Louis Armstrong: Genius of Jazz
Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter, bandleader, singer, soloist, film star and comedian. He was considered one of the most influential artists in jazz history. He is known for songs like “La Via En Rose” and “What a Wonderful World.”(Louis Armstrong Biography). His amazing technical abilities, the joy and spontaneity, and excellent quick, inventive musical mind still dominate jazz to this day. Some books and articles call him Daniel Louis Armstrong. No one seems to know where the Daniel came from, He was also nicknamed “Satchmo,” “Pop” and, later, “Ambassador Satch.”(Louis Armstrong Biography). He was born with dark skin in a country where dark-skinned people were considered less than human. Like almost all jazz musicians, Louis was from New Orleans. According to a baptismal certificate written in Latin and found in the register of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Louis Armstrong, the illegitimate son of William Armstrong and Mary Albert was born in James Alley, between Perdido and Poydras streets, New
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From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made more than 60 records with the Hot Five and, later, the Hot Seven (Louis Armstrong). Today, these are generally regarded as the most important and influential recordings in jazz history. On these records, Armstrong's virtuoso brilliance helped transform jazz from ensemble music to a soloist's art. In 1936, he became the first African-American jazz musician to write an autobiography: Swing That Music. That same year, he became the first African- American to get featured billing in a major Hollywood movie with his turn in Pennies from Heaven, starring Bing Crosby. Additionally, he became the first African-American entertainer to host a nationally sponsored radio show in 1937, when he took over Rudy Vallee's Fleischmann's Yeast Show for 12