Lew Armstrong. Louis Armstrong short biography
Louis Armstrong biography briefly will tell you about the life of an American trumpeter, vocalist and creator of his own ensemble, the founder of jazz. A message about Louis Armstrong will help to compose.
Louis Armstrong biography and creativity
The life of Louis Armstrong began on August 4, 1901 in the poorest area of New Orleans in the family of a mine worker.
The boy's childhood cannot be called happy; he grew up in an area inhabited only by Negro families. His father left the family and left the city, his mother was forced to become a woman of easy virtue in order to feed Louis and his older sister Beatrice. The grandmother of the children, having learned what their mother is doing, takes the children to her place.
At the age of 7, Louis' childhood ended. To help his grandmother, he decides to find a job. He received his first income by delivering the press. Then he got a job as a coal carrier.
Once, having got a job in a family of wealthy Jews, he liked the Karnovskys so much that they began to consider the hardworking guy their adopted son. For Louis's birthday, they gave him a cornet, his first musical instrument.
Being in seventh heaven, the guy gets a job in the drinking establishments of Storyville, playing instruments. In parallel with this, he begins to take part in ensembles.
For a misdemeanor in 1913, Louis Armstrong was sent to a boarding camp. Here the young man musical education and gained experience. For a couple of years, he masterfully learned to play the tambourine, alto horn, improving his playing on the cornet. Louis got a job in the ensemble. Performing marches and polkas, he earned his living.
Once, speaking at a club, King Oliver spotted him and offered Armstrong cooperation. It was short but fruitful.
In 1918, King advised Louis to another respectful person in the world of music, Kid Ory. He made the guy a member of the Tuxedo Brass Band.
Later, Louis met a connoisseur in the field of art and music - Marable. Thanks to this man, Armstrong received a decent musical education and is making attempts to independently compose music on the cornet.
In 1922, former music partner King Oliver invites Armstrong to join the Creole ensemble, the Creole Jazz Band. The cornetist with the ensemble travels around the country and acquires the first fans.
Some time later, he moved to New York and got a job in the orchestra of Fletcher Henderson, a master of jazz. Louis takes over knowledge from Fletcher and has formed as a musician with his own, unique and bright style of playing the cornet. It was for her that Louis Armstrong was loved by fans from all over the world.
Since 1925, the musician has been recording his famous compositions: "Go Down Moses", "Heebie Jeebies", "What a Wonderful World", "A Rhapsody in Black and Blue", "Hello Dolly". He starts recording famous composers and performers.
On the stage last time Armstrong appeared on February 10, 1971. A heart attack chained him to bed. In March, Louis got back on his feet and performed concerts in New York with his All Stars ensemble. A recurring heart attack again chained him to a hospital bed. After 2 months on July 6, 1971, after the last rehearsal, the founder of jazz music dies of heart failure and kidney failure.
Louis Armstrong personal life
Armstrong was married four times, but had no children.
He first married very early to the prostitute Daisy Parker. But the environment of a gifted and talented musician kept telling him that tomorrow he would wake up famous. And such a person should not be with a woman who was engaged in depraved things. This forced Armstrong to divorce her in 1923.
In 1924 he met the pianist Lil Hardin. Some time later, he marries her. It was at the insistence of his wife that he took up solo career. But in the late 1920s they divorced.
His third marriage was to Alpha Smith, lasting only four years.
In 1938, Louis Armstrong married for the fourth (and last) time to the dancer Lucille Wilson, with whom he lived until the end of his days.
ARMSTRONG, LOUIS DANIEL(Armstrong, Louis Daniel) (Louis, "Satchmo") (1900/1901–1971), African American jazz musician, trumpeter, singer.
