Who is Louis Armstrong. Louis Daniel Armstrong: a short biography. Debut on the jazz stage

Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong is believed to have been born on August 4, 1901. At the same time, the musician himself did not know exactly when he was born, and chose US Independence Day - July 4, 1900 - as his birthday.

The family into which Louis Armstrong was born can hardly be called prosperous. Their father abandoned them immediately after the birth of their second child, their younger sister Beatrice, and Mayann’s mother, who did not know any craft, worked as a laundress. The black boy grew up in complete poverty, like many in the disadvantaged area of ​​​​New Orleans, Louisiana.

Childhood

Mother was always busy, so most For a time, the abandoned children were with their grandmother Josephine. As soon as Louis entered elementary school, life became especially difficult, because his mother’s craft almost ceased to generate income. Then the boy began to look for all sorts of part-time jobs in order to at least eat tolerably.

He had to work as a newspaper delivery boy, a salesman, he transported coal to the red light district, which was famous for its bars, cafes and restaurants, where you could always meet many musicians. It was then that Louis became interested in music.

At the age of 7, the boy worked for a Jewish family who treated him like their own son. Until his death, Armstrong remembered their kindness, and in memory of them he wore a Star of David around his neck.

Having reached the age of 11, the boy, in love with music, dropped out of school and together earned his living by performing simple melodies. Louis learned to play the trumpet very quickly. He repeated almost all the compositions he heard, since he was absolutely not trained in musical notation.

According to Louis Armstrong himself, he owed his amazing learning ability to the complete deprivation of life in New Orleans. In order not to find yourself without food, without a roof over your head, or to avoid being caught by local merchants for stealing food, you had to spin around and come up with tricks.

The youth of Louis Armstrong

The teenager was not at all of a gentle disposition, so he often ended up in the police station. One day, because of his recklessness, he ended up in jail right on New Year's Eve 1913. The reason was a fleeting desire to shoot with the pistol he found from his mother. This prank served as a reason for Louis to be sent to a boarding school for troubled teenagers.

Louis didn’t worry about this for long, because now he had enough free time to devote himself entirely to his favorite pastime. It was then that he began performing in a brass band, playing the cornet, tambourine and alto horn, and firmly decided to become a musician.

Debut on the jazz stage

After returning to the city, the first thing he did was learn musical notation while touring on steamships in summer time years - the musicians willingly agreed to help the aspiring trumpeter. Since 1918, he actively played in all kinds of musical groups New Orleans and Chicago.

In 1922, the talented boy was invited to the most popular Chicago jazz band as a second cornetist. Participation in King Oliver's orchestra was a powerful impetus to success for Louis Armstrong.

In 1932, Louis was invited to perform at the Palladium Theater in London. There he had a chance to meet the editor of the English magazine Melody Maker, Mathieson Brooks. Unknowingly, the journalist distorted Armstrong's New Orleans nickname Satchelmouth and called him Sachmo. The jazzman was not upset at all; on the contrary, he liked the new one more than the old one.

Personal life of Louis Armstrong

Louis's personal life was very eventful. First he married a Creole prostitute, Daisy Parker, but this marriage did not last long, until 1924. Having barely reached the age of 23, he threw in his lot with his jazz band colleague Lil Hardin. Later, this strong-willed woman insisted on a solo career as a musician.

In 1938, at the peak of his career, he married dancer Lucille Wilson, with whom he lived until his death.

Solo career

Arriving in New York, Louis achieved a special style of playing the trumpet - precise passages and lively improvisations made him one of the most sought-after musicians. In addition, his raspy voice became the most recognizable in New Orleans. Armstrong is a pioneer of scat - vocal improvisation using the voice as a musical instrument.

They started talking about him as a rising star. Already at the age of 24, he recorded his first Hot Five album, inviting talented jazz performers to collaborate - trombonist Kid Ory, clarinetist Johnny Dodds, banjo player Johnny St. Cyr and pianist Lil Hardin. These recordings have become classics of jazz music. A year later, Armstrong already led his own orchestra, which performed repertoire in the style of hot jazz.

