| Birth: | Jul. 4, 1900 | | Death: | Jul. 6, 1971 | 
Jazz Musician. His achievements in the jazz circle of America are extremely remarkable in light of his humble beginnings. Louis Armstrong was born a illegitimate black baby in the slums of segregated New Orleans, became a juvenile delinquent then relegated to the Colored Waifs' Home for Boys. He was introduced to the cornet which began a lifelong commitment to Jazz music. He found a mentor in Joe Oliver and eventually joined his Chicago-based Creole Jazz Band in Chicago from where he went on to introduce his self styled solo singing to the field of Jazz. He was born Louis Daniel Armstrong to Mary Albert and William Armstrong a turpentine factory laborer. William quickly deserted the family and Louis went to live with his grandmother. Neglected with no supervision, he spent most of his time on the streets of New Orleans, singing with neighborhood kids for loose change and searching garbage cans for food. His defining moment came after delinquency landed him in the Waif's Home. Under the tutelage of the Home's band instructor, he received his first formal music lessons and given his first cornet. His release from the facility found him completely unprepared. Having no formal education, he was forced into doing odd jobs to survive, selling papers, unloading boats and hauling coal. Determined to become a musician, Armstrong frequented many honky-tonks and dance halls which led him to Joe "King" Oliver who became a pivotal figure taking on the role of mentor, teacher and father to Louis and above all, at age 18, a member of the "Kid Ory Band." Oliver now a well known Jazz artist in Chicago asked Armstrong to join his band at Lincoln Gardens in 1922 where he made his first recordings. In 1925, he organized his own first band, while switching from the cornet to the trumpet, the "Hot Five" and recorded his first album. During the tenure of the group, Armstrong gave rise to the solo as the centerpiece in jazz music. By the 1940's, the era of the Big Band was over and Armstrong organized a small band called the "Louis Armstrong All Stars, which became the most well known jazz groups in history They played all over the world in clubs, festivals and concert halls until disbanding just prior to the death of Armstrong. He had a movie career starting in 1931, appearing in "Ex-Flame" and would perform in some fifteen others..."Pennies From Heaven" "Everyday's a Holiday" "New Orleans" "The Five Pennies" "The Beat Generation" "Paris Blues" and "Hello Dolly" are a few. Between 1950 and the 1970's he was a television mainstay. A few of many appearances...the "Ed Sullivan Show" "Timex Show" "Bing Crosby Oldsmobile Show" "What's My Line?" "The Dean Martin Show" "The Tonight Show" and "Kraft Music Hall." His biggest hits as a recording artist came late in his life: "Mack the Knife" (1956), "Hello, Dolly!" (number one hit 1964), "What a Wonderful World" (1968) and "We Have All The Time In The World" (20 years after his death. In 1959, Louis suffered a heart attack while on tour in Italy. He endured the sixties doing a string of performances in which he barely played the trumpet, mostly singing and talking to the audience between numbers. By 1970, his health had declined to the point where he could not play at all, and could only walk a few steps at a time. He passed away of a massive heart attack at his home in Queens. His funeral in New York at the National Guard Armory attracted a crowd of 25,000 attended by many entertainers, musicians and politicians including Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Carson. Later, his hometown of New Orleans staged a memorial service in the French Quarter culminating in his honor, the traditional Jazz funeral march down Bourbon Street. Legacy...The rags to riches Jazz King set up a non-profit foundation for educating disadvantaged children in music. He deeded his house and substantial archives of writings, books recordings and memorabilia to Queens College, New York. The Louis Armstrong archives have been available to music researchers, and his home, where he passed away, in Corona, Queens was opened to the public as a museum. Louis has a record star on the Hollywood Walk of fame and was a Charter inductee of the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1978. The Postal Service honored him with a 32 cent commemorative stamp in their Legends of American Music series, issued 1 September 1995. The city of New Orleans renamed its airport to the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in honor of its famous native son on the anniversary of his 100th birthday. His first autobiography "Swing That Music" was published in 1936 followed by his second, "Satchmo: A Musical Autobiograpy" published in 1954. In a bit of trivia: Satchmo became his nickname after his 1932 Grand Tour of Europe. A London music magazine editor inadvertently wrote "Satchmo" in referring to his then moniker "Satchelmouth." "Satchmo" thought he was born on July 4, 1900 and observed that date. However, it has since been discovered that the correct date is August 4, 1901. (bio by: Donald Greyfield)
Search Amazon for Louis Armstrong | | | Burial:
Flushing Cemetery
Flushing
Queens County
New York, USA
Plot: Section 9 |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Record added: Jan 01, 2001
Find A Grave Memorial# 36 |
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