Born in New Orleans July 4, 1900 (or August 4, 1901). It is authentically known that Armstrong's mother worked as a servant; raised by his grandmother, who still remembered the days of slavery. As in any other southern port town, in New Orleans the beginning of the 20th century. there was a lot of music, Louis Daniel himself (he did not mind being called in the Creole manner "Louis") not only delivered coal, but also sang for pennies in the street. However, on the first day of 1913, he was arrested for firing a revolver (as he decided to celebrate the New Year) and spent more than a year in the Correctional Institution for Colored Teens, where he received his first cornet lessons and quickly took the lead in the prison brass band. After his release, he easily found a job in Storyville - the port district of the "red light districts", and when he turned 18, he was taken into his ensemble by a very respected local trombonist Kid Ory. But Armstrong considered cornetist Joe "King" Oliver to be his real teacher. In 1922, Oliver moved to Chicago, inviting Louis to play the role of second cornet player (although having two identical instruments in one ensemble was considered overkill in early jazz). A year later, the first recordings of Oliver's Creole Jazz Band were made.
In 1924, the pianist of the ensemble, Lil Hardin, who by that time had become Armstrong's wife, persuaded him to start an independent career. Armstrong accepted the invitation of the head of the New York orchestra, Fletcher Henderson. In parallel, Armstrong recorded records, including with blues singer Bessie Smith.
In 1925, Armstrong organized his "Hot Five" (in 1927 became the "Hot Seven") - the first collective of jazz improvisers in the full sense of the word. Numerous recordings of those years are a real classic of jazz, Armstrong's solos turn solo improvisation from a chain of standard two-bar “breaks” into a single line with development, climax and ending in full accordance with the laws of classical musical form.
Then Armstrong began to sing. Once, having dropped a piece of paper with words during recording, he finished the song with an onomatopoeic set of syllables - the so-called. scat. Although several vocalists disputed the priority in "inventing" the scat, only Armstrong could give his voice exactly the same jazzy tone as his trumpet playing. Over time, he became a pop singer.
In the 1930s, Armstrong toured extensively, including in Europe. One English journalist, not hearing Armstrong's childhood nickname Satchelmouth ("purse mouth", "mitten mouth"), called him "Satchmo" (Satchmo), and this nickname becomes the stage name of the musician. In the 1930s, the trumpeter played a lot with fashionable big bands, but he began to have problems with his lips and had to sing more than play. After the collapse of the swing big bands in the 1940s, Armstrong organized the All Stars, in fact, the first "jazz team". Trombonist Jack Teagarden, trumpeter Bobby Hackett, drummer Sid Catlet, trombonist Tyeri Glenn played with him. Of course, not everyone in this team was at the same high creative level, but the programs dedicated to the composer William Handy (the author St.Louis Blues) in 1953 and pianist-composer Fats Waller in 1955, are as good as the classics of the 1920s. He and Ella Fitzgerald made a recording of Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess(the singer and the singer sang almost all the arias in a duet) is considered ideal; on the model of Armstrong - Fitzgerald, Gershwin's opera was recorded at least three times (including by Ray Charles with British singer Clio Lane). Armstrong's last hit was the song What A Wonderful World. For the 100th anniversary of Louis Armstrong, almost all of his records, including the classic of the 1920s, were reissued on CD.
LOUIS DANIEL ARMSTRONG. HIS HISTORY American jazz trumpeter, vocalist and bandleader. An amazing musician of the 20th century, who (together with Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis) had a huge impact on the formation and development of jazz, and played a key role in the popularization of jazz music
Louis Daniel "Satchmo" Armstrong; August 4, 1901 New Orleans. Louis was born in the poorest Negro area of New Orleans. He grew up in a dysfunctional family (mother is a laundress, worked illegally as a prostitute, father is a day laborer). His father left the family early and Louis, along with his younger sister Beatrice, was given up for the upbringing of their elderly grandmother Josephine, who still remembered the days of slavery. After some time, Armstrong's mother, Mayann, took Louis and then raised him herself (although she never paid due attention to him). The family lived in Storyville, an area known for its violent tempers, as well as bars, clubs, ballrooms and brothels. Armstrong worked since childhood, delivered coal, sold newspapers and was engaged in other rough work.
