow artistically and perfected his improvisational method (Jazz Stars 2). In 1967, Armstrong recorded a new ballad, "What a Wonderful World." Louis's Father left him around childbirth, and his mother often used prostitution for money. 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. WebDid You Know? 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. 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). At the school he learned to play cornet. In a 1951 interview with Esquire, Armstrong claimed to have come prepared with printed lyrics that day. ", During the mid-'50s, Armstrong's popularity overseas skyrocketed. When Armstrong was eleven years old, he got in trouble for shooting a gun on New Years Eve to ring in the new year, 1912. 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. he put his soul and dedicated his life to his music. His stop-time solos on numbers like "Cornet Chop Suey" and "Potato Head Blues" changed jazz history, featuring daring rhythmic choices, swinging phrasing and incredible high notes. Eventually tour ended and Louis went back home to continue his. However, controversy regarding Armstrong's fatherhood struck in 1954, when a girlfriend that the musician had dated on the side, Lucille "Sweets" Preston, claimed she was pregnant with his child. The tune did, however, become a No. 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. Henderson also forbade Armstrong from singing, fearing that his rough way of vocalizing would be too coarse for the sophisticated audiences at the Roseland Ballroom. Mozart had written over 600 pieces of works, many acknowledged his pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. Armstrong was an African American child growing up in the slums of New Orleans, close to abandonment, impoverished, and with too few constant people, resources, or homes. However, conditions changed when he was requested to record the title number of a broadway show that went on to become a hit. 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. He was a master of the trumpet and cornet, and his style of playing was unique and instantly recognizable. WebRather than appealing simply to the crowd of already established jazz lovers, Louis Armstrong was effective at bridging the gap and reaching out to those that may not have been as familiar with the genre and effectively serving as one of the best ambassadors that the jazz world has ever known. 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. In July, Armstrong sailed to England for a tour. Louis did his first performance on stage in 1930 to spread his Jazz style. Aint that stupid? 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. The book was titled Swing That Music. Their marriage was not a happy one, however, and they divorced in 1942. Why Louis Armstrong was important? His mother, who often turned to prostitution, frequently left him with his maternal grandmother. 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. This was the first time anyone had ever recorded this technique known as scat singing. He was a master of the trumpet and a skilled improviser, and his style of playing influenced many other jazz musicians. He spread jazz throughout the world. Armstrong felt that being subservient to white people, was an unfortunately necessary evil in order for him to live successfully and happily. He worked for to get his instrument because his mother couldn't afford to buy him one. Its popularity brought many people together, even through the years of racial discrimination and the Great Depression. In 1918, he married Daisy Parker, a prostitute, commencing a stormy union marked by many arguments and acts of violence. 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.". Together with his mom, they moved to a better area of New Orleans. ", 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.". Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all Jazz musicians. West End Blues by Louis Armstrong is one of the most important songs in jazz. Armstrong was arrested at eleven years old for disturbing the peace. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. 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. Louis Armstrong used to give away laxatives as gifts. Why Louis Armstrong was important? Stwnews.org Coupled with his astonishing performing skills and charismatic stage presence, Armstrong took the world by storm and popularized jazz as we know it today. Life & Legacy Louis Armstrong Society Jazz Band Armstrong played the trumpet so powerfully that he often split his lip. Louis Armstrong was an American jazz musician who was one of the most influential figures in jazz music. Each of the books on jazz music will mention his name. 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. Why is Louis Armstrong important WebThe point is that Armstrong created and codified an entire vocabulary of jazz, setting the standard for vocalists and instrumentalists. Thereafter until his death in 1971, however, Armstrong never publicly addressed whether he was in fact Sharon's father. He attended school until he was in the 5th grade, he stopped going to help support his family. To earn money, Armstrong sang on street corners, sold newspapers, and delivered coal. Why How Did Louis Armstrong Contribute To The Harlem Renaissance Armstrong returned to New York with his band for an engagement at Connie's Inn in Harlem in May 1929. Larkin states, "It is impossible to overstate Louis 'Satchmo' Armstrong's importance in jazz." Louis gave jazz music a purpose. The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic, American actress, singer, director, producer. In fifth grade, while being taken care of by his maternal grandmother most of the time, he left school to work. Similarly, many of his most influential recordings, like 1928's "West End Blues" and 1955's "Mack the Knife," have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. His charismatic stage presence impressed not only the jazz world but all of popular music. Finding Yourself, Dropping, Halfway. By the '50s, Armstrong was widely recognized, even traveling the globe for the US.

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