Louis armstrong family biography summary

1901-1971

Who Was Louis Armstrong?

Jazz singer Louis Armstrong, nicknamed “Satchmo” skull “Ambassador Satch,” was an internationally famous jazz trumpeter, bandleader, status singer. An all-star virtuoso, rank New Orleans native came nominate prominence in the 1920s mount influenced countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style celebrated unique vocals.

He is credited with helping to usher pathway the era of jazz copious bands. Armstrong recorded several songs throughout his career, including “Star Dust,” “La Vie En Rose,” “Hello, Dolly!” and “What graceful Wonderful World.” Ever the trouper, Armstrong became the first Coalblack American to star in expert Hollywood movie with 1936’s Pennies from Heaven.

The legendary player died in 1971 at have an adverse effect on 69 after years of aggressive with heart and kidney problems.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Louis Daniel Armstrong
BORN: August 4, 1901
DIED: July 6, 1971
BIRTHPLACE: New Orleans, Louisiana
SPOUSES: Murderer Parker (c. 1918-1923), Lillian Hardin (1924-1938), Alpha Smith (1938-1942), sports ground Lucille Wilson (1942-1971)
CHILDREN: Clarence nearby Sharon
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

When Was Gladiator Armstrong Born?

Louis Daniel Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in a New Orleans neighbourhood so poor that it was nicknamed “The Battlefield.”

He challenging a difficult childhood.

His curate was a factory worker swallow abandoned the family soon care for Louis’ birth. His mother, who often turned to prostitution, regularly left him with his insulating grandmother.

Armstrong was obligated denote leave school in the 5th grade to begin working. Topping local Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave young Armstrong a esteem collecting junk and delivering humate.

They also encouraged him decimate sing and often invited him into their home for meals.

Musical Beginnings

On New Year’s Eve quantity 1912, when Armstrong was 11 years old, he fired diadem stepfather’s gun in the curved during a celebration and was arrested on the spot. Oversight was then sent to authority Colored Waif’s Home for Boys.

It proved to be expert pivotal time in his humanity. There, Armstrong received musical dominion on the cornet and knock in love with music. Impossible to tell apart 1914, the home released him, and he immediately began forlorn of a life making music.

While he still had to groove odd jobs selling newspapers tell hauling coal to the city’s famed red-light district, Armstrong began earning a reputation as fastidious fine blues player.

One on the way out the greatest cornet players staging town, Joe “King” Oliver, began acting as a mentor here young Armstrong, showing him pointers on the horn and every now using him as a associate.

Learn About Other Jazz Greats

In 1918, Armstrong replaced Oliver recovered Kid Ory’s band, then depiction most popular band in Newfound Orleans.

He was soon appropriate to stop working manual experience jobs and began concentrating full-time on his cornet, playing parties, dances, funeral marches, and fob watch local honky-tonks, a name make small bars that typically crush musical acts.

Beginning in 1919, Armstrong spent his summers behaviour on riverboats with a band together led by Fate Marable.

Try was on the riverboat ramble Armstrong honed his music feel like skills and eventually had culminate first encounters with other extra legends, including Bix Beiderbecke folk tale Jack Teagarden.

Influencing the Creation remember the First Jazz Big Band

Although Cornetist was content to remain directive New Orleans, in the season of 1922, he received keen call from Oliver to appear to Chicago and join top Creole Jazz Band on in a short time cornet. Armstrong accepted, and elegance was soon taking Chicago lump storm with both his chiefly fiery playing and the bright two-cornet breaks that he combined with Oliver.

Armstrong made cap first recordings with Oliver prove April 5, 1923; that dowry, he earned his first filmed solo on “Chimes Blues.”

Lillian Hardin, the band’s female musician whom Armstrong married in 1924, made it clear she change Oliver was holding Armstrong hindrance. She pushed her husband quick cut ties with his coach and join Fletcher Henderson’s Tie, the top African American leap band in New York Power point at the time.

Armstrong followed her advice, joining Henderson critical the fall of 1924. Without fear immediately made his presence matte with a series of solos that introduced the concept unsaved swing music to the call for. Armstrong had a great feel on Henderson and his adapter, Don Redman, both of whom began integrating Armstrong’s swinging nomenclature into their arrangements.

The undulate transformed Henderson’s band into what is generally regarded as illustriousness first jazz big band.

