...Louis Armstrong In the early twentieth century, a new style of music was being created in New Orleans. This style of music, known as Jazz, was performed with the audience in mind. It was heavily influenced by ragtime and washboard bands. Jazz is also highly competitive since the musicians wanted to stand out from the rest of the crowd. Their differences were accomplished through the use of timbres, improvisation, and many other characteristic of Jazz. Louis Armstrong’s version of “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue” illustrates the characteristics of Jazz, is completely unique to his style of preference, and advocates against racial discrimination. Improvisation was the most unique and challenging style utilized in the Jazz era. Musicians used this skill set to differentiate themselves from other artists within their original musical scores along with remakes of other artist’s songs, as no two performances of a song were the same. This is because the musicians literally made up or created the notes they played for their solos during the performance. The top skilled performers of Jazz were defined by their unique ability to create interesting solos with both their vocals and instruments. Louis Armstrong had the ability to use phrasing as a singer to capture syncopations that were prominent in early jazz. Jazz in the 1920’s was a combination of blues, ragtime, swing notes, and other European influences. Armstrong was able to capture the blue note,...
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...Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong, ‘Satchmo’ being his nickname, is a name that is known worldwide. He made a name for himself, not only with his music, but his personality and aura in a holistic sense. Through display of his uniqueness and unapologetic independence, Armstrong’s success and influence in the music world helped develop the genre of jazz and changed its traditional norm forever. Louis Armstrong came into the world August 4, 1901 in the Story Ville district of Louisiana. He grew up in an unstable home with an absent father and mother struggling to support him through means of prostitution. Armstrong had to look to contribute to the family income only in the fifth grade. He was recruited by a Jewish family to take care of some tasks for a small pay. In December of 1912, he was arrested after shooting a gun at a New Year’s Eve celebration and was placed in the Colored Waifs Home for Boys. (louisarmstrongfoundation.org) It was there that Armstrong picked up the love for music. He embarked on investing in his newfound talent after taking on cornet lessons during his stay at the boys’ home. (biography.com) He left the home in 1914 with a passionate and determined heart for music. As Armstrong began to perform with numerous musical groups in the 1920s, he began to experiment with the extended solo in his music. This would transform the jazz world forever. Before Armstrong introduced this new concept, “jazz music was played either in highly orchestrated arrangements...
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...Battlefield When most of us hear the word leader, during the Civil Rights Movement, we think of great men like, Martin Luther King or A. Philip Randolph. However, Louis Armstrong must be considered as one of our countries leaders. Being an innovative musician he not only pioneered jazz but overcame barriers set by racism. He saw the musician, not the color of the musician. Louis patented his own style of music which became known and loved the world over. David Stricklin’s book Louis Armstrong gave us a detailed description of Armstrong’s life. By cracking open the pages of history we gain a greater understanding of his life and how he interacted with his environment. Armstrong was born August 4, 1901, in the Third Ward just west of downtown New Orleans. Stricklin quoted Gary Giddins, “Louis was raised in a house of cards in the middle of a gale,” which describes his life. His family moved later to a red light district known as, The Battlefield. Just the name, The Battlefield, makes one think of a harsh environment where you could lose your life at any moment. According to Stricklin he was primarily raised by his grandmother, and had to endure seeing his mother struggle economically, even subjecting herself to prostitution to provide for her family. His father had limited contact, which must have been difficult for Louis to understand, since he had another family. During Armstrong’s early adolescence the United States was in an era of reform, the Progressive Era, asking for far...
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...Orleans style into a completely different form of jazz. Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana in a very poor neighborhood. His father, a laborer, abandoned the family when he was young, and his mother was an irresponsible single parent. She left Armstrong and his sister in the care of their grandmother(Source C). Armstrong was taken out of school in fifth grade to begin working. On New Year's Eve in 1912, Armstrong fired his stepfather's gun in the air during a celebration and was arrested. He was then sent...