Armstrong from childhood began to sing in a small street vocal ensemble, played drums and trained his ear over several years. He received his first musical education at Waif's Home, a boarding camp for colored teenagers in 1913, where he ended up for a random act - firing a pistol on the street in New Year(the gun was stolen by him from a policeman - one of his mother's clients). There he immediately joined the camp brass band and learned to play the tambourine, alto horn, and then mastered the cornet. The orchestra played the repertoire traditional for that time - marches, polkas and just well-known songs. By the time his term expired, Louis had already decided to become a musician. Once freed, he began to go to clubs and play borrowed instruments in local orchestras. He was taken under his patronage by King Oliver, who was considered at that time the best cornet player in the city and whom Louis Armstrong himself considered his teacher. After Oliver's departure to Chicago in 1918, Armstrong was taken into his ensemble by the fairly respected trombonist Kid Ory. Louis periodically begins to perform in the Tuxedo Brass Band of Oscar "Papa" Celestine, where such musicians as Paul Dominguez, Zatti Singleton, Barney Bigard and Louis Russell played. Participates in jazz parades through the streets of his native town and plays in the Jazz-E-Sazz Band of Fats Marable, who entertained tourists on steamboats sailing in the summer season along the Mississippi. Marable, quite a professional band leader, taught young musician initial basics performance certificate and Armstrong becomes a professional musician. The nickname Sachmo is assigned to him in the society of musicians - an abbreviation for the English Satchel Mouth (Mouth-Purse)
In 1922, Oliver needed another cornet player, and he calls Armstrong to Chicago to play at Lincoln Gardens (a 700-seat restaurant) with his Creole Jazz Band. This band was at that time the brightest jazz composition in Chicago and work in this band gave Armstrong a lot for his future career growth. As part of Oliver's Creole Jazz Band in Chicago, Armstrong made his first recordings. In 1924, he marries again (his first wife was a prostitute, a pretty Creole Daisy Parker from Orleans) to the pianist of the ensemble, Lil Hardin, and at the request of his wife begins an independent career. The Armstrongs move to New York, where Louis joins Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. There he became famous, jazz lovers came to listen to the band, often for the sake of his magnificent solos. By this time, the style of Louis Armstrong was finally formed - improvisational and original. At this time, Armstrong participates in the recordings of the Blu Five ensemble by pianist Clarence Williams and plays in ensembles with many blues and jazz vocalists (Ma Rainey, Trixie Smith, Clara Smith, Bessie Smith, Alberta Hunter, Maggie Jones, Eva Taylor, Margaret Johnson , Sipi Wallace, Perry Bradford).
In 1929, Louis Armstrong finally moved to New York. The era of big bands is coming and he is increasingly paying attention to dance, then popular sweet music. Armstrong brings to this musical style his flamboyant manner, characteristic of hot jazz, and quickly becomes a national star. Sachmo's talent reaches its peak. In the 1930s, Louis Armstrong toured a lot, performed with the famous big bands of Louis Russell and Duke Ellington, then in California with the orchestra of Leon Elkins and Les Hite, participated in filming in Hollywood. In 1931 he visits New Orleans with a big band; back in New York, playing in Harlem and on Broadway. A number of tours made to Europe (in the pre-war period from 1933 he played several times in England, toured Scandinavia, France, Holland) and North Africa brings Armstrong the widest popularity both at home (before in the USA he was popular mainly with the Negro public) and abroad. Between tours, he performs with the orchestras of Charlie Gaines, Chick Webb, Kid Ory, with the Mills Brothers vocal quartet, in theatrical performances and radio programs, starred in films. In 1933, he again leads a jazz band. Since 1935, the entire business part of Armstrong's life has been taken under his control by his new manager, Joe Glaser, an inveterate professional and expert in his field. In 1936, the autobiography Swing That Music was published in New York. After that, health problems set in: Armstrong undergoes a couple of operations associated with an injury to his upper lip (the consequences of smoking a mouthpiece), as well as an operation on the vocal cords (with its help, Armstrong tries to get rid of the hoarse timbre of his voice, the importance of which for his performing style, he is much aware of Later)
