This paper will discuss the life and music of jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. The first part of the paper will provide a biographical sketch of Armstrong, and the second part of the paper will give my reaction to some of his music.
No one is sure of the exact date that Louis Armstrong was born. However, it is known that he was born in either 1899 or 1900 in New Orleans. As an African American in the South during the turn of the century, Armstrong grew up under difficult conditions. In order to escape these difficulties, he took an early interest in music. At about the age of ten, he joined three other boys in forming a quartet. Several times a week, the boys would sing for pennies on the streets of New Orleans (Tanenhaus 27). One New Year's Eve, when he was thirteen years old, Armstrong was arrested for shooting a gun which was loaded with blanks. As a result, he was sent to the "Colored Waifs' Home" for the next year and a half (Tanenhaus 32). At the home, Armstrong learned to play the cornet in the school band. It was at that time that Armstrong was nicknamed "Satchelmouth," because he had a mouth "as wide as an open satchel" (Iverson 14). Later, when Armstrong was touring Europe, an English reporter misunderstood this nickname and pronounced it "Satchmo." This new nickname soon became "stuck" in the public's imagination (Tanenhaus 93).
When he was released from the Waifs' Home, Armstrong decided that he wanted to make his living as a cornet player. His first jobs as a musician were in the tough neighborhoods where prostitutes conducted their business. In order to supplement his income, Armstrong took a job delivering coal in a mule-driven cart (Collier 38). He began studying with Joe Oliver (also known as "King Oliver"), the cornet player in Kid Ory's band. In 1918, when Joe Oliver quit the band to move to Chicago, Armstrong was chosen to replace him. Soon after that, Armstrong took a job with Fate Marable...