At the age of 26, Louis began a life of touring - a series of European tours starting in 1933 made him a world-class star. He was invited to act in films, participate in television programs and speak on the radio. In 1947, the vocalist sang on the same stage with Louis Armstrong in the musical New Orleans: performing with her idol was a long-time dream of the singer.

Health problems and death

In 1936, Louis Armstrong's autobiography, Swing That Music, was published, in which the most famous jazz trumpeter spoke about his difficult life, about the hardships endured and the first success on the jazz stage.

At the same time he underwent surgery upper lip– led to deformation and rupture of tissues professional activity musician. In addition, in an attempt to remove the hoarseness from his voice, Louis Armstrong underwent surgery on his vocal cords.

Even after suffering a heart attack in 1959, Louis Armstrong did not stop his concert activities, but he still began to perform less often. During this period, he took part in the musical “Hello, Dolly!” (Hello, Dolly) along with . Their composition of the same name reached number one in the American charts.

African-American jazz musician, composer, vocalist, and bandleader Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana (USA).

His baptismal certificate was found only in the mid-1980s, so he did not know the exact date of his birth and chose it arbitrarily - July 4, 1900 (US Independence Day).

The future musician was born into a poor family. The father, a day laborer, abandoned the family when his son was about five years old; his mother was a laundress.

Until the age of five, Louis lived with his paternal grandmother, then with his mother and older sister.

Since childhood, he sang on the city streets as part of a quartet of his friends. In 1907, he began helping around the house for the Karnofsky family of coal traders - Jewish emigrants from Russia. The Karnofskys gave Armstrong money to buy his first musical instrument, a cornet.

IN New Year's Eve 1912, Louis, celebrating the holiday, shot into the air from someone else's pistol, after which he was arrested and placed in a home for difficult-to-educate teenagers. Here he began to study music, mastered the altohorn and cornet, and performed in brass band and choir.

After his release, Armstrong returned home, played in bars with amateur ensembles, continued to study with New Orleans musicians, and periodically worked in jazz orchestras.

In 1918, he joined the band of trombonist Kid Ory.

In 1922, Armstrong moved to Chicago, where he played in the Creole Jazz Band for two years.

In 1924, Armstrong married pianist Lil Hardin, who persuaded Louis to join Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, and moved to New York. During this period, Armstrong participated in the recordings of pianist Clarence Williams, and also recorded records as part of various accompanying ensembles with many blues and jazz vocalists, including Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Clara Smith, Sippy Wallace, and Bessie Smith.

In November 1925, Armstrong returned to Chicago and recorded the first hits of the Hot Five group he organized. In May 1927, he formed the Hot Seven group. In June 1928, the hit West End Blues, considered one of the most famous jazz works, was recorded.

In the late 1920s, he performed in a duet with Earl Hines and toured various cities in the United States - in 1929, the musician visited New York, where he collaborated with the orchestra of Leon Russell and Duke Ellington, then played with the orchestra of Leon Elkins and Les Hite California. In 1931, visited New Orleans; Returning to New York, he played in Harlem and on Broadway.

During the 1930s, Armstrong made a number of tours to Europe and North Africa, which brought him wide fame not only at home, but also abroad. In between tours he performed with the orchestra of Charlie Gaines, Kid Ory, Leon Russell and others.

In the future, Armstrong's popularity continued to increase thanks to his tireless and versatile musical activity. Most notable are his performances with Cozy Cole, Trummy Young, Billy Kyle, singer Velma Middleton, Sidney Bechet, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, as well as Oscar Peterson and other jazz stars.

Since 1947, Armstrong has worked with the All Stars sextet.

Armstrong participated in jazz festivals in Nice (1948), Newport (1958), toured in many European countries, Latin America, Africa, Asia. With his assistance, a number of philharmonic jazz concerts were organized at Town Hall and on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.

In 1964, his song Hello Dolly, released as a single, became a hit. In 1968, the first place in the charts was occupied by the composition What A Wonderful World he performed.

Armstrong's popularity was associated not only with his work in the studio, but also with cinema. The musician starred in the films Rhapsody in Black and Blue (1932), Pennies from Heaven (1936), Cabin in the Sky (1943), and New Orleans "(New Orleans, 1947), "The Glenn Miller Story" (1953), "High Society" (1956), "Paris Blues" (1961), "Hello, Dolly! , Dolly!, 1969) and many others.

