Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and singer who was one of the pivotal and most influential figures in jazz music. His career spanned from the 1920's to the 1960's, covering many different eras of jazz.
Coming to prominence in the 1920's as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing.
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960's, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong
http://www.biography.com/people/louis-armstrong-9188912
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/louis-armstrong-mn0000234518
Thank You for posting this! I think this is a great post because in one of the posts from earlier, which talked about Jazz had this artist listed, but not much details about him so I think it was a really good idea to do a post about him!
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting to hear about this music legend, and also about how when people heard good music, almost everybody could be a fan, or at least appreciate it at even during a time of racism. I also think that it would be really interesting to learn about his life story.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting knowing which was one of the inspirational icons in the Jazz music. I find this very interesting because Jazz was a huge part of the 1920's era in which influence the fashion, dances, and the youth of that era, so knowing someone who was a big contributor to the Jazz era is really amazing.
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