In the future, the popularity of the artist continued to grow thanks to his tireless and versatile creative activity. Notable is his collaboration with Sydney Bechet, Bing Crosby, Cy Oliver, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson and other jazz stars, participation in jazz festivals (1948 - Nice, 1956-58 - Newport, 1959 - Italy, Monterey), touring in many countries of Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa. With his assistance, a number of philharmonic jazz concerts at Town Hall and on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. The recording of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, made by him and Ella Fitzgerald in the 1950s, became a classic. In 1959, Armstrong suffered a heart attack and from that moment on, his health did not allow him to perform fully, but he never stopped performing in concert. In the 1960s Armstrong works more often as a vocalist, recording both covers of traditional gospel masterpieces ("Go Down Moses") and new songs. Together with Barbra Streisand, he participates in the musical Hello, Dolly!; Released as a separate single, the song "Hello, Dolly!" in his performance ranks first in the American sales rankings. Louis Armstrong's latest hit was "What a Wonderful World"
In the late 60s, the artist's health began to deteriorate sharply, but he continues to work. On February 10, 1971, he played and sang for the last time on a TV show with his old stage partner, Bing Crosby. In March, Satchmo and his All Stars played for two more weeks at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. But another heart attack again forced him to go to the hospital, where he stayed for two months. July 5, 1971 Armstrong asks to collect his orchestra for a rehearsal. July 6, 1971 greatest jazzman goes out of life. Heart failure led to kidney failure.
As the revolutionary trumpeter of his time, Armstrong laid the foundation for all future jazz revolutions. Without Armstrong, the fate of jazz music could have turned out quite differently. With the advent of Sachmo, the soft coloring of the sound and collective improvisations fade into the shadows. And Louis Armstrong, with the bright sound of the trumpet, with amazing vibration, with dizzying transitions, with rhythmic emancipation and inexhaustible imagination of his improvisations, expands the idea of the possibilities of the trumpet and the musician playing it. Thanks to Armstrong, jazz took its own path of development. In addition, Louis Armstrong was a unique and inimitable jazz singer. His rather low, hoarse, warm voice was instantly recognizable. His singing was reminiscent of his playing the trumpet. Here he just as brilliantly improvised, changed phrasing, added vibrations to his voice. Louis Armstrong created a school of jazz vocals based on interpretations folk singers who used their voice as an instrument. Louis showed that the emotional meaning of a text can be expressed through vocal deviations and improvisations of a purely instrumental nature as effectively as through the words themselves. Armstrong sang a wide variety of things - both hits and blues, and they always sounded like jazz with him, they were a huge success with the audience. Until now, the influence of the great Satchmo is felt in the performances of almost every jazz vocalist.
Armstrong is the most unique person in the history of jazz music. In his work, the maestro was able to combine the incompatible: unique individual self-expression with the boundless general availability of music, rough simplicity and spontaneity, traditionalism with innovation, the Negro ideal of sound production with Europeanized idioms of swing and mainstream. Armstrong was the undisputed king of jazz until his death, and his talent did not weaken for a single minute, the power of his influence on the audience did not dry out. His warmth and humor always made him dear and close to everyone he met. His death saddened all the leading masters of jazz, among whom were such masters as Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Al Hirt, Earl Hines, Terry Glenn, Eddie Condon and many others. "Louis did not die because his music remains and will remain in the hearts of many, many millions of people around the world and in the playing of hundreds of thousands of musicians who have become his followers."
"Look how beautiful the world is. I can't give you anything but love..." Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong's unique voice has been imitated by countless performers over the years. He popularized scat singing, which used nonsensical sounds rather than words, and his musical phrasing on the trumpet influenced virtually every singer who appeared on the scene after 1930, such as Bing Crosby, Billy Holliday, and Frank Sinatra. In addition to everything, wonderful feeling humor and radiant stage image Louis Armstrong became, perhaps, the main and natural factor in the popularization of jazz. Young performers were inspired by seeing him on stage at least once, and simply, millions of spectators were fascinated by jazz through the magic of Armstrong's music. IN later years His creative work Armstrong's world tours made him famous as "American Messenger of Peace".
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901 (his birth certificate was found in the mid-80s, so this date is very approximate) and grew up in a poor area of \u200b\u200bthe city, sometimes performing on the streets for pennies as a singer in a vocal quartet .