Together with jazz singer Alloy Fitzgerald Armstrong recorded Gershwin's opera (1957).

He wrote two autobiographical books, Swing is Music (1936) and Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans (1954).

In 1960, Louis Armstrong's star was unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On July 6, 1971, the musician died in New York from heart failure, which led to kidney failure.

Louis Armstrong created a kind of pop-jazz that flexibly adapts to any stylistic context and to any audience. Armstrong, along with Sidney Betchet, gave jazz its main basis - improvisation.

"Look how beautiful the world is. I can give you nothing but love..." Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong's unique voice has been imitated by countless performers over the years. He popularized scat singing, which relied more on nonsense sounds than words, and his musical phrasing on the trumpet influenced virtually every singer who appeared on the scene after 1930, such as Bing Crosby, Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra. In addition to everything, Louis Armstrong's wonderful sense of humor and radiant stage persona became, perhaps, the main and natural factor popularization of jazz. Young performers were inspired by seeing him on stage at least once, and millions of spectators were enchanted by jazz through the magic of Armstrong's music. IN later years His creative work and Armstrong's world tours made him known as "America's Messenger of Peace."

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901 (his birth certificate was found in the mid-80s, so this date is very rough) and grew up in a poor part of the city, sometimes performing on the streets for pennies as a singer in a vocal quartet .

On New Year's Eve 1912, Louis picked up a pistol and fired into the air, celebrating the holiday, after which he was arrested and sent to a home for difficult-to-educate teenagers. This period of his life became the starting point for him as a musician, because. It was in a home for the difficult to educate that he learned to play the cornet. Having been released two years later, Louis begins to play jazz groups New Orleans. When King Oliver, who was Armstrong's patron, left New Orleans, he recommended Louis to Kid Ory and his then-popular band. Four years later, King Oliver invited his protégé to play in Chicago in his Creole Jazz Band as a second cornetist.

In 1922-24, King Oliver played in the best classical jazz orchestras and it soon became obvious that Louis was beginning to push aside the maestro with his playing.

In 1923, the group recorded forty-one compositions for four labels and met pianist Lily Harden, who became the second of Louis Armstrong's four wives. Lily persuades Louis to leave the group and move to Fletcher's Henderson orchestra in New York, perhaps the most popular orchestra at that time. At that time, the musicians New York lagged behind Chicago musicians in technology. This is probably why Armstrong's playing gave local musicians the opportunity to feel a new direction. Louis began recording as an accompanist blues performers, for example, Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey, as well as with other musicians and groups: Sidney Bechet and Clarence Williams' Blue Five. In 1925, after leaving the Henderson Orchestra, Louis moved back to Chicago and began his famous series"Hot Five" and "Hot Seven".

In 1925-27, together with clarinetist Johnny Dodds, trombonist Kid Ory, pianist Lilly Armstrong and banjo master Johnny St. Cyr, Armstrong recorded masterpiece after masterpiece - music that elevated and glorified New Orleans jazz. The composition “Cornet Chop Sue” amazed music connoisseurs (in this 1927 composition, Louis exchanges the cornet for a trumpet), and the composition “Heebies Jeebies” became a hit and finally made scat singing popular. In 1928, Armstrong plays studio group The Savoy Ballroom Five. "West End Blues", with its charming trumpet introduction, was considered by many, including Armstrong himself, to be the most successful recording - along with "Weather Bird", performed as a duet with Earl Hines.

Armstrong performed in various late-night shows in Chicago with the big bands of Erskine Tate and Carol Dickerson, honing his showmanship. Beginning in 1929, he began to record as the leader of several jazz bands, creating classic masterpieces, such as "I Can"t Give You Anything But Love". In the next decade, the name of Louis Armstrong became a kind of calling card of jazz; in 1932-34 he made two tours to Europe, playing several memorable episodic roles in films and plays in a big swing band. The most memorable thing about him musical career was a collaboration with Earl Hines in 1928 - the magic of Louis's playing can be felt in all recordings, and his voice is at the peak of emotional expressiveness.

In 1947, Armstrong left the large group and formed the sixtet "The All-Stars", which included trombonist Jack Teagarden, clarinetist Barney Bigard and Earl Hines. With him, Armstrong begins a continuous tour that will last until his death.

