Louis Armstrong: Difference between revisions

Armstrong was born and raised in [[New Orleans]]. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and [[cornet]] player, he was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.<ref>Bergreen (1997), p. 1.</ref> Around 1922, Armstrong followed his mentor, [[King Oliver|Joe "King" Oliver]], to Chicago to play in Oliver's {{interlanguage link|Creole Jazz Band|als||fr}}. Armstrong earned a reputation at "[[cutting contest]]s,", and his fame reached band leader [[Fletcher Henderson]]. Armstrong moved to New York City, where he became a featured and musically influential band soloist and recording artist. By the 1950s, Armstrong was a national musical icon, appearing regularly in radio and television broadcasts and on film.

Armstrong writes about singing "Russian Lullaby" with the Karnoffsky family when their baby son David was put to bed and credits the family with teaching him to sing "from the heart."<ref name="in-his-own-words-karnofskys" /> Curiously, Armstrong quotes lyrics for it that appear to be the same as the "Russian Lullaby,", copyrighted by [[Irving Berlin]] in 1927, about 20 years after Armstrong remembered singing it as a child.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://digitalcollections-baylor.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/irving-berlins-russian-lullaby/1127188|title=Irving Berlin's Russian Lullaby|first=Irving|last=Berlin|publisher=Irving Berlin Music Corp.|access-date=May 8, 2022|archive-date=May 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509032433/https://digitalcollections-baylor.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/irving-berlins-russian-lullaby/1127188|url-status=live}}</ref> Gary Zucker, Armstrong's doctor at Beth Israel hospital in 1969, shared Berlin's song lyrics with him, and Armstrong quoted them in the memoir.<ref name="in-his-own-words-karnofskys" /> This inaccuracy may be because he wrote the memoir over 60 years after the events described. Regardless, the Karnoffskys treated Armstrong exceptionally well. Knowing he lived without a father, they fed and nurtured Armstrong.<ref name="Commentary">{{cite web |last1=Teachout |first1=Terry |author-link=Terry Teachout |title=Satchmo and the Jews |url=https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/satchmo-and-the-jews/ |website=[[Commentary (magazine)|Commentary Magazine]] |access-date=June 14, 2018 |date=November 1, 2009 |archive-date=February 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206184934/https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/satchmo-and-the-jews/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Karnow |first=Stanley |author-link=Stanley Karnow |title=My Debt to Cousin Louis's Cornet |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February 21, 2001 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9C02E1D91639F932A15751C0A9679C8B63 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409025810/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2001/02/21/opinion/my-debt-to-cousin-louis-s-cornet.html |archive-date=2009-04-09 |access-date=November 14, 2023}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In his memoir, ''Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907'', he described his discovery that this family was also [[History of antisemitism in the United States|subject to discrimination by "other white folks"]] who felt that they were better than Jews: "I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the white folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for."<ref name="InHisOwnWords">{{cite book |last1=Armstrong |first1=Louis |editor1-last=Brothers |editor1-first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong, in His Own Words: Selected Writings |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0195140460 |page=8 |edition= 1st Oxford University Press paperback | quote=I had a long time admiration for the Jewish people. Especially with their long time of courage, taking so much abuse for so long. I was only seven years old, but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the white folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for. It dawned on me how drastically. Even "my race,", the Negroes, the way that I saw it, they were having a little better break than the Jewish people, with jobs a plenty around. Of course, we can understand all the situations and handicaps that was going on, but to me we were better off than the Jewish people.}}</ref> Armstrong wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination."<ref name="Commentary"/> His first musical performance may have been at the side of the Karnoffskys' junk wagon. Armstrong tried playing a tin horn to attract customers to distinguish them from other hawkers. Morris Karnoffsky gave Armstrong an advance toward purchasing a [[cornet]] from a pawn shop.<ref>Bergreen (1997), pp. 55{{endash}}57.</ref>

Among the Hot Five and Seven records were "Cornet Chop Suey,", "Struttin' With Some Barbecue,", "Hotter Than That,", and "Potato Head Blues,", all featuring highly creative solos by Armstrong. According to [[Thomas Brothers]], recordings such as "Struttin' with Some Barbeque" were so superb, "planned with density and variety, bluesyness, and showiness,", that the arrangements were probably showcased at the Sunset Café.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Brothers|first=Thomas|title=Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|year=2014|isbn=978-0393065824|location=New York|page=282}}</ref> His recordings soon after with pianist [[Earl Hines|Earl "Fatha" Hines]], their famous 1928 "[[Weather Bird]]" duet and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to and solo in "[[West End Blues]],", remain some of the most influential improvisations in jazz history. Young trumpet players across the country bought these recordings and memorized his solos.