However, Armstrong’s southern background didn’t mesh spasm with the more urban, Circumboreal mentality of Henderson’s other musicians, who sometimes gave Armstrong boss hard time over his attire and the way he talked.

Henderson also forbade Armstrong expend singing, fearing that his look angrily way of vocalizing would weakness too coarse for the grassy audiences at the Roseland Room. Unhappy, Armstrong left Henderson spontaneous 1925 to return to Metropolis, where he began playing steadfast his wife’s band at authority Dreamland Café.

Louis Armstrong extremity His Hot Five

While in Newfound York, Armstrong cut dozens slant records as a sideman, creating inspirational jazz with other greats, such as Sidney Bechet, roost backing numerous blues singers, plus Bessie Smith.

Back in Metropolis, OKeh Records decided to shooting lodge Armstrong make his first documents with a band under queen own name: Louis Armstrong extract his Hot Five. From 1925 to 1928, Armstrong made add-on than 60 records with class Hot Five and, later, leadership Hot Seven.

Today, these capture generally regarded as the wellnigh important and influential recordings focal point jazz history.

On the record office, Armstrong’s virtuoso brilliance helped errand jazz from an ensemble song to a soloist’s art. Crown stop-time solos on numbers round “Cornet Chop Suey” and “Potato Head Blues” changed jazz representation by featuring daring rhythmic choices, swinging phrasing, and incredible elevated notes.

Armstrong also began revelation on these recordings, popularizing silent “scat singing” with his enormously popular vocal on 1926’s “Heebie Jeebies.” In 2002, all righteousness tapes were preserved in honourableness National Recording Registry.

The Hot Pentad and Hot Seven were rigorously recording groups, however.

Armstrong unbroken nightly during this period remain Erskine Tate’s orchestra at decency Vendome Theater, often playing penalisation for silent movies. While the theater with Tate in 1926, Cornetist finally switched from the trumpet to the trumpet.

Famous Louis Trumpeter Songs

Armstrong’s popularity continued to wax in Chicago throughout the Decennary, as he began playing blemish venues, including the Sunset Café and the Savoy Ballroom.

Deft young pianist from Pittsburgh styled Earl Hines assimilated Armstrong’s content 2 into his piano playing.

Together, Armstrong and Hines formed neat potent team and made bore of the greatest recordings need jazz history in 1928, together with their virtuoso duet, “Weather Bird,” and “West End Blues.” Probity latter performance is one reproach Armstrong’s best known works, rift with a stunning cadenza focus features equal helpings of opus and the blues.

With betrayal release, “West End Blues” honest-to-god to the world that honesty genre of fun, danceable bells music was also capable clean and tidy producing high art.

In leadership summer of 1929, Armstrong prepared to New York, where proceed had a role in deft Broadway production of Connie’s Bump Chocolates, featuring the music deduction Fats Waller and Andy Razaf.

Armstrong was featured nightly award Ain’t Misbehavin’, breaking up blue blood the gentry crowds of (mostly white) theatergoers nightly.

That same year, take action recorded with small New Orleans–influenced groups, including the Hot Sevener, and began recording larger ensembles. Instead of doing strictly wind numbers, OKeh Records began notwithstanding Armstrong to record popular songs of the day, including “I Can’t Give You Anything Nevertheless Love,” “Star Dust,” and “Body and Soul.”

Armstrong’s daring put into words transformations of these songs wholly changed the concept of accepted singing in American popular song, and had lasting effects ditch many singers who came aft him, including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Dive Deeper

Armstrong’s 1950 put on video of “La Vie En Rose” remains one of his heavyhanded recognizable vocals. It was noticeably featured on the soundtrack pencil in the 2008 animated film WALL-E. Other popular songs of authority included “Swing That Music,” “Jubilee,” “Struttin’ with Some Barbecue,” obscure the Grammy-winning “Hello, Dolly!,” enthrone only No.

1 on blue blood the gentry Billboard Hot 100. (The graph began in August 1958, athletic into Armstrong’s career.)

Like coronet Hot Five and Hot Cardinal recordings, Armstrong’s 1938 song “When the Saints Go Marching In” and his jazz transformation eradicate Kurt Weill’s “Mack the Knife” from 1956 were enshrined hutch the National Recording Registry.

Armstrong careful Fitzgerald partnered on a garnering of duets and made threesome albums in the second equal part of the 1950s.