Louis Armstrong biography briefly will tell you about the life of an American trumpeter, vocalist and creator of his own ensemble, the founder of jazz. They will help you compose a message about Louis Armstrong.

Louis Armstrong biography and creativity

Louis Armstrong's life began on August 4, 1901 in the poorest area of ​​New Orleans in the family of a mine worker.

The boy's childhood could not be called happy; he grew up in an area where only black families lived. His father left the family and left the city, his mother was forced to become a woman of easy virtue in order to feed Louis and his older sister Beatrice. The children's grandmother, having learned what their mother is doing, takes the children to her place.

At the age of 7, Louis' childhood ended. To help his grandmother, he decides to find a job. He earned his first income by delivering newspapers. Then he got a job as a coal delivery driver.

One day, having got a job with a family of rich Jews, the Karnovskys liked him so much that they began to consider the hardworking guy their adopted son. For Louis's birthday they gave him a cornet - the first in his life. musical instrument.

Being in seventh heaven, the guy gets a job in the drinking establishments of Storyville, playing instruments. In parallel with this, he begins to take part in ensembles.

For a misdemeanor in 1913, Louis Armstrong was sent to a correctional boarding camp. Here the young man received musical education and gained experience. In a couple of years, he masterfully learned to play the tambourine and alto horn, improving his playing of the cornet. Louis got a job in the ensemble. He earned his living by performing marches and polkas.

One day, while performing at a club, King Oliver noticed him and offered Armstrong cooperation. It was short but fruitful.

In 1918, King advised Louis to another respected person in the world of music - Kid Ory. He made the guy a member of the Tuxedo Brass Band.

Later, Louis met an expert in the field of art and music, Marable. Thanks to this man, Armstrong received a decent musical education and is making attempts to independently compose music on the cornet.

In 1922, former musical partner King Oliver invited Armstrong to join the Creole ensemble, the Creole Jazz Band. The cornetist and his ensemble travel around the country and gain their first fans.

After some time, he moved to New York and got a job in the orchestra of Fletcher Henderson, a master of jazz. Louis adopted knowledge from Fletcher and developed as a musician with his own unique and vibrant style of playing the cornet. It was for this that fans from all over the world fell in love with Louis Armstrong.

Since 1925, the musician has been recording his famous compositions: “Go Down Moses”, “Heebie Jeebies”, “What a Wonderful World”, “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue”, “Hello Dolly”. He starts recording with famous composers and performers.

On the stage last time Armstrong appeared on February 10, 1971. A heart attack confined him to bed. In March, Louis got back on his feet and, together with his All Stars ensemble, gave concerts in New York. A repeated heart attack again confined him to hospital bed. 2 months later, on July 6, 1971, after the last rehearsal, the founder of jazz music died from heart failure and kidney failure.

Louis Armstrong personal life

Armstrong was married four times, but had no children.

He first married very early on to prostitute Daisy Parker. But those around the gifted and talented musician kept telling him that tomorrow he would wake up famous. And such a person should not be together with a woman who did depraved things. This forced Armstrong to divorce her in 1923.

In 1924 he met pianist Lil Hardin. After some time, he marries her. It was at the insistence of his wife that he embarked on a solo career. But at the end of the 1920s they divorced.

His third marriage was to Alpha Smith, which lasted only four years.

In 1938, Louis Armstrong married for the fourth (and last) time to dancer Lucille Wilson, with whom he lived until the end of his days.

Louis Armstrong is a man made of contradictions. A lifelong lover of music, created to conquer heights, he was often forced to be content with second roles. One can argue and say that he himself, single-handedly, created his image of the great “King of Jazz”, that all his glory is the result of long and hard work. Of course, this is true, but only partly. The racial prejudices that reigned at that time simply would not have allowed Armstrong to ascend to the top of Olympus alone. He did a lot by stepping on the throat of his song, guided by the role imposed on him by numerous impresarios. But they were white, and he was not, so Armstrong had to do the incredible - to be a star of the stage, an artist of the highest class, included in elite houses - and at the same time create not only to please the public, but also for future generations, creating brilliant compositions , undying for decades.

short biography

Little Louis was born in the Battlefield area of ​​New Orleans. Constant clashes between bandits and shootouts were an integral feature of local life, which, of course, affected little boy your imprint. The poorest area of ​​Louisiana was simply a collection of bars, saloons, criminals and women of easy virtue inhabiting it. Stabbing and shooting were so common that they were perceived as something natural. There is still controversy regarding the date of his birth. The generally accepted date is 1900, July 4th. But there is another date - 1901, August 4. And the musician himself always said that he saw the world already in 1890. These discrepancies perfectly illustrate the plight of Armstrong's family, who did not even bother to register his birth.

