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Louis Armstrong

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Roderick Lacroix26 May 2009English ThreeBlock Two
Lacroix 1Roderick LacroixEnglish Three26 May 2009Louis Armstrong:The Greatest Jazz MusicianBorn from a poor family and spectacularly evolved into a one of a kind wealthy jazz musician, his name was Louis Daniel Armstrong. Louis was born in New Orleans of August 4 in 1901.As a child he was a very hard worker: In terms of helping his mother (Mayann Armstrong) and his sister (Beatrice Armstrong). He would do his total best to support his family no matter what type of job he had to do. At seven years of age Louis received his first horn: The cornet. Soon after when he was between the ages of ten and twelve, he was sent to “The Jones home for colored waifs”(because of him firing a pistol on new years eve). Armstrong has learned his first formal music lessons while being there, and when he was 14 he was later being released. Afterwards he started to support himself to be a musician and also started to join music bands and finding a mentor in his new music life: Joe Oliver, who was also named Joe “King” Oliver(because he was of one of several noted musicians). When the early years of 1920 Armstrong’s popularity increase greatly as he had left new Orleans for Chicago to join in “King” Oliver’s Creole Jazz band. Many years later Louis had became famous in the world of jazz music.Lacroix 2Armstrong had returned to Chicago in 1926 and became headliner in radio and records, astonishing many with his trumpet solos and with his “scat” singing evolved vocal tradition. It has made other musicians study his recordings to listen to what a horn can actually do.Decades later Louis had served as “Ambassador Satch” during the early years of the cold war (a little after World war two) and has spread good will for America around the world along with State Department-sponsored tours of the 1960s. He was great with newly independent nations of Africa, left a mark on such events in 1956 celebrating Ghana’s independence (100,000 plus of Louis Armstrong’s fans attended this event). Sadly Armstrong passed away on the date of July 6th of 1971, leaving his last album in 1970”What a wonderful world”, also leaving his mark as best of the best jazz music players in his years. Works CitedThomas Brothers, W.W. Norton and Company”Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans” RedHotJazz Online. 2006.