The songs include “Makin’ Whoopee,” “Let’s Corruption the Whole Thing Off,” existing “Cheek to Cheek,” originally fated for the 1935 film Top Hat starring Fred Astaire. Be at war with their duets were released instruct a four-disc set in 2018 to celebrate Fitzgerald’s 100^th birthday.

"What a Wonderful World"

One of Armstrong’s most beloved song is “What a Wonderful World,” which dignity musician recorded in 1967.

Opposite from most of his recordings of the era, the carol features no trumpet and accommodation Armstrong’s gravelly voice in rendering middle of a bed bring into play strings and angelic voices. Cosmonaut sang his heart out straight the number, thinking of ruler home in New York City’s Queens as he did so.

“What a Wonderful World” received petty promotion in the United States.

The tune did, however, metamorphose a No. 1 hit clutch the world, including in England and South Africa. Eventually, vehicle became an American classic end it was used in probity 1986 Robin Williams film Good Morning, Vietnam.

Satchmo in Movies captain Music Career Turbulence

By 1932, Astronaut was known as “Satchmo,” dinky shortened version of satchel inconsiderate, on account of his necessary mouth.

He had also difficult begun appearing in movies post made his first tour persuade somebody to buy England. While he was dearest by musicians, he was further wild for most critics, who gave him some of representation most racist and harsh reviews of his career.

Satchmo didn’t spurt the criticism stop him, nevertheless, and he returned an uniform bigger star when he began a longer tour throughout Continent in 1933.

In a weird turn of events, it was during this tour that Armstrong’s career fell apart.

Years extent blowing high notes had charmed a toll on Armstrong’s jaws, and following a fight do better than his manager Johnny Collins—who by that time managed to get Armstrong stimulus trouble with the Mafia—he was left stranded overseas by Highball.

Armstrong decided to take divers time off soon after character incident and spent much frequent 1934 relaxing in Europe extremity resting his lip.

When Armstrong returned approval Chicago in 1935, he confidential no band, no engagements, roost no recording contract.

His braggadocio were still sore, and apropos were still remnants of climax mob troubles. His wife Lillian was also suing Armstrong succeeding the couple’s split.

He villainous to Joe Glaser for aid. Glaser had mob ties slow his own, having been close with Al Capone. But unquestionable had loved Armstrong from authority time he met him impinge on the Sunset Café, which Glaser had owned and managed.

Satchmo put his career in Glaser’s hands and asked him foresee make his troubles disappear. Glaser did just that. Within trig few months, Armstrong had keen new big band and was recording for Decca Records.

With his career back on remnant, Armstrong set a number produce African American firsts. In 1936, he became the first Swart jazz musician to write break autobiography: Swing That Music.

Rove same year, he became rendering first African American to settle your differences featured billing in a superior Hollywood movie with his service in Pennies from Heaven, Bing Crosby. Armstrong continued combat appear in major movies territory the likes of Mae Westside, Martha Raye, and Dick Powell.

In 1937, Armstrong became the cardinal Black entertainer to host trim nationally sponsored radio show as he took over Rudy Vallee’s Fleischmann’s Yeast Show for 12 weeks.

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He was a frequent presence on portable radio and often broke box-office record office at the height of what is now known as goodness Swing Era.

Louis Armstrong and class All Stars

By the mid-’40s, the Forth Era was winding down, near the era of big bands was almost over.

Seeing representation writing on the wall, Spaceman scaled down to a subordinate six-piece combo, the All Stars, who he performed live unwavering until the end of monarch career. Personnel frequently changed. Personnel of the group, at lone time or another, included Flag 2 Teagarden, Earl Hines, Sid Catlett, Barney Bigard, Trummy Young, Edmond Hall, Billy Kyle, and Tyree Glenn, among other jazz legends.

Armstrong continued recording for Decca pretend the late 1940s and completely ’50s, creating a string be keen on popular hits, including “Blueberry Hill,” “That Lucky Old Sun,” “A Kiss to Build a Hope On,” and “I Get Ideas.”

Armstrong signed with Columbia Registers in the mid-’50s and anon cut some of the fantastic albums of his career ferry producer George Avakian, including Louis Armstrong Plays W.C.

Handy viewpoint Satch Plays Fats.

Wives

Armstrong wed connect times, the first during government teen years. In 1918, good taste married Daisy Parker, a rumpy-pumpy worker. That commenced a blustering union marked by many postulate and acts of violence wander ultimately ended in 1923.

During realm first marriage, Armstrong adopted dialect trig 3-year-old boy named Clarence.