His mother Mary Elbert was only 16 years old when she gave birth to Louis. In infancy, the parents separated, and the boy was left in the care of Josephine, the boy's grandmother. True, after 5 years his mother took him in again; by that time Louis had already started going to school.

He was able to get a job in a quartet of boy vocalists who performed for alms. At the same time, Louis meets the Karnovsky family - Latvian-Jewish immigrants. He began working for them, delivering coal, and gradually became a very close member of the family.

A key event for the boy happened in 1913, when all of New Orleans was immersed in the New Year holiday. Having stolen a pistol from another of his mother’s friends, Louis fired just one shot. A police officer suddenly appeared nearby and took the teenager into custody. For such a relatively innocent offense, Armstrong was given a severe punishment - serving a prison term in the colony of Captain Joseph Jones. However, for the boy this was happiness - in the settlement he was dressed and well fed. So we can only thank the unknown judge who sent Armstrong away from home and gave him a chance at new life.

In the correctional institution there was a small vocal group and orchestra conducted by Peter Davies. Davis agreed to take the boy into the orchestra and first put him on a tambourine, a simple musical instrument. Quite quickly, the boy was entrusted with an altohorn - a low-sounding wind instrument that plays harmonic parts. Since Armstrong had already learned to perform various voices by ear while singing in the choir, he had no problems with the new instrument. The boy's talent was obvious, and Davis first began to teach the boy to play the bugle, and then the cornet. As a result, Armstrong becomes the best musician in the orchestra.

The musician was taken from the colony by his father, but at the first opportunity Armstrong escaped and returned back to his mother. Karnovsky's help came at a very opportune time - they gave him a new cornet, on which he could start making money. From that moment on, Armstrong's creative and concert activities began.

In 1918, Louis got a job on a river boat in an orchestra entertaining the public. Mellophonist David Jones taught Armstrong how to read music on one of his cruises. In 1922 he moved to Chicago, where at that time he had practically no equal. Being out of competition, he soon becomes a star, making each of his performances a bright and spectacular show.

In 1925, he performed at the Dreamland Cafe, got a job in Fletcher Henderson's orchestra and worked part-time in Erskine Tate's orchestra. In 1929 he moved to New York, where he devoted himself entirely to music. Being very famous by this time, he did not lack money, giving an incredible number of concerts.

Until 1946, Armstrong lived an active concert life, acted in films and recorded his own records. In 1947, the All Stars ensemble, created on Glaser’s initiative, appeared, including the most eminent masters of jazz. Armstrong and his ensemble give countless concerts and continue to act in films. Since 1950, he begins to perform more as a vocalist. Its deep hoarse voice and a snow-white smile were his calling card, his pass to any place where he wanted to perform. He lived for music, for playing the trumpet, and he didn’t need anything else. July 6, 1970 greatest jazzman in the entire history of mankind has passed away.

Interesting Facts

• He was first arrested at the age of 11.
• The conditions in the ghetto where little Louis lived were incredibly terrible. The boy had to do terrible things to survive: look for food in garbage cans, beg and commit petty thefts.
• Due to a constant lack of money, Armstrong had to quit school. During his life he never received a real education.

