The life of Louis Armstrong

Essay by wrong83University, Bachelor'sA-, November 2008

download word file, 6 pages 0.0

I don't think anyone can argue that Louis Armstrong is the most legendary jazz musician ever. To even further compliment him, Szwed said that Armstrong is arguably the most important musician that the United States has ever produced (2000, p. 109). Armstrong's magnetic personality and natural born talent were the reasons Armstrong made his name in jazz music. Armstrong often went by the nickname Satchmo or Satch, which is short for Satchelmouth. That name stuck with him when in 1932, Melody Maker magazine editor Percy Brooks greeted Armstrong in London with "Hello, Satchmo!" shortening Satchelmouth, and it stuck (Wikipedia). This nickname became a trademark of Armstrong because of his large grin which he is still known for today.

ChildhoodArmstrong's was born to an out-of-wedlock mother on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana (Wikipedia). Up to the 1980's no one knew the exact date of Armstrong's birth, it was discovered through baptismal records (Wikipedia).

While his birth date still remains somewhat of a mystery, the conditions in which he was born into were not. At that time in the century many African-Americans were poor, and the Armstrong's were no exception to that. Louis grew up without much financial and emotional support from his father, Willie Armstrong. Willie and Louis' mother separated leaving Louis to be raised by his grandmother, Josephine until he was five years old (Chilton & Jones, 1971, p. 44). After that, Armstrong moved in with his mother, and that is when Louis remembered he had a sister named Beatrice (Chilton & Jones, 1971, p. 44). Armstrong's youth was spent in a dangerous uptown neighborhood of New Orleans named Storyville which was also known as the Red Light District (Chilton & Jones, 1971, p.16). Storyville was divided into two sections; white Storyville, that is where mostly white people...