Free Essays on Louis Armstrong

New Orleans is a melting pot of people and culture. Diversity is not just recognized but also celebrated. Out of this various blend of French, Spanish and African influences came jazz music. The most influential jazz musician in history was born in New Orleans. Louis Armstrong was not only the epitome of jazz, but he was the King of Jazz. Louis Daniel Armstrong always said he was born on July 4, 1900 because that’s what he was told. After his death in 1971, the writer Gary Giddins discovered his baptismal certificate that proved he was born on August 4, 1901. He was born in the Storyville District of New Orleans. It was a very poor section also called â€Å"the Battlefield† because there was a lot of shooting and fighting there. Willie Armstrong was his father. He was a straw boss in a turpentine factory. His mother was Mary Ann Miles. She was a country girl from just outside New Orleans. Everyone called her Mayann. She moved into the city and met and married Willie. Mayann was about fifteen when Louis was born and Willie abandoned them soon after. In order to support them Mayann cleaned houses and also was a part time prostitute which was a common occupation for poor black women in New Orleans. While he was still an infant he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Josephine Armstrong. She worked hard as a laundress. When Louis was five, his sister Beatrice was born and he moved back in with his mother. She continued her carefree habits and would sometimes disappear from home for days at a time. Louis was often left to watch his sister. Louis went to school but like most of the kids in Storyville, he would rather be on the street playing with his friends or scrounging for money. Louis grew up in poverty and he was deprived both emotionally and physically. He went barefoot year-round and he wore oversized hand-me-downs that he got from Mayann’s various boyfriends. Sometimes he had... Free Essays on Louis Armstrong Free Essays on Louis Armstrong New Orleans is a melting pot of people and culture. Diversity is not just recognized but also celebrated. Out of this various blend of French, Spanish and African influences came jazz music. The most influential jazz musician in history was born in New Orleans. Louis Armstrong was not only the epitome of jazz, but he was the King of Jazz. Louis Daniel Armstrong always said he was born on July 4, 1900 because that’s what he was told. After his death in 1971, the writer Gary Giddins discovered his baptismal certificate that proved he was born on August 4, 1901. He was born in the Storyville District of New Orleans. It was a very poor section also called â€Å"the Battlefield† because there was a lot of shooting and fighting there. Willie Armstrong was his father. He was a straw boss in a turpentine factory. His mother was Mary Ann Miles. She was a country girl from just outside New Orleans. Everyone called her Mayann. She moved into the city and met and married Willie. Mayann was about fifteen when Louis was born and Willie abandoned them soon after. In order to support them Mayann cleaned houses and also was a part time prostitute which was a common occupation for poor black women in New Orleans. While he was still an infant he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Josephine Armstrong. She worked hard as a laundress. When Louis was five, his sister Beatrice was born and he moved back in with his mother. She continued her carefree habits and would sometimes disappear from home for days at a time. Louis was often left to watch his sister. Louis went to school but like most of the kids in Storyville, he would rather be on the street playing with his friends or scrounging for money. Louis grew up in poverty and he was deprived both emotionally and physically. He went barefoot year-round and he wore oversized hand-me-downs that he got from Mayann’s various boyfriends. Sometimes he had... Free Essays on Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong â€Å"SATCHMO† Louis Armstrong was the most important and powerful musician in Music history. Although he is often thought of by the public as a lovable, clowning person, a rough-voiced singer who played simple but spectacular trumpet in a New Orleans-styled Dixieland setting, Armstrong was much much more. One of the first soloists on record, Louis was more responsible than anyone else for jazz changing from an ensemble-oriented folk music into an art form that emphasized inventive solo improvisations. His relaxed phrasing was a major change from the staccato style of the early '20s (helping set the stage for the swing era) and Armstrong demonstrated that it was possible to have both impressive style and a strong feeling for the blues. One of jazz's first true stars, his influence over his fellow players was so powerful that nearly every trumpeter to record between 1927 and 1940 sounded to an extent like one of his followers! Louis Armstrong's unique style singing voice was copy by so many of the listeners through the years, he made â€Å"scat singing† popular. By using syllables rhythmically rather than words. It was said, that he was in the studio and his music fell off the stand so he started to make it up, that when scat music was born. His way of talking affected many singers to come up after 1930, including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. In addition, Louis Armstrong’s humor and funny ways were popular in jazz with larger audiences. Many teenagers were inspired to take up the trumpet after hearing or seeing him and millions more were introduced to jazz through Armstrong; in later years Louis Armstrong's worldwide tours resulted in him being widely known as "America's goodwill ambassador."(Satchmo, 1998) Louis Armstrong started with t his humble beginnings. Born in New Orleans on Aug. 4, 1901 (until his birth cert...