• At the age of 14, he Armstrong was already playing in an orchestra, without knowing musical notation and relying only on hearing.
• From the beginning of his concert activities until his death, Armstrong practically did not interrupt his performances.
• When his mother, Elbert, died in 1942, it was the only time in his entire life, according to his recollections, that he cried.
• In 1918, cornetist Joe Oliver left his place in Kid Ory's orchestra, and the 18-year-old jazzman was hired to take his place. Oliver taught him the basic rules of breathing, staging, and taught him a little musical notation.
• Upon learning of his father’s death, he refused to go to his funeral, saying: “The man who left me and my mother to starve is nothing to me.”
• The jazzman’s opinion regarding Buddy Bolden, the “king of the cornet” of New Orleans, one of the founders of “classical” black jazz, is interesting. Bolden received the nickname “The King” for his services and had a significant influence on subsequent generations of jazzmen, including Armstrong, who listened to him live with early childhood. He said: “I wouldn’t have enough lungs to blow through his cornet. Although everyone considered him great, he blew too much into it, and most likely in the wrong way. Remember he went off the rails at the end, don't lose sight of that."
• In 1926 there was a complete abandonment of the cornet and a transition to pipe . Apparently, this was influenced by the design of the tools. After all, on a cornet with a wide bell, the sound was too soft, and Armstrong’s playing style required a sharper sound. In addition, the cornet stood out too much from the general sound of orchestras of that time.

• Armstrong has over 60 hits that have become immortal jazz classics. He recorded them with his Hot Five ensemble in just 3 years.
• Armstrong always kept the Star of David with him, as a memory of the Jewish Karnovsky family, which became practically his own.
• He was the first of color jazz musicians who wrote an autobiography.
• Having avoided politics all his life, he once broke this rule. During the Little Rock school crisis, nine African Americans were banned from attending classes. This situation infuriated him so much that he said: “The way the government treats my countrymen, they should go to hell.” He was sharply criticized for this phrase, but never changed his mind. This statement regarding President Eisenhower is considered the most courageous act of the musician’s entire life.
• He was disliked by many of his young compatriots, who believed that he should use his position to improve the lives of people of color. However, Armstrong never did this.
• At one time, Armstrong experimented with playing the trombone, but it was nothing more than a hobby.
• Armstrong was barren, but he loved children very much.

• He was a sponsor for the amateur baseball team Armstrong's Secret Nine.
• At one time, at the peak of its popularity, cigars were produced under the name “Louis Armstrong”.
• He frequently used recreational drugs and was once convicted of marijuana possession.
• Louis adopted the child of his cousin, who died shortly after giving birth - the boy Clarence. Unfortunately, he suffered a head injury as a child and became developmentally delayed. However, Armstrong cared for him throughout his life.
• A reviewer once made a derogatory review of Louis's performance. This so hurt the musician, who by that time had world fame that he simply fell into despair. Despite his popularity, the jazzman was a very impressionable person.
• Once in England, speaking to members of the royal family, Armstrong violated an unspoken rule prohibiting speaking directly to royalty. Looking at George V, the jazzman said: “I’m performing especially for you, Rex!” - and started playing solo.
• He had a watch with an engraving “to the greatest trumpeter in the world”, received from admirers of his talent.
• He had a nickname - Satchmo, which he often signed and used in the titles of his songs and albums.

• Not every concert was outstanding. Often, especially in last years life, he played mechanically, only on willpower. However, this does not mean that he played poorly. Even his shortest performance was always on point. He simply did not allow himself anything else.
• Towards the end of his life, Armstrong began to have problems with his labial apparatus and fingers. Because of this, he almost completely switched to singing, playing the trumpet only short phrases and rarely using fast tempos in improvisations.
• The jazzman's funeral was shown in live throughout the USA. Many newspapers around the world, including Izvestia Soviet Union, reacted to the death of the musician, condoling and mourning the loss. Many spoke at the funeral famous musicians and singers of that time: Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and many others.

The best songs that became famous throughout the world

Being a truly inexhaustible source of ideas, Louis Armstrong gave the world a large number of works during his life that have become truly significant and iconic in the world of jazz. His style of playing and performing vocal techniques, his chic “voice with sand” became a kind of canon of the era.

The most famous compositions recorded by Armstrong can rightfully be considered “ Hello Dolly!», « Go down Moses" (better known as "Let My people go") and " What a Wonderful World" Today almost everyone knows them, and their sound is associated only with Armstrong’s voice.

Contrary to popular belief, the composition “ Hello Dolly!"was written not by Armstrong, but by Jerry Herman. But its performance by a 63-year-old jazzman was able to accomplish the impossible - the song took first place on the charts, knocking the Beatles themselves off the top! But they confidently held the first three places on the chart for 3 whole months. In 1965, Armstrong received a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance for this song.

