Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong was an American trumpeter and singer, and was one of the best Jazz musicians. Armstrong was very influential for his time which was one of the many reasons why
he was so popular. He is still remembered as one of the best trumpet players to date.
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4th, 1901. Born into a
poor family, Louis didn’t have much growing up. Besides them being lower class, they had other
issues too. His father, Willie, left shortly after he was born. His mother, Mary Ann, was only a
teenager when she gave birth to him. Mary Ann worked exceptionally hard to help her family,
especially as a single mom. Despite this, the family still never had much money. Louis did as
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He rode the wagon and blew a tin horn. Though the horns' purpose wasn’t
to make music, Louis found a way to create different sounds and play different tunes. At age
eleven, Louis saw a brass cornet in the pawn shop window. The family he worked with lent him
the money to purchase it.
At age 14, Louis worked different jobs as a laborer. Louis always dreamed of becoming a
full time musician. He barely slept and would play cornet in local clubs all night. When his idol,
King Oliver, left to join a jazz band in Chicago, Louis took his spot in the Kid Ory Band. Louis joined the band at age 15 and loved it. In 1918, Louis married Daisy Parker. They had a very
rough marriage and divorced just 5 years later in 1923. During his marriage, he played cornet on
the Mississippi riverboats, so people all along the river could hear him.
Soon after, Louis went to Chicago to play in King Oliver’s jazz band, as they needed
another cornet player. In 1924, he married the band’s piano player, Lil Hardin. Lil suggested to
Louis that he should go to New York City to play in the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. He
listened to her and went. He returned to Chicago in 1925 and began making records with
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The Jazz age “glorified” city life in major American cities. Many
African American sharecroppers left their southern farms to live in bigger cities including
Chicago and New York City. The jazz age crashed down with the economic downturn of 1929.
In 1929, The Great Depression began. The Great Depression was an economic downturn.
It originated in America, but spread to affect the entire globe. It caused severe unemployment,
and industrial production plummeted. The downturn hit rock bottom in 1933 when all
commercial banks closed. The Great Depression finally ended around 1939.
In 1932, Louis traveled to Europe and lived there during 1934. He returned to America in
1935. After this, he began touring with his band and made even more records, and even starred in
movies. In 1937, Louis had his own radio show. In 1938, he married Alpha Smith. Shortly after,
they divorced. In 1942, Louis found his true love. Her name was Lucille Wilson. Their marriage
lasted 29 years. Together they purchased a home in New York.
Louis traveled the world playing for crowds. He went to Ghana, Africa, and performed
for over 100,000 people. In Budapest, Hungary, over 93,000 went to his concert. In 1964,