IN new year's eve 1912, Louis picked up a gun and fired into the air, celebrating the holiday, after which he was arrested and sent to a home for difficult teenagers. This period of his life became the starting point for him as a musician. it was in a home for the retarded that he learned to play the cornet. Coming "to freedom" after two years, Louis begins to play jazz groups New Orleans. When King Oliver, who patronized Armstrong, left New Orleans, he recommended Louis Kid to Ory and his popular group at the time. After 4 years, King Oliver invited his protégé to play in Chicago in his Creole Jazz Band as a second cornetist.
In 1922-24, King Oliver played in the best classical jazz orchestras and it soon becomes apparent that Louis begins to push the maestro back with his game.
In 1923, the group recorded forty-one songs for four labels and met pianist Lily Harden, who became the second of Louis Armstrong's four wives. Lily persuades Louis to leave the group and move to the Fletcher's Henderson orchestra in New York, perhaps the most popular orchestra at that time. At that time, the musicians New York lagged behind in technology from the musicians of Chicago. Perhaps because of this, Armstrong's playing gave the local musicians a chance to feel a new direction. Louis started recording as an accompanist blues artists such as Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, as well as other musicians and groups: Sidney Bechet and Clarence Williams' Blue Five. In 1925, after he left the Henderson Orchestra, Louis moved back to Chicago and began his famous "Hot Five" and "Hot Seven" series.
In 1925-27, together with clarinetist Johnny Dodds, trombonist Kid Ory, pianist Lilly Armstrong and banjo master Johnny St. Cyr, Armstrong recorded masterpiece after masterpiece - the music that raised and glorified Neworlean jazz. The composition "Cornet Chop Sue" amazed music connoisseurs (in this composition of 1927, Louis changes the cornet for a trumpet), and the composition "Heebies Jeebies" became a hit and finally made scat singing popular. In 1928, Armstrong plays in the studio group The Savoy Ballroom Five. "West End Blues", with a charming trumpet intro, was considered by many, including Armstrong himself, to be the most successful recording - along with "Weather Bird", a duet with Earl Hines.
Armstrong performs on various nightly programs in Chicago with large groups of Erskine Tate and Carroll Dickerson, honing his showmanship. Starting in 1929, he began to record as the leader of several jazz bands, creating classic masterpieces such as "I Can" t Give You Anything But Love ". In the following decade, the name of Louis Armstrong becomes a sort of calling card jazz, in 1932-34 he makes two tours to Europe, plays several memorable cameo roles in films and plays in a large swing band. most memorable in his musical career became a collaboration with Earl Hines in 1928 - the magic of Louis's playing can be felt in all recordings, and his voice is at the peak of emotional expressiveness.
In 1947, Armstrong left the big group and formed the All-Stars sixtet, which included trumpeter Jack Teagarden, clarinetist Barney Bigard and Earl Hines. With him, Armstrong begins a continuous tour that will last until his death.
Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong is believed to have been born on August 4, 1901. At the same time, the musician himself did not know exactly when he was born, and chose the US independence day, July 4, 1900, as his birthday.
The family in which Louis Armstrong was born can hardly be called prosperous. Father abandoned them immediately after the birth of their second child - younger sister Beatrice, and Mayan's mother, who did not own any craft, worked as a laundress. The black boy grew up in complete poverty, like many in a disadvantaged area of \u200b\u200bNew Orleans, Louisiana.
Childhood
The mother was constantly busy, so most of the time the abandoned children were with their grandmother Josephine. As soon as Louis entered elementary school, life became especially difficult, because the mother's craft almost ceased to generate income. Then the boy began to look for all kinds of part-time jobs in order to at least eat tolerably.
Louis Armstrong did not know the exact date of his birth He had to work as a peddler of newspapers, a salesman, he carried coal to the "red light district", which was famous for its bars, cafes and restaurants, where you could always meet a lot of musicians. It was then that Louis became interested in music.
At the age of 7, the boy worked for a family of Jews who treated him like own son. Until his death, Armstrong remembered their kindness, and in memory of them he wore a Star of David around his neck.
