Louis Armstrong: A Modern Composer

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The modern composer I decided to research after examining various options is Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong was born August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana to the parents of Mayann Albert and Willie Armstrong. Louis moved from house to house among his mother to his grandmother Josephine Armstrong right after his birth due to Louis’s father leaving him. Once Louis’s mother conceived Louis’s Sister Beatrice four years later when Louis was 6 years old, he moved back in with his mother. Due to Armstrong’s family’s funds being very limited he did whatever he could to bring money home such as selling newspapers, vegetables, and joining a street singing group where he earned the name satchelmouth because of his wide grin. When Louis Armstrong…show more content…
Armstrong met his second wife Lil Hardin who urged him to break away from the band because she recognized Louis’s talent. After two years passed, Louis Armstrong quit the Creole jazz band and joined another Chicago band where he played first trumpet but only stayed with the band for a few months. Louis Armstrong moved to New York City, New York in 1924 at the invitation of bandleader Fletcher Henderson. Fourteen months after joining the band Armstrong moved back to Chicago because of Lil’s urging. Lil’ promoted Armstrong in clubs and had him billed as “The World’s Greatest Trumpet Player.” Lil and Armstrong formed a studio band called Louis Armstrong and his hot five. One of the most popular recordings by the group is “Heebie Jeebies” which made scat singing even more popular. In 1929, Louis Armstrong left Chicago to return to New York again where he found a new venue for his talent. He was cast in a music venue that featured his accompanying trumpet solo. Finding a job and work to do became hard for Louis Armstrong and others during the great depression. In 1939 Louis and Lil were divorced. In May of 1939 Louis moved to Los Angeles, California in hopes of finding work that could be done. As he continued to work in clubs and make records he started making films. The films Armstrong appeared in brought him more fans and also gave him widespread…show more content…
They found a permanent house in Queens, New York after a lot of traveling. In the late 1940s large scale bands were going out of favor because they were too expensive to maintain, so Louis created his own six piece group called Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars. The group debuted in 1947 in New York’s Town Hall playing New Orleans style jazz to rave reviews. Armstrong started facing criticism in 1957 when he spoke out against racial discrimination an incident that happen in Lil Rock, Arkansas. Louis Armstrong played for five decades without having a number-one song. In 1964 “Hello Dolly” topped the charts and even replaced the Beatles song which held the top spot on the charts for 14 consecutive weeks. July 6, 1971 Louis Armstrong suffered a heart attack that he was not able to recover from which caused his

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