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Louis Daniel Armstrong
(August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971),
nicknamed
"Satchmo",
"Satch",
and
"Pops",
was an
American trumpeter
and vocalist.
He was among
the most
influential figures
in jazz.
His career
spanned five decades
and
several eras
in the history
of jazz.
Armstrong received
numerous accolades
including the
Grammy Award
for Best Male
Vocal Performance for
Hello, Dolly!
in 1965,
as well as a
posthumous win
for the Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award
in 1972.
His influence crossed
musical genres,
with inductions into
the DownBeat
Jazz Hall of Fame,
the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame,
and the National
Rhythm & Blues
Hall of Fame,
among others.
Armstrong
was born and raised in
New Orleans.
Coming to prominence
in the 1920s
as an inventive trumpet
and cornet player,
he was a
foundational influence
in jazz,
shifting the focus
of the music from
collective improvisation
to solo performance.
Around 1922,
Armstrong followed his
mentor,
Joe "King" Oliver,
to Chicago
to play in
Oliver's Creole Jazz Band.
Armstrong earned
a reputation at
"cutting contests",
and his fame
reached band leader
Fletcher Henderson.
Armstrong moved to
New York City,
where he became a
featured and
musically influential
band soloist
and recording artist.
By the 1950s,
Armstrong was an
international musical icon,
appearing regularly in
radio and television
broadcasts
and on film.
Apart from his music,
he was also beloved
as an entertainer,
often joking with
the audience
and keeping a
joyful public image
at all times.
Armstrong's
best known songs include
"What a Wonderful World",
"La Vie en Rose",
"Hello, Dolly!",
"On the Sunny Side of the Street",
"Dream a Little Dream of Me",
"When You're Smiling"
and
"When the Saints Go Marching In".
He collaborated with
Ella Fitzgerald,
producing
three records together:
Ella and Louis
(1956),
Ella and Louis Again
(1957),
and
Porgy and Bess
(1959).
He also appeared in films
such as
A Rhapsody in Black and Blue
(1932),
Cabin in the Sky
(1943),
High Society
(1956),
Paris Blues
(1961),
A Man Called Adam
(1966),
and
Hello, Dolly!
(1969).
With his
instantly recognizable,
rich, gravelly voice,
Armstrong was also
an influential singer
and skillful improviser.
He was also skilled at
scat singing.
By the end of
Armstrong's life,
his influence had spread
to popular music.
He was one of the
first popular
African-American
entertainers to
"cross over"
to wide popularity
with white
and international audiences.
Armstrong rarely publicly
discussed racial issues,
sometimes to the
dismay of fellow
black Americans,
but took a
well-publicized stand
for desegregation
in the Little Rock crisis.
He could access
the upper echelons
of American society
at a time when
this was difficult
for black men.
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