How Did Louis Armstrong Impact The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance feat. Louis Armstrong The 1920s was a period in history “roaring” with innovations. One of the largest movements throughout the entire decade was the Harlem Renaissance. The Renaissance was an explosion of black culture during the 1920s that began in the city of Harlem, New York. The Harlem Renaissance allowed numerous black musicians, writers, and poets to share their work with the world. One example of a musician who blew their way to the top during this time period was Louis Armstrong, whose songs are still famous today. The impact of the Harlem Renaissance is heard through the banging drums of Louis Armstrong’s masterpiece “Knockin’ a Jug.” The Harlem Renaissance was a Golden Age of African American culture. The

He was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Armstrong was “...a leading trumpeter and is considered one of the most influential Jazz artists in history, composing more than 50 songs” (Britannica 1). The first band Armstrong joined was the Kid Ory band in 1918. He then played on a Mississippi River Boat Dance band in 1920. Two years later he joined the Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, where he met his wife Lil Hardin, the pianist in the band. She encouraged Armstrong to quit the band in order to pursue writing his own music as a solo musician. Between the years 1925-28, Armstrong created his most notable early works, the Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven. Throughout his lifetime Armstrong continued to create pieces of music until he died on July 6, 1971, in New York, New York. Louis Armstrong composed numerous pieces of music early in his career during the Harlem

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “ his immensely compelling swing; his brilliant technique; his sophisticated, daring sense of harmony; his ever-mobile, expressive attack, timbre, and inflections; his gift for creating vital melodies; his dramatic, often complex sense of solo design; and his outsized musical energy and genius made these recordings major innovations in jazz” (Britannica 1). “Knockin’ a Jug” is simply one example out of many that show Armstrong’s unique Jazz style. This song is unique because it heavily uses the drums. Jazz Lives even says “that might be LOUD drumming, still. But it is beautiful jazz playing — earnest, subtle, powerful, and cohesive.” Although Armstrong’s song is loud and unexpected, it is still a beautiful piece of art. This song showed that trying a new and unique style has the potential to be beautiful, even if it is