The Role Of Louis Armstrong In The 1920's

In Missouri he joined up with the Fate Marable’s band. After three years, Louis’s dreams came true. Joe Oliver asked him to travel to Chicago to join his Creole Jazz Band. It took little time for the city of Chicago to fall in love with Louis’s New Orleanian style of jazz. Louis was becoming a star.

In 1922, Gennett Records, an independent company located in Richmond, Indiana, began recording jazz groups performing in Chicago. The first group they recorded was the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, followed in 1923 by King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band with young jazz player Louis Armstrong. Louis Armstrong is and will continue to be remembered for his contribution to the Jazz Age of music. By 1929 Armstrong was a big star, touring the U.S. and the continent with his bands. His singing style became as popular as his trumpet playing.

Armstrong was mentored and inspired by King Oliver. Armstrong was born in 1901 and had a rocky childhood. In fifth grade Armstrong was forced to drop out of school and begin working. This was because his stepfather was arrested and sent to jail when he was only ten years old. This also caused him to be sent to a home for boys because he no longer had anyone to take care of him.

The 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties”, was an exhilarating time full of significant social, economic, and political change. For most Americans, it was full of the prosperity and peace that followed World War I. Middle-class life was full of leisure and class. For others, this time period was filled with hardships and challenges. Many immigrants and African-Americans faced discrimination and segregation from the rest of the United States. One notable, positive aspect of the 1920s was its booming economy.

Louis Armstrong was a singer, bandleader and trumpeter who was described as one of the most significant artists in jazz history. His passion for rhythm and timing helped to take jazz from a dull, to a leisurely, and more sophisticated atmosphere. This would pave the way for swing and big bands so that soloists can be a focal point on stage. He would become the first and greatest genius in jazz trumpet history. Not only was Armstrong a visionary of impressive magnitudes, he also never forgot who or what influenced him throughout his jazz career.

The 1920’s in America is often considered as “The Roaring Twenties. World War I was over, women got suffrage, fashion changed immensely, prohibition was put into place, and jazz filled the air. The Roaring ‘20s was a decade of play and prosperity. Unemployment was low and Americans were better off financially. After World War I, America wanted to return to normal.

Arguably one of the very best is Louis Armstrong. Known to be well versed in not only trumpet but also vocals and even composition. Louis Armstrong inspired many people across a wide range. He was so actively involved in everything going on around him. He was one of the only African American musicians who spoke up against political issues, he publically talked about the wrongness of school segregation (Harris).

Charles Joseph “Buddy” Bolden is considered the father of jazz music. His specialty is the cornet which he played in his band that was discovered as the first group to play jazz music. The rhythm from his talent inspired the perfect sound to dance to. Though his music entertained crowds of people, a recording of Bolden’s ability was never created. It is only up to the imagination of what he really sounded like.

While in New York, Armstrong made dozens of records as a sideman, creating inspirational jazz and backup singing for many blues singers. Moreover, he had records as a soloist including "Cornet Chop Suey" and "Potato Head Blues." These solos changed jazz history, by incorporating daring rhythm choices, swing and high notes on cornet(Source B). Furthermore, in 1926, Armstrong finally switched from the cornet to the trumpet. After 1926, Louis became more and more famous and broke more and more barriers through his music.

Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1901, even though he sometimes said later in his life that he was born on July 4, 1900. He was raised by his mother and grandmother after his father, who was a factory worker, left the family while Armstrong was still a child. His family was very poor, and as a child Armstrong worked many odd jobs to help support the family. Armstrong was surrounded by music while working and playing in the streets of New Orleans. Since he could not afford an instrument, he learned to sing and joined a vocal quartet that sang on street corners for a little extra money.

The Roaring Twenties was an era that marked new hunger and desire for the unknown, bizarre, and never before seen inventions, accomplishments, and advancements in every aspect of life. It was a new time full of new ideas, new ambition, and new faces whose unprecedented strives to make their mark on this, is what forged the 1920s into a pivotal time in American history. Of these people, nobody quiet had the everlasting impact of Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1902. His father was a congressman for Minnesota in the House of Representatives, and his mother a lawyer.

As a powerful musician and the creator of one of the first big New Orleans jazz band, Oliver was the beginning of jazz in New Orleans and the start of generation of cornet players who advanced their musical style during the 1920s, including Louis Armstrong, who was Oliver's apprentice. All throughout olivers musical career he stood out through his techniques. Joseph Oliver was the first to change the history of jazz music. “King” Oliver helped spread Jazz from New Orleans to Chicago with the creation of his creole band.in 1922( “The life of King Oliver). Together the band brought new songs and music into Chicago.

Joe King Oliver was born in New Orleans, 1885. He spent his youth as a trombonist playing in brass bands. During this time, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong, were all born in New Orleans. All of them learned and played different instruments and had inspiration from the bands that had started playing this new genre of music. Joe King Oliver invited Armstrong to join his band in Chicago along with Sidney.

For this discussion I choose a musician Louise Armstrong song from Pandora. When I type Louis Armstrong song, there were hundreds of his records. I choose a “Stardust” track from the album called “Don 't Get Around Much Anymore “. This song is composed by the popular song composer by Hoagy Carmichael in 1927. This song has many versions that recorded by other jazz great musician added to Armstrong.

He sang softly in a manner reminiscent of Lonnie Johnson, a blues musician and jazz singer, and his guitar style was also more ragtime influenced. Because of Robert Johnson’s specific types of expression in blues music, many other later jazz singers, musicians and guitarist were affected by Robert