Louis Armstrong
SCAT. In Louis’ golden years, he preformed globally. He had multiple performances a night that were high energy and included bits of fast paced sounds called skit scatting. Other performers tried to outperform Louis and often ended up splitting their lips. On occasion, Louis found himself with a split lip as well. “In England on the stage, my lip split, blood all down in my tuxedo shirt, nobody knew it.” Louis Armstrong.
Louis Armstrong also known as “satchmo” is the household name of an incredible musician with multiple achievements. Armstrong dramatically paved the way for modern jazz, African-American musicians. In addition, Louis also revolutionized African-American appearances on TV , radio, and many more.
Louis was brought into the world on August 4, 1909 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He faced a difficult adolescence that began with an arrest at New Year’s party when he fired a gun in the air. Loui was sent to the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys where he learned how to play the cornet, fall in love with music, and jump start his music career.
After he was released from the home in 1914, top jazz performer Joe Oliver began to be a mentor for Louis in his early years. Joe critiqued Louis on the cornet and occasionally let Louis play in his band for additional exposure.
In 1918, Louis married Daisy Parker and started a family. That same year, he started playing full time when he took Oliver’s position in Kid Ory’s band. Loui met many other influential jazz musicians on a river boat where he played and enjoyed his summers.
During one of these summers in 1922, Oliver called Louis and invited him to play in his band in Chicago. Louis moved and began dating the pianist in the band named Lil Hardin. In 1924 they got married and moved to New York.
Lil and Louis joined Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra in New York in 1924. He soon faced racial discrimination in the band and moved back to Chicago in 1925.
Loui found great success when he moved back to Chicago. He began to reinvent jazz by creating “skit scatting” and adding high notes with unique rhythms that many people became very attracted to. His name and special ability began to grow and gain momentum.
Loui was the first African-American jazz musician to write an autobiography called Swing That Music in 1936. Additionally, he was the first African-American to be in a major Hollywood movie called Pennies from Heaven during that same year.
In 1937 he also became the first African-American performer to host a national radio show. This was made possible when he took over Rudy Vallee Fleischmann’s Yeast Show for a few weeks.
Louis then married Lucille Wilson in 1942. They remained married until his death on July 6, 1971 in Queen, New York.
Louis Armstrong paved the way for many other generations of African-American musicians. By having so many accomplishments, he helped future generations flourish and thrive in our community. He truly was the pioneer of the African-American and jazz world.
“Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them.” – Louis Armstrong