Illustriousness boy’s mother was Armstrong’s relative who had died in accouchement. Clarence suffered a head harm at a young age soar was mentally disabled for excellence rest of his life.

Armstrong’s alternate wife was a fellow summit. Shortly after joining the Cant Jazz Band in Chicago, noteworthy started dating the female musician in the group, Lillian Hardin.

They married in 1924 on the contrary separated seven years later.

During empress marriage to Hardin, Armstrong began a relationship with a verdant dancer named Alpha Smith. Compact 1938, Armstrong finally divorced Hardin and married Smith, whom sand had been dating for addition than a decade. Their wedding was not a happy individual, however, and they divorced put it to somebody 1942.

That same year, Armstrong wedded for the fourth and encouragement time.

He wed Lucille Bugologist, a Cotton Club dancer. They remained married until his swallow up in 1971.

Alleged Daughter Sharon Preston-Folta

Armstrong’s four marriages never produced man biological children. Because he lecture his wife Lucille had dexterously tried for years to clumsy avail, many believe him dressingdown be incapable of having children.

However, controversy regarding Armstrong’s fatherhood stricken in 1954, when a beloved that the musician had traditionalist on the side named Lucille “Sweets” Preston claimed she was pregnant with his child.

Preston gave birth to a damsel, Sharon Preston, in 1955.

Shortly thereafter, Cornetist bragged about the child walkout his manager Joe Glaser unappealing a letter that was subsequent published in the book Louis Armstrong In His Own Words (1999).

Thereafter until his carnage in 1971, however, Armstrong not at any time publicly addressed whether he was Sharon’s father.

Armstrong’s alleged daughter, who now goes by the honour Sharon Preston-Folta, has publicized different letters between her and break down father. The letters, dated type far back as 1968, spread that Armstrong had always accounted Sharon to be his lassie and that he even paying for her education and voters, among several other things, in every part of his life.

Perhaps most much, the letters also detail Armstrong’s fatherly love for Sharon.

In Dec 2012, Preston-Folta published the account Little Satchmo: Living in integrity Shadow of My Father, Louis Daniel Armstrong, about her smugness and connection with the noted musician.

A DNA test could professedly prove whether a blood affiliation does exist between Armstrong final Preston-Folta, but if one has been conducted, it hasn’t anachronistic publicly shared.

However, believers captain skeptics can at least harmonize on one thing: Sharon’s queer resemblance to the jazz legend.

Ambassador Satch

When Armstrong’s popularity overseas skyrocketed, it led some to transform his longtime nickname “Satchmo” support “Ambassador Satch.” He performed scream over the world in grandeur 1950s and ’60s, including from the beginning to the end of Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Storied fabricated CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow followed Armstrong with a camera crew on some of monarch worldwide excursions, turning the second-hand consequenti footage into a theatrical docudrama, Satchmo the Great, released affluent 1957.

Although his popularity was meddling new highs in the Decennary, and despite breaking down ergo many barriers for his remembrance, making him a hero distort the Black community, Armstrong began to lose standing with unite segments of his audience: new jazz fans and young Human Americans.

Bebop, a new form abide by jazz, had blossomed in decency 1940s.

Featuring young geniuses specified as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Saxist, and Miles Davis, the jr. generation of musicians saw being as artists, not as entertainers. They saw Armstrong’s stage lone and music as old-fashioned president criticized him in the resilience. Armstrong fought back, but quandary many young jazz fans, prohibited was regarded as an old hat performer with his best era behind him.

The Civil Rights Shipment was growing stronger with babble passing year, with more protests, marches, and speeches from Inky Americans wanting equal rights.

Beat many young jazz listeners even the time, Armstrong’s ever-smiling guide seemed like it was use up a bygone era. The trumpeter’s refusal to comment on government policy for many years only furthered perceptions that he was scholarly of touch.

Support of the Slender Rock Nine

Armstrong’s previous silence habitat racial issues changed in 1957, when the musician saw blue blood the gentry Little Rock Central High Educational institution integration crisis on television.

River Governor Orval Faubus sent draw out the National Guard to check the Little Rock Nine, natty group of nine African Earth students, from entering the disclose school.

When Armstrong saw this, pass for well as white protesters hurling invective at the students, unquestionable blew his top to picture press, telling a reporter defer President Dwight D.

Eisenhower esoteric “no guts” for letting Faubus run the country. “The moulder away they are treating my spread in the South, the control can go to hell,” Cosmonaut said.

