Louis Armstrong - American trumpeter, singer, composer and conductor

 See a beautiful tribute in photos to Louis Armstrong, by Radio France. Click here

Louis Armstrong was an American trumpeter, singer and composer born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901 and died on July 6, 1971 in New York. It plays a major role in the history of music. It was he who invented and popularised jazz as we know it today.

A virtuoso trumpet player and singer with such a distinctive voice, he is the first true improvising soloist to put himself in the foreground.

Louis Armstrong was born into an underprivileged environment in New Orleans. Placed in a house of correction at the age of 13, he could have plunged into delinquency but the meeting with a music teacher will change his life. He starts playing the trumpet , in orchestras, brass bands, in clubs but not yet knowing how to read the scores, he compensates by using improvisation. Armstrong is then nicknamed Satchmo (for "satchel mouth", literally "mouth of satchel") because of the size of his mouth.

In 1922, he left New Orleans for Chicago and quickly found success. He recorded his first records under his name at the head of his orchestra, the Hot Five. The success continued in New York where he performed with Fats Waller for Hot Chocolate magazine. He goes on concerts in the United States and Europe at the head of a large orchestra.

Having become a real jazz star , Louis Armstrong has appeared in many films and performed in many countries under the aegis of the American State Department as a cultural ambassador. He collaborates with Ella Fitzgerald in three albums. Due to his age, he performed more and more as a singer. It was at this time that he recorded his most famous songs Hello Dolly in 1964 and What a wonderful world in 1967.

Louis Armstrong is a precursor of jazz, it was he who invented the musical form as we know it today. As such, he will influence all the jazz musicians who follow him.

Louis Armstrong in 6 dates:

1922  : He leaves New Orleans for Chicago and plays in the Creole Jazz Band; made his first recordings.
1924  : He plays Fletcher Henderson in New York
1925  : Records under his own name in Chicago.
1929  : Goes back to New York then to Los Angeles. Tour in Europe.
1950  : His group is reduced to 6 members: "The All Stars"
1964  : Records Hello Dolly , his most famous title

Louis Armstrong in 6 works :

1949  : On the road
1956  : Ella and Louis
1956  : Louis Armstrong and his hot seven
1964  : Hello Dolly

1967  : What a wonderful world
1970  : Louis Armstrong and his friends

First published by Radio France.