One man, Daniel Louis Armstrong, gave many people from 1901 to 1971 the gift of music. His life was full of what he loved, and he had opportunities in music that nobody would think of doing at the time. Louis Armstrong had a style all his own. People from all backgrounds and colors loved him. It did not matter where a person came from or what language they spoke, people would come just to hear him play and sing. Armstrong knew how to please a crowd with what he had, and he always performed the best he could. He was given opportunities that took him far in his career as a trumpet player.
He left from New Orleans to Chicago in the year 1922. He arrived at the Chicago train station at about eleven o’clock at night.1 While in Chicago, Louis Armstrong went through many social situations that occurred in his time there. He went through the time of Prohibition, which gave rise to the illicit social environment in which jazz—and his career—flourished.2 This brought on challenges for any jazz player in Chicago during the time because of what was going on in the world. Many of those that would hire jazz players were hoodlums or quasi-hoodlums.3
Louis Armstrong was just getting used to being in Chicago, where he could do anything with his music because he had those opportunities. It took him time to embrace the Windy City fully because for Louis, this was unknown territory for him. Louis had taken their music out of its infancy and given it a powerful breath of new life and independence.4 He flourished in his style of jazz and created something much further than anyone could have thought. He could take any song and make it his own. His whole life he had a love for music, but during this time in Chicago he really started to show what he could do. After some time away from Chicago, he would come back as a solo act at the Regal Theater.5 Even though he had left Chicago for a time, he would always come back to experience the great joy that had brought him there in the first place.
He would do great things by himself, even though he always kept in contact with people he had played with before. He took time to be with his friends and family, playing whether it would be by himself or with bands that were with friends that he had made along the way. He accomplished many things in his lifetime, becoming one of America’s legendary musicians. He was very passionate about his music and he loved to please a crowd. He had a great life filled with many people that praised and loved him, helping him on his journey of being an amazing player.
- Laurence Bergreen, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life (New York: Broadway Books, 1997), 175. ↵
- Bergreen, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life, 194. ↵
- Bergreen, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life, 195. ↵
- Bergreen, Louis Armstrong: An Extravagant Life, 200. ↵
- Terry Teachout, POPS: A Life of Louis Armstrong (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), 132. ↵
59 comments
Analina Devora
Wonderful topic! As a jazz musician myself it’s great seeing one of the greats being recognized on this website. It’s interesting that he left New Orleans which is the city of jazz, but I’m sure he knew what he was doing. It’s also crazy how little respect people had for jazz back then but today, jazz is considered one of the hardest genres to play and the musicians involved are highly valued in the gigging world. Great job!
Yesenia Cardenas
This is a very interesting and informative article! I knew very little of Louis Armstrong before reading this and it fascinating to learn about all the obstacles he went through during his career. He was and still is an inspiring musician and joy to many people over the years.
Rachel White
First thing I learned from this article was that Louis was not his first name; this was unbeknownst to me before reading this article. It is amazing to read this article and get chills because this one man’s music was able to bring together individuals of all race, background, social class, etc. solely because these people all enjoyed listening to him play. It is great to realize that music is so powerful, it really does join people who would not otherwise associate. I believe this is important to take time to realize. That we aren’t all that much different after all when it comes down to it. Really enjoyed this article.
Mariana Sandoval
Even though Louis Armstrong is immortalized in today’s music world as one of the greatest jazz players, it’s interesting to hear about the obstacles he faced (obviously due to the color of his skin and the time he lived in, but also other historical events that were taking place like Prohibition) and how he was about to rise above those obstacles and still claim his place in the world of music. Good job!
Dr. Pierucci
Nice piece, Vanessa! I enjoyed reading your work and it reminds me of one of the tours I took while visiting New Orleans where I learned more about Armstrong’s shaping of jazz music.
Joshua Tinajero
I always love hearing about the amazing obstacles Louis Armstrong overcame in his pursuing his lifelong journey to entertain others through his music. His motivational story is considered by most as one of the first steps into ending racial discrimination, and bringing people of other races together through music. The information provided in this article is accurate and descriptive, but the sentence structuring needs some revision. Good Job, and keep up the great work!
Nicolas McKay
That was a great article! You’re writing felt like you were very passionate about the topic. For me, Louis Armstrong is so synonymous with Chicago, and its hard to imagine him outside or trying to get used to being there. My only piece of advice is that in the last paragraph you start every sentence with “He”. Maybe try rearranging senstence structures a little, but other than that it was a great article.
Jorge Manzanares
Amazing! I personally did not have a wide range of knowledge of Louis Armstrong prior to reading the article. I merely knew that he had a music career. It is fascinating to learn that Armstrong faced challenges in the beginning of his time in Chicago where he flourished later on. Great job on illustrating the fact that he was loved by all given the time period that he lived under. It was not until the 60’s that social reforms began to occur. Therefore, racism in the earlier years were still part of American life. Nicely done!
Aylin Salinas
Wow, I did not know all of this about Louis Armstrong. He was a very talented musician. The way he could make any song his own is quite amazing! Having the adversity of moving to a completely new city, having to make new friends, and build new networks of people to get gigs must have been very difficult for Louis Armstrong. Being a Jazz musician during the era of prohibition must have been very difficult, but adversities have a way of eliciting talent! In the introduction you mentioned that “people from all backgrounds and colors loved him.” Music has a way of bringing people from all sorts of different ethnicities and cultures together if even for just a moment.
Wonderful job on the article!