Louis Armstrong biography and interesting facts from life

It's hard to imagine a more popular jazz artist than Louis Armstrong. His entire musical life is a story of vivid and successful experiments. The biography of Louis Armstrong is a biography of the jazz itself, written by beautiful hits.

Unhappy childhood

Today they would say that the family of the future jazz star was more than dysfunctional. The biography of Louis Armstrong originates in one of the poorest areas of New Orleans. It happened in 1900, but no one knows the exact date. Armstrong himself set a date for July 4 (Independence Day of the United States). Parents: mother-washerwoman, father-handyman. The father abandoned the family when the children were very young, and the mother began to work as a prostitute. For some time, Louis and his sister Beatrice were brought up by his grandmother, but soon mother took them to her. However, she did not pay due attention to the children, and they spent most of their free time on the street.

Louis Armstrong biography

At the age of seven, the boy was engaged in a variety of work: he sold newspapers on the street and carried coal. It was engaged in the distribution of coal, he fell into one Jewish family with the surname Karnofsky. They were emigrants from Russia. This acquaintance can be partially considered symbolic. Karnofsky lived in Storville, a region of free morals with many different entertainment venues. It was here that Louis Armstrong, whose biography previously had nothing to do with music, began to sing for the first time in a small station ensemble, immediately he began to play drums.

The beginning of the musical path

At 13, he ends up in a workhouse, a kind of correctional boarding school for delinquent teenagers. The reason was a shot from a pistol stolen from a policeman. There was an orchestra in the camp, in which the boy fell. Then he learned to play many wind instruments, including the cornet. At the end of his sentence, Armstrong already knew that he wanted to make music.

Sachmo

After leaving the workhouse, Louis Armstrong begins to play in various clubs and bars. Since he did not have his own instrument, he had to borrow it. After some time, Louis met with Oliver King, who at that time already had a reputation as the city’s best cornetist. It was his Armstrong who all his life considered his first real teacher. After this acquaintance, the guy plays a lot in various jazz groups. In the musical environment, he was gradually assigned the nickname Sachmo, from the abbreviated English Satchel Mouth, which literally means "mouth bag."

Creative growth

We can safely assume that 1922 was the starting point of a successful career as a musician named Louis Armstrong. His biography, his creative path were not easy. At this time, he goes to Chicago at the invitation of his teacher, and now also business partner Oliver King. The fact is that Oliver needed a second cornet player to work in the Lincoln Gardens restaurant, in the Creole Jazz Band jazz orchestra. Together with this team, Armstrong makes his first recordings.

Louis Armstrong biography short

In 1924, he decided to start a solo career and moved to New York. The musician performs as part of the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, and it is here that the audience notices undeniable talent. Many people come to see a young and talented artist who is distinguished by a bright and unusual manner of playing. At the same time, he continues to collaborate with well-known at that time jazz groups.

Popularity growth

In 1925, Louis returned to Chicago. There, he also continued his rapid creative activity, and in 1926 for the first time became the bandleader of his own ensemble Louis Armstrong And His Stompers. At the same time, he moves from the cornet to the trumpet - in his opinion, a brighter instrument in sound, and then begins to sing professionally. The singing of Louis Armstrong arouses wild interest and popularity among the public.

Louis Armstrong biography

In 1927, the biography of Louis Armstrong again intersects with New York. He finally moved to the musical capital of America and began to work more and more on the suite of dance music that was popular at that time. And here he is also rapidly gaining popularity, bringing his personality in this direction.

Since 1930, the musician has toured extensively in America, and also makes a number of tours to Europe. The biography of Louis Armstrong is a series of successful unions and solo work. An incredible amount of high-quality musical material, a huge number of devoted listeners. Armstrong in a short period of time became a real national hero.

The most famous jazz artist

Louis Armstrong, whose biography is filled with musical achievements and victories, worked amazingly and fruitfully from 1933 until the outbreak of the war. Moreover, at this time he not only makes music tightly, but also manages to act in films.

