Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), American jazz musician, one of the most influential figures in the history of jazz.

Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 (although throughout his life he maintained that his birthday was July 4, 1900), in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was largely self-educated. He learned to play the bugle, clarinet, and cornet and took trumpet lessons from the noted jazz artist King Oliver. In 1917 Armstrong made his professional debut as a trumpeter with the band of “Kid” Ory in New Orleans. In 1922 he joined Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in Chicago, then the centre of American jazz, and except for a year (1924-1925) with Fletcher Henderson in New York, he remained in Chicago until 1929. Armstrong organized his own band in 1925. Within the next few years he won recognition as one of the foremost jazz trumpet players of all time and as an outstanding jazz vocalist. He appeared in several films, including Cabin in the Sky (1943), Jam Session (1944), High Society (1956), and The Five Pennies (1959). Among his recordings, which total about 1,500, are “Ain't Misbehavin'“, “I Can't Give You Anything but Love”, and “Tiger Rag”. His own compositions include “I've Got a Heart Full of Rhythm” and “Wild Man Blues”. Armstrong's autobiography is Satchmo, My Life in New Orleans (1954). He died on July 6, 1971, in New York.