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Louis Armstrong
Jazz Musician
American Music Series
Scott #2982 (name in white) & #2984 (name in black)
Issued June 1 and June16, 1995
in New Orleans, LA and Monterey, CA
Designed by Dean Mitchell
(2982 issued as single; 2984 issued as part of a se-tenet)
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Louis "Satchmo"
Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August 4, 1901. He grew up in
abject poverty and worked odd jobs as a child. He was sent to the Colored
Waif's Home as a juvenile delinquent in 1913 where he learned to play
the cornet as part of the home's band. Louis learned and improved on his style
by listening to the early jazz artists of the time. In 1918, Louis joined Kid
Ory's Band and during the early 1920s he performed aboard the
Mississippi riverboats.
In 1922, Louis moved to Chicago and played
second cornet in King
Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Louis married the band's pianist, Lil
Hardin in 1924. Together with Lil, he composed and recorded his
first solos, Chimes Blues and Tears.
Lois quit the band in 1924 and moved to New
York City where he played in the Fletcher
Henderson Band. He returned to Chicago in 1925 and switched from
cornet to trumpet. He recorded two of the all time jazz solo classics, Hot
Five and Hot Seven during this time.
Louis also recorded the classic solos Hotter
than That, Strutting with some Barbecue, Wild Man
Blues and with pianist Earl
Hines recorded West End Blues and Weather Bird.
By 1929 Louis was already one of the top
musicians in the country. He moved to New York that year and played in the
review Hot
Chocolates. Louis and Lil separated in 1931. Starting in
1935, Louis toured Europe as a trumpet soloist for several bands.
Louis' extraordinary range on the trumpet and
his talent for structuring bravura solos with high-note climaxes enthralled
audiences the world over. He produced such masterpieces as Body and Soul
and Stardust during this period. He added Scat
Singing to his repertoire in 1927. (In Jazz - Singing in which
the singer substitutes improvised nonsense syllables for the words of a song,
and tries to sound and phrase like a musical instrument.) His
trademark gravel voice and white handkerchief will be identified with Satchmo
for all time.
Joe Glaser became Louis' manager in 1935 and
helped to guide his new film career. His first film was Pennies from
Heaven in 1936. Louis's swing style of trumpet playing was a major
influence on all of the jazz horn players who came after him. His music also
influenced the styles of such jazz notables as Coleman
Hawkins and Bud
Freeman.
In 1947, Louis stared in the dramatic film, New
Orleans. Following this film, Louis formed the Dixieland All-Stars and
began almost non-stop tours. During this period, Louis recorded the hits, Mack
the Knife and Hello Dolly. Louis' last film in 1969 was
the musical, Hello
Dolly.
Famous and renowned throughout the world, Louis
had to endure Racism
and Prejudice in the city where he was born and raised. African
American performers before the 1970s, when traveling or performing in the
south, had to stay in "Blacks Only" hotels, travel in
the "Blacks Only" section of trains, drink from
segregated water fountains and were treated as second class citizens. New
Orleans belatedly honored it's native son in 2000 when the New Orleans
International Airport was renamed the Louis Armstrong
International Airport.
Louis "Satchmo"
Armstrong died in New York City on July 6, 1971. An excellent autobiography of
his early years, Satchmo:
My Life in New Orleans (1954) is available at Amazon.com.
Sources:
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia
Africana
Atlanta
Music Group (AMG)
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