Louis Armstrong
Swing music, Musical Artist
1901 – 1971
Who was Louis Armstrong?
Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Coming to prominence in the 1920s 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 1960s, 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 severely 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 that were highly restricted for a black man.
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- Born
- Aug 4, 1901
Storyville, New Orleans - Also known as
- Louis Armstrong and His All-Stars
- Louis Armstrong's Hot Seven
- Satchmo
- Pops
- Louis Armstrong: Satchmo
- Armstrong, Louis (Satchmo)
- Armstrong, Louis
- Armstrong Louis
- Luis Armstrong
- Louis Armostrong
- Parents
- Siblings
- Spouses
- Lucille Wilson
(1942/10/12 - 1971/07/06) - Alpha Smith
(1938/10/11 - 1942) - Daisy Parker
(1918/03/19 - 1923/12/18) - Lil Hardin Armstrong
(1924/02/04 - 1938)
- Lucille Wilson
- Children
- Ethnicity
- African American
- Nationality
- United States of America
- Profession
- Died
- Jul 6, 1971
Corona - Resting place
- Flushing Cemetery
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
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"Louis Armstrong." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/louis_armstrong>.
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