Armstrong also played with [[Erskine Tate]]'s Little Symphony, mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as "[[Madame Butterfly]],", which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began [[scat singing]] (improvised vocal jazz using nonsensical words) and was among the first to record it on the Hot Five recording "[[Heebie Jeebies (composition)|Heebie Jeebies]]" in 1926. The recording was so popular that the group became the most famous jazz band in the United States, even though they had seldom performed live. Young musicians across the country, black or white, were turned on by Armstrong's new type of jazz.<ref>Bergreen (1997), p. 267.</ref>

Armstrong made a huge impact during the 1920s [[Harlem Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2007/08/01/12208712/louis-armstrong-the-man-and-his-music-part-1 |title=Louis Armstrong: 'The Man and His Music,', Part 1 |date=August 1, 2007 |website=[[National Public Radio]] |access-date=May 21, 2019 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803154258/https://www.npr.org/2007/08/01/12208712/louis-armstrong-the-man-and-his-music-part-1 |archive-date=August 3, 2020}}</ref> His music touched well-known writer [[Langston Hughes]]. Hughes admired Armstrong and acknowledged him as one of the most recognized musicians of the era.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/louis-armstrong-about-louis-armstrong/528/|title=Satchmo: The Life of Louis Armstrong|date=July 6, 2005|website=PBS|access-date=May 21, 2019|archive-date=May 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528012453/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/louis-armstrong-about-louis-armstrong/528/|url-status=live}}</ref> Hughes wrote many books that celebrated jazz and recognized Armstrong as one of the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance's newfound love of African-American culture.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.openculture.com/2015/03/langston-hughes-presents-the-history-of-jazz-i.html|title=Langston Hughes Presents the History of Jazz in an Illustrated Children's Book (1995)|date=March 31, 2015|website=Open Culture|access-date=May 21, 2019|archive-date=May 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521005205/http://www.openculture.com/2015/03/langston-hughes-presents-the-history-of-jazz-i.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The sound of jazz, along with musicians such as Armstrong, helped shape Hughes as a writer. Just like the musicians, Hughes wrote his words with jazz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69394/jazz-as-communication|title=Jazz as Communication|last=Hughes|first=Langston|website=Poetry Foundation|access-date=May 21, 2019|archive-date=May 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528013957/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/69394/jazz-as-communication|url-status=live}}</ref>

Armstrong's radical re-working of [[Sidney Arodin]] and Carmichael's "[[Lazy River]],", recorded in 1931, encapsulated his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo. Then, the main melody is introduced by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh"..."Sure"..."Way down, way down." In the first verse, Armstrong ignores the notated melody and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza, he breaks into an almost entirely improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong's scat singing.

{{blockquote|Judging from home recorded tapes now in our Museum Collections, Louis pronounced his own name as "Lewis." On his 1964 record "Hello, Dolly,", he sings, "This is Lewis, Dolly,", but in 1933, he made a record called "Laughin' Louie." Many broadcast announcers, fans, and acquaintances called him "Louie,", and in a videotaped interview from 1983, Lucille Armstrong calls her late husband "Louie" as well. Musicians and close friends usually called him "Pops."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/faq/|title=FAQ – Louis Armstrong House Museum|work=louisarmstronghouse.org|access-date=June 14, 2017|archive-date=August 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808074334/https://www.louisarmstronghouse.org/faq/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

In a memoir written for [[Robert Goffin]] between 1943 and 1944, Armstrong stated, "All white folks call me Louie,", suggesting that he himself did not, or that no whites addressed him by one of his nicknames such as Pops.<ref>{{cite book

}}</ref><ref>Goffin, Robert. ''Horn of Plenty: The Story of Louis Armstrong''. Da Capo Press, 1977. {{ISBN|0306774305}}{{page needed|date=December 2022}}</ref> That said, Armstrong was registered as "Lewie" for the [[United States Census, 1920|1920 U.S. Census]]. On various live records, he is called "Louie" on stage, such as on the 1952 "Can Anyone Explain?" from the live album ''In Scandinavia vol.1''. The same applies to his 1952 studio recording of the song "Chloe,", where the choir in the background sings "Louie ... Louie", with Armstrong responding, "What was that? Somebody called my name?". "Lewie" is the French pronunciation of "Louis" and is commonly used in Louisiana.