Louis Armstrong in his living room Having reached the age of 11, the boy, in love with music, dropped out of school, and together earned a living by performing uncomplicated melodies. Louis mastered the trumpet very quickly. He repeated almost all the compositions he heard, since he was absolutely not trained in musical notation.
According to Louis Armstrong himself, he owes his amazing learning ability to the complete deprivation of life in New Orleans. In order not to be without food, without a roof over your head, or not to be caught by local merchants for stealing food, you had to spin around and come up with tricks.
Youth of Louis Armstrong
The teenager was not at all a meek disposition, so he often ended up in the police station. Once, because of his recklessness, he ended up behind bars right on New Year's Eve 1913. The reason was a fleeting desire to shoot from a pistol he found with his mother. This trick was the reason for the definition of Louis in a boarding school for difficult teenagers.
Louis Armstrong grew up as a difficult teenager Louis did not worry about this for long, because now he had enough free time to devote himself entirely to his favorite pastime. It was then that he began to perform in a brass band, playing the cornet, tambourine and alto horn, and firmly decided to become a musician.
Debut on the jazz scene
After returning to the city, he first learned musical notation, touring on steamboats in the summer - the musicians willingly agreed to help the novice trumpeter. Since 1918, he actively played in all kinds of musical groups New Orleans and Chicago.
Successful career the great Satchmo began with King Oliver's orchestra In 1922, a talented boy was invited to the most popular Chicago jazz band as a second cornetist. Participation in the orchestra of King Oliver was a powerful impetus to success for Louis Armstrong.
In 1932, Louis was invited to perform at the London Palladium Theatre. There he had a chance to meet with the editor of the English magazine Melody Maker Mathison Brooks. Unknowingly, the journalist misrepresented Armstrong's New Orleans nickname Satchelmouth and called him Satchmo. Jazzman was not at all upset, on the contrary, he liked the new one more than the previous one.
Personal life of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong with his second wife Lil Hardin Louis' personal life was very eventful. At first he married a prostitute - Creole Daisy Parker, but this marriage did not last long, until 1924. Barely reaching the age of 23, he tied his fate with his jazz band colleague Lil Hardin. Later, this strong-willed woman insisted on solo career musician.
In 1938, at the height of his career, he married the dancer Lucille Wilson, with whom he lived until his death.
Solo career
Arriving in New York, Louis achieved a special manner of playing the trumpet - accurate passages and live improvisations made him one of the most sought-after musicians. In addition, his raspy voice became the most recognizable in New Orleans. Armstrong is a pioneer of scat - vocal improvisations with voice like musical instrument.
Armstrong with his Hot Five quintet They talked about him like a rising star. Already at the age of 24, he recorded his first album Hot Five, inviting talented jazz performers for cooperation - trombonist Kid Ory, clarinetist Johnny Dodds, banjo player Johnny St. Cyr and pianist Lil Hardin. These recordings have become jazz classics. A year later, Armstrong was already directing his own orchestra, which performed a repertoire in the style of hot jazz.
At the age of 26, Louis began a life full of tours - a series of tours in Europe, starting in 1933, made him a world-class star. He was invited to act in films, participate in television programs and speak on the radio. In 1947, together with Louis Armstrong, the vocalist sang on the same stage in the musical New Orleans: to perform with her idol was an old dream of the singer.
Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday Health problems and death
In 1936, Louis Armstrong's autobiography Swing That Music was published, in which the most famous jazz trumpeter spoke about his difficult life, hardships and first success on the jazz scene.
At the same time, he underwent surgery on his upper lip - it led to deformation and tissue rupture. professional activity musician. In addition, trying to remove the hoarseness from his voice, Louis Armstrong underwent surgery on the vocal cords.
Louis Armstrong and Barbra Streisand Even after suffering a heart attack in 1959, Louis Armstrong did not stop his concert activity, but he began to perform less often. During this period, he took part in the musical Hello, Dolly! (Hello, Dolly) along with . The composition of the same name in their performance reached the first line in the American hit parade.