Louis Armstrong Biography Summary

At that time, racist beliefs were still strong, so black actors were invited only for short episodic roles, which, moreover, were often cut out of finished works. Despite this, Louis Armstrong starred in several dozen films, including: “Manna from Heaven” (1936), “Every Day is a Holiday” (1937), “A Cabin in Heaven” (1943), “A Song is Born” (1948), “ Strike and Answer ”(1950),“ Strip ”(1951),“ High Society ”(1951),“ Five Pennies ”(1959),“ Paris Blues ”(1961).

Honored Laurels

In 1947, Louis Armstrong began a new project. The biography of the bandleader promised success to each of his undertakings. He organizes the All Stars team. At first, the name was completely true, and only the stars of that time played in the team, but over time, the situation began to change, and new musicians replaced the old ones. For many, "All Stars" have become the starting point of a successful career.

Louis Armstrong biography creative journey

Together with his team, Armstrong traveled all over the world, the most remote places, even Africa and India, but never visited the USSR, despite the fact that the United States Department of State repeatedly tried to sponsor this trip. But Armstrong’s merit was enough to secretly confer on him the title of “Ambassador of Jazz.

Musical genius

He did not stop performing and touring until the death of Louis Armstrong. The biography (short in our presentation, but very saturated in fact) says that the great musician died at the age of 69 from acute heart failure, although even before that Armstrong let his heart down. He suffered 2 heart attacks, after which he recovered for a rather long time. In addition, he was operated several times (there were problems with the upper lip, as well as with the ligaments).

biography of artist Louis Armstrong

Many music critics believe that the biography of the artist (Louis Armstrong deserves such words) is the story of the development and heyday of a true genius of that era. The manner of his playing the wind instruments was much ahead of his time. He actually worked in a unique technique, improvising a lot and fruitfully.

There are those who believe that the artist wasted in vain, devoting time not only to music, but also acting in films, working on books with his own biography, and participating in various shows, thus often posing as a clown. Well, maybe this is partly true, but you should not forget about what time it was, as they used to be with color artists.

Since 1935, Joe Glaser became the manager of Armstrong. He not only worked with Louis until his death, they were true friends. In many ways, the work of the jazz legend was in the hands of Glazer, and some believe that such an influence negatively affected musical creativity. But there is no other way to learn history.

Family matters

The biography of jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong would not be complete without a mention of his family. Despite the fact that Armstrong’s parents were unusually poor, and his childhood was not joyful, it cannot be said that it was such terrible living conditions that played an important role in the formation of personality. The mother, with all her disorder, was able to invest in her son all that was good that later helped him maintain a love of life, kindness and a cheerful character.

Louis Armstrong Bandleader Biography

But what about the personal life of a star named Louis Armstrong? A biography (short on the pages of our article, but so interesting) reports that Armstrong was married four times, which means that he was successful with women, and he loved them. Such a number of wives is not strange for that time and for a creative person in principle. We can safely say that Louis Armstrong had a big loving heart.

Louis Armstrong today

He was a talented musician and bright personality Louis Armstrong. Biography, a summary of the life and work of a truly great person are not able to fully describe his merits. He managed not only to survive in terrible poverty, but also to ensure that his name has become synonymous with good music. Louis Armstrong is a true musical genius, much ahead of his time.

During his creative life, he managed to work with a large number of famous and talented people, become the author of world famous musical compositions that will not lose their relevance for many years, star in several dozen films, write two autobiography books.

The date and year of his birth are in doubt, but is it of fundamental importance now? Although he himself came up with the date of his birth, and even if he is older or younger than a year, the scale of his creative genius from this remains unchanged.

Today it is difficult to imagine how difficult and incredible his career was, and how great his merits are in the current understanding of jazz. But the list of achievements of this genius is worthy of respect.

The work of Louis Armstrong remains popular today. Even his earliest recordings are recognized as talented and progressive. The talent with which he was generously endowed allowed Louis to become a world famous performer. His passing away was widely reported throughout the world. Even in the Soviet Union in the newspaper "Izvestia" information about this event was on the front page. United States President Nicholson expressed his condolences over the death of Louis Armstrong to his last wife.

Of course, today one can argue a lot and endlessly how much Armstrong’s work influenced the development of jazz, and how great was the influence of friendship with Glazer on this man’s musical works. It remains unchanged that a few decades after the death of Armstrong, his work finds more and more fans, which means it remains relevant to this day, which in itself is a lot.


All Articles