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...Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Very soon after his birth, Louis’ father left him, his mother, and his sister. So Louis and his sister were forced to move to his grandmother. Louis and his sister moved back with his mother when Louis was five. Soon after, he was enrolled in the Fisk School of Boys and helped his mom by delivering newspapers and hauling coal. When Louis was eleven, he dropped out of school, joined a quartet of boys that sang on the streets, just to help his family. Also when he was eleven, he started to get into trouble. The police took him to a home for troubled boys. At that home, he talked to the band director into letting him join the band. That is where he learned to play the cornet. About two years later, Louis was released from the home and for the next few years, he would be supporting his family by selling newspapers and unloading bananas out of boats. Louis Armstrong’s achievements are remarkable. During his career, he developed a way of playing jazz, as an trumpet player and a singer, which has had an impact on all musicians to follow; recorded hit...
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...with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals” (Louis web). Louis armstrong became a influence musicians from a simple intrest in music. Louis Armstrong was born august 4, 1901 In New Orleans Louisiana (Louis Web). Armstrong's father left at his birth (Mcdonough 5). For most of his childhood he lived in a section of new orleans so poor it was nicknamed “The Battlefield” (Louis web). Armstrong lived with his grandma Josephine for days at a time while his mother worked (Mcdonough 7). Armstrong left school in search of work after 5th grade (Louis web). His first Job was selling newsPapers at...
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...Introduction: I did my report on Louis Armstrong. He was a famous Jazz musician that was known around the world. The instrument he was most famous for was the trumpet. Louis Armstrong transformed jazz in the 1920's and gave it a meaning. Louis Armstrong's trumpet playing changed the world of music and continues to have an impact on American music. Early life: Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother’s name was Mary Albert and his father’s name was William Armstrong. As a child he was left with his grandmother to be raised but later moved back in with his mother at five years old. He went to the Fisk School for Boys where he first started to learn about music. At eleven he drop out of school and joined an all-boys singing group. As he got older he started to play the trumpet with a band all over New Orleans. He played in many of the city’s brass bands and parades and started to become locally famous. Achievements: All his life he struggled with being poor and not having many things. He worked as a paper boy, in a band and had many other jobs. Some awards Louis Armstrong got were King Zulu on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans in 1949. Armstrong was put into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. US Postal Service gave Louis Armstrong his own stamp. Later in life: Later on in his life he became a famous jazz musician. Some of the songs he was most famous for were “What a Wonderful World, Hello Dolly, Heebie Jeebies, and When the Saints Go...
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...Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter, bandleader, singer, soloist, film star, and comedian. He was also considered an influential artist in jazz history. Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born in a poor area named “The Battlefield”. (Biography) He had a difficult childhood because his father abandoned the family a little after Louis was born. His mother turned to prostitution and left him with his grandmother. In the fifth grade, he dropped out of school to star working. At the time, a Jewish family gave him a job collecting junk and delivering coal. They were good people and encouraged him to sing and invited him to their home for meals. In 1912 on New Year’s Eve, Armstrong shot a gun and was arrested and sent to the Colored...
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...This documentary narrates the story of American jazz trumpeter also known as singer Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong's is known as the Satchmo or the pops have a basic declaration to his initial life which is more fun with incredible readings. Composed of extraordinary realism, first Louis conveyed a rousing story starting from his origination, his existence with his grandmother, his initial cherish (which is extremely disagreeable), his initial separation (which is believed to be beneficial for him), his initial enterprise with his cornet and finally the start of his superb vacation in jazz music whereby he leaves a great heritage. It was fascinating to get a look at New Orleans in the beginning of the jazz through the eyes of the standout among the most popular with regarded performers to leave the city. The stream of the story was somehow difficult to stare of now and again because of the wide exhibits of artists, pimps trickster, cantina proprietors, cops and prostitutes that Louis always presented them,...
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...Trumpeters Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis became two of the most inspiring American jazz musicians of all time by accessing very differently to their art. In the analysis an album from each artist, I choose “What A Wonderful World” of Louis Armstrong and “Kind of Blue” of Miles Davis. Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971) was the most influential performer to affect a lot of Jazz musicians. He influenced the whole jazz population with his amazing voice and energetic trumpet. And he played a great role in the modernization of jazz. His career spanned almost 50 years, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different jazz eras. The work of Louis Armstrong summed up the achievements of New Orleans jazz style and indicated the way to the later...
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...Louis Armstrong was the one of the most important influential person in jazz history. He was a singer, composer and trumpeter. He is renowned by most people for his voice and his trumpet playing on the stage. By the time Louis Armstrong was renowned, America was very racially divided. But Louis Armstrong’s talent was really accepted into white society, his voice and performance was largely acknowledged by the most people in American back then. Even my father also says he was the one of the most famous person back then. With the privilege of acknowledgement from others, he was one of very few African American public figures. Except Armstrong was a good singer and performer, he was also a great composer. Armstrong wrote more than fifty songs,...