"Hello, Dolly!" "(listen)

Song " Go down Moses“Thanks to Armstrong, she began a new life. It was he who significantly reworked it in 1958, re-arranged it and gave it a fresh sound. His most famous trumpet solo became the canon of jazz music, forever cementing Armstrong as a genius performer.

"Go down Moses" (listen)

In 1967 they composed the song “ What a Wonderful World" Its authors, Bob Thiel and George Weiss, thought for a long time about which one popular singers it could be offered for performance and in the end they settled on Armstrong. He was just selecting compositions for his new album, and a fresh song came at the right time.

“What a Wonderful World” (listen)

Unfortunately, Armstrong's compatriots did not appreciate the song and its performance. “How can you sing about the beauty of the world and nature, looking at what is happening around you?” - that was their only question. Only a year later, in 1968, the song took first place in the UK charts. Since then, the composition has been covered several times by various performers, but no one has been able to cover Armstrong’s canonical performance. After all, it is his voice that we hear in our heads when we see the title of a song.

Filmography of the musician

Armstrong has starred in a huge number of films, TV series and television shows, even more than any other actor. In many ways, this was done for the sake of popularizing the musician himself, and, naturally, for the sake of money. His impresario, Joe Glaser, created a unique image for Armstrong that had nothing to do with inner world Louis, and which he had to adhere to in order to remain at the zenith of fame. Glaser's favorite phrases were: "Smile, damn it, smile!" and “Make a face!”

Thus, Glaser was able to get significantly rich on the name of his ward, but it was not just profit - it was a kind of symbiosis. After all, being “colored,” Armstrong could never have achieved the kind of fame that he received with the help of Glaser. This followed from the realities of the time in which he lived, where whites had an initial advantage over blacks. So, being a realist, Armstrong simply played his role, followed the traditions accepted in his time.

Armstrong acted throughout his life, from 1930 to 1971. His first film was “ Ex-Flame"(Explosive), filmed in 1930. A simple story about a wife blinded by jealousy, as a result of which she lost not only her home, but also her son. In this film, Louis starred as himself, which did not require any special effort from him. The last movie, in which he starred in 1969, was the musical adventure comedy " Hello Dolly!", lasting 2 hours 26 minutes. In it, Armstrong starred as orchestral conductor. The film won 3 Oscars and received 13 nominations.

In total, Louis starred in 28 films where he played other characters, and in 10 films where he portrayed himself. In addition, over the years he has appeared in 13 television shows and has appeared in 10 series.

After his death, films continued to be made about him, almost more than during life. Out 21 New film and 10 series: documentary, biographical and popular.

Personal life of a jazzman

The relationship with his mother and the musician’s morally free childhood significantly influenced his relationship with the fairer sex. Seeing daily wild life his mother, he subconsciously came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as serious attachment to the weaker sex, much less love.

During his life, he changed many women, was married as many as 3 times, in addition, he often had affairs on the side while married. He was not shy about flirting with women, and since he was rich, he enjoyed wild success.

In 1918, he met the first woman for whom he felt something resembling love. Her name was Daisy Parker. Sweet and interesting at first glance, inside she was a real devil in a skirt - lack of education, wild jealousy, constant quarrels, screaming and irrepressible pugnacity. The woman’s obnoxious character caused a divorce, after which Daisy soon died.

The musician was luckier with his second wife. We can say that it was she who chose Armstrong, and not vice versa. Lil Hardin received a very decent musical education, played the piano excellently, dressed tastefully and was quite educated. At first she had a very low opinion of Louis, considering him provincial uneducated person, but over time, his talent, snow-white smile and charm melted her heart.

Lil began to make a star out of Armstrong. It was her obsessive desire and Armstrong could not resist it. She forced him to go on a diet, thanks to which he lost 20 kilograms, bought new beautiful clothes and instilled a sense of taste. In addition, she taught him secular manners and the basics of musical culture.

