Louis Armstrong’s fluent style of Jazz, his depth to his music and improvising created a foundation for Jazz music for the next generations.
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4th, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana in a impoverished neighborhood that was nicknamed the “battlefield” because the neighborhood was so poor. When Louis was young, he shot a gun at his father’s new year’s eve party and where he was arrested. He was sent to a group home for boys called the “Colored Waif’s home for boys”, he received music instruction there and that’s where he found his love for music. Louis Armstrong’s fluent style of improvisation, scatting and the depth to his music influenced a generation of Jazz artists after his time.
Louis Armstrong’s improvising
…show more content…
Double-time solo breaks were constructed in a way to establish the buildup and climax, having his high notes ensuring a timely break that peaked during the tension “West end blues” as this was during a period when most improvisers were simply blending in with the melody of the tune. Armstrong wanted to break away from that and improvised original lines that were also compatible with the tune’s progression as heard in “Weather Bird”. (SOURCE) After he did this, this became the predominant approach for the fifty years of jazz history.
Armstrong’s live performance style would have an impact on other artists. Tenor saxophonist Bud freeman would mention that Armstrong would play improvised choruses for more than 20 minutes before he would climax, which played to Armstrong telling a story.
Apart of his legacy, he was also a great influence on white performers. Louis Armstrong was the first African-American to shift the divide White and Black America that was still segregated socially, culturally, and politically. Many white performers admired black performers, they tried to emulate various aspects of black performances. One of the biggest influences was on Bing Crosby, which was important to the development of popular music. Louis influenced the “Scat” in singing that Crosby ended up adopting after he had heard Armstrong’s hit 1926 recording of “Heebie Jeebies”. (INSERT SOURCE TO