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...Intrigued, Louis Armstrong took interest to the new genre and wanted to be a part of the movement. He received opportunity and encouragement by his peers to begin playing music. Loyal to his instrument, Armstrong was depicted as independent when it came to his music, as he had turned down opportunities and people to prioritize his music. Yet, the people that had the greatest impact on his life played a major role in inspiring him to start, and eventually continue playing music. They pushed him to become one of the greatest musicians Jazz had ever seen. Louis first had exposure to music as a child and had always taking a liking to it, but he never had the chance to play until he was arrested and sent to the Fisk School for Boys. There, he met...
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...social revolution was on it's way. Customs and values of previous were rejected. Life was to be lived to the fullest. This was also known as the era of the "lost generations," and the "flapper" with her rolled stockings, short skirts, and straight up-and-down look. They disturbed their elders in the casino, night clubs, and speakeasies that replaced the ballrooms of prewar days. Dancing became more informal - close of the nineteenth century in the unpleasant dance halls and whorehouses of the South and Midwest where the word Jazz commonly meant sexual intercourse. Southern blacks, delivered from slavery a few decades before, started playing European music Afro modifications. The first place of jazz has many origins: New Orleans, St. Louis, Memphis and Kansas City are just a few. But New Orleans was and still remains an important jazz center. The ethnic rainbow of people who went to the bars and whorehouses were a big part of the development of jazz. The city had been under Spanish French rule because of the Louisiana purchase. By 1900, it was a blend of Spanish, French, English, German, Italian, Slavic and countless blacks originally brought in as slaves The first jazz bands contained a "rhythm section" consisting of a string bass, drums, and a guitar or banjo, and a "melodic section" with one or two cornets, a trombone, a clarinet, and sometimes even a violin. Years later, jazz was taken over by large orchestras; A "society jazz contained fifteen or more musicians. Today...
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...)(2 points) Answer below: The first selection, “Hotter Than That”, is a very colorful, upbeat presentation of traditional jazz. The tempo is in 4/4 and is played at around 100 beats per minute. Mr. Armstrong moves quickly and widely with the trumpet from high, vibrato tones to low, mellow contradictions. There is the bright addition from a drum-set that keeps the beat up. The Clarinet begins playing at about 45 seconds into the song, which helps to add a mellow opposition to the brassy, crisp sound of the trumpet. In total, the tempo and mood of the arrangement is exciting and energetic. When Louis Armstrong begins to sing, his raspy, low voice acts as a great addition of shape and diversity, and even though his words are incomprehensible, he is able to make the sounds of the trumpet with his vocal chords. It sounds like some sort of stringed instrument chimes in at the end of the vocal performs, after which the trumpet plays for about ten seconds in a low, raspy arrangement, sounding an awful lot like the vocals that just finished I don’t have an extensive involvement with this type of composition, but I really like it. I played the trumpet in school and have always really like the clean sound it produces. This piece is no exception to that, and Louis Armstrong utilizes every bit of the capability available in the instrument. B. Defining characteristics: How is this selection representative of Early Jazz? (List 2-3 musical characteristics that you can hear and...
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...peanut butter because it just would not be the same. So what makes the trumpet so special? The trumpet is by far the loudest and sharpest sounding horn in the band. The interesting shaped horn amplifies sound with the bends on pipes within it. This makes playing trumpet natural for leaders, and to become successful with it if they are good too. In 1894, early trumpet pioneer Buddy Bolden became the first known jazzman simply because he was a trumpeter. From then on other musicians followed this trend and the trumpet reigned king ever since. King Oliver was a very influential band to bring out the best of what the trumpet could offer. Musician Louis Armstrong began his ride to fame with this group in 1922. Armstrong's playing technique was honed by constant practice, which extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. Armstrong also almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what was essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression. Another trumpet unit that should be noted as jazz greats is Duke Ellington’s trumpet section. Such musicians as Bubba Miley, Cootie Williams, and then the most well know of all is the “El Gato” as Duke would call him. El Gato or the cat in Spanish real name was Cat Anderson who helped make signature the trumpet feature in Duke’s...
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