The nicknames "Satchmo" and "Satch" are short for "Satchelmouth". The nickname origin is uncertain.<ref name="bergreen7"/> The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy in New Orleans dancing for pennies. He scooped the coins off the street and stuck them into his mouth to prevent bigger children from stealing them. Someone dubbed Armstrong "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. Another tale is that because of his large mouth, Armstrong was nicknamed "satchel mouth,", which was shortened to "Satchmo."<ref name="bergreen7"/>

Early on, Armstrong was also known as "Dipper,", short for "Dippermouth,", a reference to the piece ''Dippermouth Blues''<ref>Armstrong, 1954, pp. 27–28</ref> and something of a riff on his unusual [[embouchure]].

The concern with Armstrong's health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake,", "Cornet Chop Suey,", <ref>Satchmo.net. 'Red Beans and Ricely yours, Louis Armstrong.'</ref> and "Struttin' with Some Barbecue,", though the latter was written about a fine-looking companion, and not food.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20031227020046/http://www.cabcalloway.cc/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/jive_dictionary.htm ''Jive Dictionary''], by [[Cab Calloway]]: "''Barbecue (n.) – the girl friend, a beauty''." Retrieved February 10, 2009.</ref> Armstrong kept a strong connection throughout his life to the [[Louisiana Creole cuisine|cooking of New Orleans]], always signing his letters, "[[Red beans and rice]]ly yours ...".<ref>Elie p. 327.</ref>

In his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. Along with his "clarinet-like figurations and high notes in his cornet solos,", Armstrong was also known for his "intense rhythmic 'swing,', a complex conception involving accented upbeats, upbeat to downbeat slurring, and complementary relations among rhythmic patterns.<ref>{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |last=Harker |first=Brian Cameron |date=1997 |title=The early musical development of Louis Armstrong, 1901–1928 |publisher=Columbia University |id={{ProQuest|304443911}} }}</ref> The most lauded recordings on which Armstrong plays trumpet include the [[Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions|Hot Five and Hot Seven sessions]], as well as those of the [[Red Onion Jazz Babies]]. Armstrong's improvisations, while unconventionally sophisticated for that era, were also subtle and highly melodic. The solo that Armstrong plays during the song "[[Potato Head Blues]]" has long been considered his best solo of that series.<ref name="bergreen7"/><ref>Lynn Rene Bayley, "More Jazz: 'Louis Armstrong{{snd}}The Early Years." ''Fanfare{{snd}}The Magazine for Serious Record Collectors''. 09 2008: 408–410. ProQuest. Web. 14 July 2016.</ref>

Such records were hits, and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, and using his voice as creatively as his trumpet.<ref name="bergreen7"/> Armstrong once told [[Cab Calloway]] that his scat style was derived "from the Jews ''rockin'',", an Orthodox Jewish style of chanting during prayer.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://forward.com/culture/197338/louis-armstrongs-secret-lessons-from-judaism/|title=Louis Armstrong's Secret Lessons From Judaism|work=The Forward|access-date=2018-01-12|archive-date=March 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230317114334/https://forward.com/culture/197338/louis-armstrongs-secret-lessons-from-judaism/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/louisarmstrong00laur|title=Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life|last=Bergreen|first=Laurence|year=1998|publisher=Broadway Books|isbn=978-0767901567|edition=Reprint|location=New York|language=en|url-access=registration}}</ref>

Armstrong was a gifted composer who wrote more than 50 songs, some of which have become [[jazz standards]] (e.g., "Gully Low Blues,", "Potato Head Blues,", and "Swing That Music").

Armstrong's two recordings for [[Columbia Records]], ''[[Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy]]'' (1954) and ''Satch Plays Fats'' (all [[Fats Waller]] tunes) (1955), were both considered masterpieces, as well as moderately well selling. In 1961, the All Stars participated in two albums, ''The Great Summit'' and ''The Great Reunion'' (now together as a single disc) with [[Duke Ellington]]. The albums feature many of Ellington's most famous compositions (as well as two exclusive cuts) with Duke sitting in on piano. Armstrong's participation in [[Dave Brubeck]]'s high-concept jazz musical ''[[The Real Ambassadors]]'' (1963) was critically acclaimed and features "Summer Song,", one of Armstrong's most popular vocal efforts.

In February 1968, Armstrong appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian [[RAI]] television channel, where he performed "Grassa e Bella,", a track Armstrong sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label.<ref>Louis Armstrong: "''Grassa e bella''" [http://michaelminn.net/armstrong/index.php?section8 Louis Armstrong Discography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111230507/http://michaelminn.net/armstrong/index.php?section8 |date=January 11, 2014 }}</ref>

In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the UK with "[[What a Wonderful World]],", which topped the British charts for a month. Armstrong appeared on the October 28, 1970, ''[[The Johnny Cash Show (TV series)|Johnny Cash Show]]'', where he sang [[Nat King Cole]]'s hit "[[Ramblin' Rose]]" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel No. 9".