Hardin forced Armstrong to move to New York. There she took it seriously and here the first problems appeared. Louis remained provincial at heart and a simple person. He did not understand why alcohol and weed were so condemned and did not see anything wrong with their use. Lil didn't think so, and they often quarreled over this issue. In the end, Hardin decided to divorce. She approached him creatively and thoroughly, leaving Armstrong penniless and taking over the luxurious house they bought together. Lil outlived hers ex-husband, but only slightly, dying in 1971 on stage from a heart attack.

His third wife was Lucille Wilson, born in New York. Finally, a woman was found who fell in love with Armstrong not for money, but for his character. A dancer who received a musical education, she completely satisfied Louis with her character, being a soft and compliant woman. During quarrels, she could always find a compromise, and they lived in a happy marriage for 30 years.

Difficult relationships with managers

Armstrong had no luck with money all his life. No, he knew their value, but he managed his income completely illiterately. Beggars of all stripes constantly circled around him, numerous “friends” invited him to bars, but were in no hurry to pay the bills. Therefore, it is not surprising that Armstrong often had problems with managers who first tried to somehow control the musician, and then began to take advantage of their position and shamelessly rob.

Louis's first manager was Johnny Collins, an unscrupulous deceiver who took every opportunity to take the bulk of the money from Armstrong's fee. At the same time, he did not even bother to document this - the musician was absolutely helpless in the bureaucracy and never checked his accounts and fees. Louis's constant quarrels with the manager led to nothing - the money was still flowing away, it was unclear where and for what.

In the 30s, Armstrong developed serious problems with rival mafia clans controlling nightlife London. As a result, he had to hide in California. As soon as he tried to return to Chicago, the mafia ordered him to get out of the city. Johnny Collins left Armstrong in 1934, refusing further cooperation. At the same time, he takes almost all the musician’s money for himself.

In 1935, the jazzman, completely disappointed in people, does not know what to do, but suddenly meets Joe Glaser, who a short time(in just 3-4 months) solves all his problems. He becomes the jazzman's new manager. At the same time, he was quite close to the gangster Al Capone and had authority among the criminal world. This is tough and even cruel man there were great connections. He quickly paid off all of Armstrong's debts, scared him away ex-girlfriends and mistresses who threatened him with lawsuits, and brought order to his accounts.

Glaser on long years became Armstrong's powerful patron. An interesting thing happened. As you know, many people did not respect the jazzman: some for refusing to promote the equality of “coloreds,” others for being too gullible. Many did not like him for the obedience that he expressed to the “white masters.” And a principled man with criminal inclinations, Joe Glaser, sincerely respected the musician. Perhaps, deep down, he understood that he was dealing with a genius, with a talent that he would never achieve, with a person who had no equal in terms of performance and skill. Until the very end of his life, he protected Armstrong and he considered him his friend. In part, that was the case.

In 1969, Glaser suddenly suffered a severe attack. They decided not to say anything to Armstrong, but by coincidence, Glazer was taken to the same hospital where the musician had been taken shortly before due to heart problems. Louis demanded to be allowed to see his friend, asked to be taken to him, even on a gurney. In the end, he was allowed. He came out depressed and shocked, beside himself with grief. His friend and patron did not even recognize his ward...

On July 4, 1969, Glaser died without ever regaining consciousness. The death of a man with whom Louis had worked for many years left a heavy imprint on him and undermined his health. He tried to show everyone that nothing had changed, but this was the beginning of the end.

Louis Armstrong was a genius ahead of his time. His talent did not fit within the existing framework, did not fit into them, and he had to limit himself in order to always be the first, the best, the only... This was especially noticeable in the second half of his life. Cheerful and charismatic, he was the life of any company, but we will never be able to know what was going on inside him.

Armstrong is a phenomenon of musical culture. The musician’s difficult childhood left its mark on him, but could not break his character. Throughout his life he carried his charm, enchanting smile and kindness. The most complex virtuoso technique easily coexisted in his music with spoken recitative. The deep, soulful sound of the trumpet and the indescribable voice easily coexisted together, making any composition a masterpiece. Even though he was considered greatest musician modernity, he himself had a low opinion of himself. He lived for performances, concerts and public applause. Just before his death, he refused to go to the hospital. Being in terrible physical condition, exhausted, he could not refuse people who bought tickets to his performance. That’s how he was - great and at the same time simple, the “King of Jazz”...

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