ARMSTRONG, LOUIS 1901-1971

Musician

An American Treasure

Louis Armstrong was probably born on 4 August 1901, but he appropriated 4 July 1900 as his official birthday to reinforce his identification with American history. Born out of wedlock in New Orleans to Mary Albert and Will Armstrong, a laborer, he grew up surrounded by music. At twelve he was sent to the Colored Waifs Home for firing a gun on New Year's Eve. There Armstrong learned to play the cornet.

Early Brilliance

Supreme geniuses develop rapidly. In 1920 Armstrong was working with the Fate Marable Band on Mississippi steamboats. Then in 1922 he was invited to join King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in Chicago. Oliver, then the leading cornet player, acted as Armstrong's mentor; but the apprentice excelled his master. His reputation among other musicians soared. His playing was distinguished by energy, clear tone, rich phrasing, lyricism, and complexity. Hoagy Carmichael described his first exposure to Armstrong playing "Bugle Call Rag": "'Why,' I moaned, why isn't everybody in the world here to hear that?' I meant it. Something as unutterably stirring as that deserved to be heard by the world."

Fame

Although Armstrong was not ruthlessly ambitious, he knew when it was time for him to move ahead. In 1924 he joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in New York, a musically sophisticated group led by an influential arranger. But Armstrong felt constricted in this orchestra and in 1925 formed his Hot Five with Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Lil Armstrong (piano), and Johnny St. Cyr (banjo). The Hot Five was a studio group to serve the market for race records—records sold to blacks, especially in the South. Armstrong's popularity cut across Jim Crow barriers, and he became the most popular black entertainer of his times. Armstrong recorded his first vocals with the Hot Five; "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926 was his first hit and his first scat-singing recording. The story that Armstrong improvised scat when he dropped his sheet music is almost certainly a fabrication.

Entertainer

Armstrong loved performing and clowning; his enjoyment of singing disturbed critics who wanted to hear him play, but audiences and record purchasers responded to his gravel voice and ebullience. By 1928 Armstrong had switched from cornet to trumpet. The 1928 recording of "West End Blues"—on which he plays and sings—has been praised as Armstrong's masterpiece. Music historian Gunther Scheller has noted the brilliant opening cadenza and the "Spectacular cascading phrases." So great was Armstrong's pleasure in work that in 1929 he was performing on Broadway in Hot Chocolates, leading his band at Connie's Inn in Harlem, and appearing in the late show at the Lafayette Theater. Two Fats Waller songs from Hot Chocolates became his biggest hits to date: "Ain't Misbehavin' "and "Black and Blue." He was twenty-eight.

Satchmo

At some point during the 1920s, Armstrong's nickname Satchmo (probably derived from satchel-mouth) gained currency, and as Satchmo he became a recognized world figure. In 1929 the Hot Five was succeeded by Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra, which went on the road. With this orchestra Armstrong's material evolved away from blues to include popular songs ("I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby") and novelty songs ("I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas"). Although purists complained that Armstrong was selling out, his public grew during the 1930s as he took his music to Europe. In 1937 Armstrong became the first black to host a network radio show, the Fleischmanns Yeast Hour. He appeared in Broadway shows and in the movies.

The All Stars

After World War II the jazz/swing scene changed as combos replaced big bands. In 1947 he formed the six-member All Stars which toured most of the time. The succession of one-night stands wore out other musicians, but Armstrong loved to perform. His last movie, Hello, Dolly! (1969), resulted in a hit record of the title song. He toured with the All Stars until shortly before his death from heart failure in 1971. He was mourned all over the world. If the term lovable means anything, Armstrong was lovable; his performances were love matches between the performer and his audience. It is possible to argue about the merits of any jazz musician, except Louis Armstrong. He was the greatest cornet and trumpet player. His recordings during the 1920s remain unsurpassed.

Sources:

Louis Armstrong, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1954);

James L. Collier, Louis Armstrong: An American Genius (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988);

Marc H. Miller, ed., Louis Armstrong: A Cultural Legacy (New York Queens Museum of Art / Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994);

Louis Armstrong: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1923—1934 (Columbia/Legacy 57176).

Louis Daniel Armstrong

Louis Daniel Armstrong (1900-1971) was an early jazz trumpet virtuoso, and he remained an important influence for several decades.

Louis Armstrong was born into a poor African American family in New Orleans on July 4, 1900. As a youngster, he sang on the streets with friends. In 1913 he was arrested for a prank and committed to the Waif's Home, where he learned the cornet and played in the band. On his release he began performing with local groups. Joe "King" Oliver, leader of the first great African American band to make records, befriended him, and Armstrong joined Oliver in Chicago in 1922, remaining until 1924, when he went to New York to play with Fletcher Henderson's band.