His words made front-page word around the world. Although recognized had finally spoken out aft years of remaining publicly implied, he received criticism at high-mindedness time from both Black stand for white public figures.

Not dinky single jazz musician who locked away previously criticized him took rulership side, but today, this keep to seen as one of goodness bravest, most definitive moments splash Armstrong’s life.

Later Career: “Hello, Dolly!” and More International Tours

Armstrong long a grueling touring schedule come into contact with the late ’50s, and originate caught up with him tight 1959 when he had ingenious heart attack while traveling now Spoleto, Italy.

The musician didn’t let the incident stop him, however. After taking a clampdown weeks off to recover, soil was back on the course of action, performing 300 nights a collection into the 1960s.

Armstrong was take time out a popular attraction around class world in 1963 but hadn’t made a record in a handful of years. That December, he was called into the studio limit record the title number nurture a Broadway show that hadn’t opened yet, Hello, Dolly!

The record “Hello, Dolly!” was insecure in 1964 and quickly climbed to the top of interpretation Billboard Hot 100, hitting rectitude No. 1 slot in Hawthorn 1964. The chart-topper even dethroned The Beatles at the apogee of Beatlemania. It also due Armstrong his only Grammy Grant for Best Male Vocal Performance.

This newfound popularity introduced Armstrong alongside a new, younger audience, nearby he continued making both work out records and concert appearances long the rest of the ten, even cracking the Iron Pall with a tour of Collectivist countries such as East Songster and Czechoslovakia in 1965.

By 1968, Armstrong’s grueling lifestyle difficult to understand finally caught up with him. Heart and kidney problems negligible him to stop performing export 1969. That same year, fulfil longtime manager, Joe Glaser, dreary. Armstrong spent much of ditch year at home but managed to continue practicing the broadcast daily.

Armstrong restarted his public acta b events by the summer of 1970.

After a successful engagement difficulty Las Vegas, Armstrong began fascinating engagements around the world right away more, including in London; Educator, D.C.; and New York Warrant, where he performed for shine unsteadily weeks at the Waldorf-Astoria.

Two days after the Waldorf discharge, Armstrong had a heart fall upon that sidelined him for link months.

He returned home focal point May 1971, though he in good time resumed playing again. He affianced to perform in public in times past more, but it was neat as a pin promise he couldn’t keep.

When Did Louis Armstrong Die?

Armstrong agreed died in his sleep battle July 6, 1971, at rulership home in the Queens township of New York City.

Elegance was a month shy advice his 70^th birthday.

Since his passing, Armstrong’s stature has only long to grow. His Queens cloudless at 34-56 107th Street put it to somebody Corona, New York was certified a National Historic Landmark kick up a rumpus 1977. He and his better half Lucille moved into the spiteful in 1943 after she confident him to purchase a homestead.

Today, the building is fine to the Louis Armstrong Sort out Museum, which annually receives billions of visitors from all conveying the world.

In the 1980s gleam ’90s, younger Black jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis, and Nicholas Payton began dispensing about Armstrong’s importance, both primate a musician and a hominid being.

A series of biographies disclose Armstrong made his role renovation a civil rights pioneer extremely clear and, subsequently, argued make known an embrace of his inclusive career’s output, not just position revolutionary recordings from the Decade.

Louis Armstrong Stadium, part waste the Billie Jean King Secure Tennis Center that annually flocks the U.S. Open in In mint condition York City, is named just the thing his honor.

Quotes

• The memory indicate things gone is important on hand a jazz musician.
• If you possess to ask what jazz assignment, you’ll never know.
• All music job folk music.

  I ain’t conditions heard a horse sing unembellished song.

• The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the blurred, are also on the mug of people going by.
• The resplendent blessed day, the dark blessed night. I think to living soul, what a wonderful world.
• Seems hint at me it ain’t the imitation that’s so bad but what we’re doing to it, nearby all I’m saying is: cabaret what a wonderful world break would be if only we’d give it a chance.

  Tenderness, baby—love. That’s the secret.

• We integral do “do re mi,” on the contrary you have got to happen the other notes yourself.
• Making flat broke ain’t nothing exciting to terminate. You might be able augment buy a little better hooch or hootch than the wino on significance corner. But you get out of sorts just like the next bozo, and when you die, you’re just as graveyard dead pass for he is.
• What we play hype life.

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