This week, we want to honor the countless inspiring and talented black musicians by sharing the story of trumpet player and vocalist Louis Armstrong whose virtuosic talent and magnetic personality enabled him to break down barriers and forever change the face of American music.
His Early Life
Born on August 4, 1901, in a New Orleans’ neighborhood justly nicknamed “the Battlefield,” Louis Armstrong could not have come from humbler origins, but despite his difficult circumstances, Louis found joy and inspiration the music of the city. After dropping out of school in the fifth grade, Louis found work with a kind Jewish family who took him under their wing and even loaned him the money to buy his first cornet. Young Louis spent his days working, playing the cornet, and singing for pennies on street corners, but he soon ran into trouble with the law and was sentenced to live at the Colored Waif's Home for Boys. This turn of events proved to be a blessing; however, by giving him the opportunity to join the home’s brass band where he eventually worked all the way up to bandleader.
His Career
After leaving the home, Louis decided to pursue his dream to be a musician in earnest by receiving instruction from his idol, cornetist Joe “King” Oliver. Oliver was so impressed by young Louis’ skills that when he left New Orleans, he asked Armstrong to take his place in the band. For four years, Louis continued to perform in New Orleans until Oliver invited Louis to join his Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. There, Armstrong flourished alongside his mentor, but the group’s pianist Lillian Hardin noticed Louis’ talent and encouraged him to pursue a solo career. The two of them married and moved to New York City where Armstrong enjoyed some early success in recording and as a soloist, but his rural manners and lack of formal music education clashed with the highly educated city manners of the New York scene. After a year in New York, he returned to Chicago and began a recording career under his own name, creating such hits as ”West End Blues,” ”Heebie Jeebies,” ”Ain’t Misbehavin’,” and ”When It’s Sleepytime Down South.”
For the rest of his career, Armstrong continued to tour rigorously (performing around 300 concerts per year) and record more hits like ”Mack the Knife,” and ”Hello Dolly,” the latter of which knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts at the height of Beatlemania. Sadly, Louis’ demanding tour schedule eventually caught up with him, and he suffered multiple heart attacks before dying in his sleep on July 6, 1971, leaving the world with one of his most beloved classics, ”What a Wonderful World,” released just 4 years earlier.
His Accomplishments and Legacy
Despite hatred and discrimination against African Americans, Louis Armstrong’s unquestionable talent and unflappable attitude enabled him to break down barriers to the advancement of his people, especially within the arts. At the height of segregation, he was the first African American to have a contract that stipulated that he would not play in a hotel where he could not stay. In 1936, he became the first African American to get featured billing in a Hollywood movie as well as the first black entertainer to host a national radio show. Armstrong also became the first Jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time magazine, and he was named one of Time’s top 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Although his cheerful attitude and general refusal to talk about politics set him at odds with some members of the Civil Rights Movement, Armstrong cared deeply about civil rights, as he demonstrated by calling out President Eisenhower publicly for the treatment of the Little Rock Nine.
Regarding his influence on American music, Armstrong is considered a founding father of Jazz. Having grown up in the time and place of its birth, Armstrong brought much of the New Orleans’ style swing to the fore in popular culture. According to historian Robin D. G. Kelley, he “ushered in modern Jazz by bringing together a sense of blues, aesthetic, musical virtuosity, and astounding intonation on his instrument.” Additionally, Armstrong can be credited with popularizing the technique of scat singing (singing on nonsense syllables rather than words) as well as extending the length and virtuosity of improvisational solo breaks, both of which are highly-recognizable conventions of the genre that are still used prevalently today.
Louis Armstrong is just one of many inspiring black musicians whose music I highly encourage you to check out! To learn more about Louis Armstrong, I highly recommend David Stricklin’s Louis Armstrong: The Soundtrack of the American Experience, Scott Yanow’s ”How Louis Armstrong Revolutionized American Music,” his biography page, and his memoirs Swing that Music, and Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans.
And don’t forget to pursue your musical dreams today by signing up for lessons with one of our instructors!
- Jordan Koehlinger, Music Instructor at Vibe Music Academy