When he returned to Chicago in the fall of 1925, Armstrong began to cut one of the greatest series in the history of recorded jazz. These Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings find him breaking free from the conventions of New Orleans ensemble playing, his trumpet work notable for its inventiveness, rhythmic daring, improvisatory freedom, and technical assurance. In 1928 he started recording with drummer Zutty Singleton and pianist Earl Hines, the latter a musician able to match Armstrong in virtuosity. Many of the resulting records are masterpieces, the performances highlighted by complex ensembles, unpredictable harmonic twists, and rhythmic adventurousness. During these years Armstrong was working with big bands in Chicago clubs and theaters. His vocals, featured on most post-1925 records, are an extension of his trumpet playing in their phrasing and rhythmic liveliness, and are delivered in a unique guttural style.

By 1929 Armstrong was in New York leading a nightclub band. Appearing in the theatrical revue Hot Chocolates, he sang "Fats" Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'," Armstrong's first popular song hit. From this period his repertoire switched mainly to popular song material, which presented a new challenge because of the relative harmonic sophistication. Some notable performances resulted. His virtuosity reached a peak around 1933; then his style underwent a process of simplification, replacing virtuoso display by a mature craftsmanship that used every note to maximum advantage. He re-recorded some of his earlier successes to considerable effect.

Armstrong continued to front big bands, often of inferior quality, until 1947, by which time the big-band era was over. He returned to leading a small group which, though it initially included first-class musicians, became over the years a mere background for his vaudevillian talents. During the 1930s Armstrong had achieved international fame, first touring Europe as a soloist and singer in 1932. After World War II and his 1948 trip to France, he became an inveterate world traveler, journeying through Europe, Africa, Japan, Australia, and South America. He appeared in numerous films, the best a documentary titled Satchmo the Great (1957).

In his later years the public thought of Armstrong as a vaudeville entertainer—a fact reflected in the bulk of his record output. But there were still occasions when he produced music of astonishing eloquence and brilliance. He died in New York City on July 6, 1971.

Further Reading

Armstrong's autobiographical Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954) is informative and entertaining on his early years. Swing That Music (1936), though ostensibly by Armstrong, was almost certainly ghosted and is of limited interest. Max Jones and John Chilton, Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story, 1900-1971 (1971), is a superb study and is particularly informative about his life during the 1930s. An outstanding critical study of Armstrong's records of the 1924-1931 period is in Richard Hadlock, Jazz Masters of the Twenties (1965). See also Louis Terkel, Giants of Jazz (1957). □

Louis Armstrong (Daniel Louis Armstrong), known as "Satchmo" and "Pops," 1901–1971, American jazz trumpet virtuoso, singer, and bandleader, b. New Orleans. He learned to play the cornet in the band of the Waif's Home in New Orleans, and after playing with Kid Ory's orchestra he made several trips (1918–21) with a Mississippi riverboat band. He joined (1922) King Oliver 's group in Chicago, where he met and married the pianist Lilian Hardin. His early playing was noted for improvisation, and his reputation as trumpeter and as vocalist was quickly established. A famous innovator, Armstrong was a major influence on the melodic development of jazz in the 1920s; because of him solo performance attained a position of great importance in jazz. He organized several large bands, worked with most of the masters of jazz (and with many of those in other musical forms), and beginning in 1932 made numerous foreign tours. Armstrong appeared in Broadway shows, at countless jazz festivals, and in several American and foreign films. His archives are housed at Queens College, which also maintains his Queens, N.Y., home as a museum.

Bibliography: See his memoir, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954, repr. 1986); his selected writings ed. by T. Brothers (1999); biographies by G. Giddens (1988), L. Bergreen (1997), and T. Teachout (2009); study by J. L. Collier (2 vol., 1983–86); J. Berrett, Louis Armstrong Companion (1999).

Armstrong, Louis (‘ Satchmo’) (b New Orleans, 1901; d NY, 1971). Amer. jazz trumpeter and singer. From 1917 played on Miss. river boats. Joined King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band 1922. Played often with Fletcher Henderson's orch. 1924–5, then formed own band. Became world-famous as result of recordings in 1920s in which his virtuoso trumpet-playing and his idiosyncratic singing had enormous influence on jazz scene. Nickname ‘Satchmo’ a diminutive of ‘Satchelmouth’. Visited Eng. and Eur. 1932 and 1934. Made many films and appeared with big bands in ‘swing’ era. Formed his All Stars 1947. Appeared with Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in film High Society (1956).

Armstrong, (Daniel) Louis (1900–71) US jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, nicknamed ‘Satchmo’. Armstrong was one of the most distinctive sounds in 20th-century music. He learned to play in New Orleans, and in 1922 joined the King Oliver band. The Hot Fives and Hot Sevens recordings (1925–29) are some of the most influential in the history of jazz. In the 1930s he became a successful bandleader, his deep, bluesy voice featured on tunes like “Mack the Knife”. He also appeared in films such as Pennies from Heaven (1936), New Orleans (1947), and High Society (1956).