Louis Armstrong

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VOICE ONE:

This is Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with
People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Louis
Armstrong, one of the greatest jazz musicians. His voice,
trumpet-playing skill and creativity continue to influence jazz
artists today. One of Louis Armstrong's biggest hits was "Hello
Dolly."

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VOICE ONE:

Louis Armstrong played jazz, sang jazz and wrote jazz. He
recorded hit songs for fifty years and his music is still heard
today on television, radio and in movies.

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on August
fourth, nineteen-oh-one. New Orleans is a port city at the mouth of
the Mississippi River. It is a city where the customs of many
different people mixed together.

Louis Armstrong grew up in Storyville, one of the poorest areas
of New Orleans. His father left the family shortly after he was
born. His mother worked to support him and his sister. But Armstrong
spent most of his time with his grandmother.

VOICE TWO:

Jazz was just beginning to develop
when Louis was a boy. It grew out of the blues songs and ragtime
music that had been popular at the turn of the century.

Louis discovered music early in life. He was surrounded by it.
The music of churches, bands, parades and drinking places were all a
daily part of New Orleans culture. Louis sang with other boys on the
streets for money. There he began to develop his musical skills.

VOICE ONE:

When he was eleven years old, Louis was sent to a reform school
for firing a gun outside to celebrate New Year's Eve. At the school,
he learned to play the trumpet in the school's brass band.

Louis spent eighteen months at the reform school. Then he went
back to work. He sold newspapers, unloaded boats and sold coal from
a horse and cart. He also listened to bands at popular clubs in
Storyville. Joe "King" Oliver played with the Kid Ory Band. He soon
became young Louis's teacher. As Louis's skills developed, he began
to perform professionally.

VOICE TWO:

At the age of eighteen, Armstrong joined the Kid Ory Band, one of
the finest bands in New Orleans. The experience helped him develop
his music skills. Armstrong later replaced King Oliver in the band
when Oliver moved to Chicago, Illinois. In nineteen-nineteen,
Armstrong joined Fate Marable's band in St. Louis, Missouri.
Marable's band played on steamboats that traveled up and down the
Mississippi River. Working with Marable helped prepare Armstrong to
play for white audiences.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen-twenty-two, Armstrong left the Marable Band to play
with King Oliver in Chicago. By then, Chicago had become the center
of jazz music.

A year later, Armstrong made his first recordings as a member of
King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. He later moved to New York City,
where he influenced the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra with his
creativity.

Armstrong returned to Chicago in
nineteen-twenty-six and formed his own group. They were called the
Hot Five and later the Hot Seven. Their recordings are considered
some of the most influential in jazz history.

Armstrong could make his voice sound like a musical instrument.
He could make an instrument sound like a singer's voice. The song
"Heebie Jeebies" is said to be the first recorded example of what
became known as scat singing. He recorded it with the Hot Five.

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VOICE TWO:

By nineteen-twenty-nine, Armstrong
was becoming very popular. He returned to New York to play in an
all-black Broadway musical called "Hot Chocolates." The show
included the music of Fats Waller. Armstrong's version of Waller's
song, "Ain't Misbehavin', was a huge hit.

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VOICE ONE:

By the end of the nineteen-twenties, Armstrong had formed his own
band. In nineteen-thirty-two, he sailed to England, and had great
success. A reporter there called him "Satchmo," and he kept that
nickname for the rest of his life. For the next three years,
Armstrong played in cities across the United States and Europe.

Louis Armstrong returned to the United States in
nineteen-thirty-five. He hired Joe Glaser to be his manager. Glaser
proved to be a great manager and friend.

Glaser organized a big band called Louis Armstrong and his
Orchestra. It was one of the most popular groups of the "swing"
music period. Swing was a style of jazz played by big bands in the
nineteen-thirties.

VOICE TWO:

The group played together for the next ten years. During that
time, Armstrong became one of the most famous men in America. He
experienced racial unfairness during his life. But he rarely made
public statements. One time, however, he criticized the way the
government treated blacks in the American South in the
nineteen-fifties. Newspapers accused him of being a troublemaker for
speaking out.

In the nineteen-forties, Armstrong grew tired of leading a large
group. For the remaining years of his life, he led a six-member
group called the All Stars. The group included some of the best
musicians in America. They performed extensively in Africa, Asia,
Europe and South America.

VOICE ONE:

Over the years, Armstrong recorded with many famous musicians.
For example, he worked with singers Ella Fitzgerald and Bing Crosby
and the great composer Duke Ellington. Armstrong was known as
friendly and easy to work with.

Armstrong's biggest hits came later in his life. The song "Mack
the Knife" was a big hit in nineteen-fifty-five. In
nineteen-sixty-four, his version of the song "Hello Dolly" was the
top hit around the world. It even replaced a top-selling hit by the
hugely popular British rock group, the Beatles. Three years later,
he appeared in the motion picture version of "Hello Dolly" with
singer Barbra Streisand.

The song "What a Wonderful World," recorded in
nineteen-sixty-eight, was his final big hit.

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VOICE TWO:

Louis Armstrong never finished the fifth grade in school. Yet he
wrote two books about his life and many stories for magazines. He
appeared in more than thirty movies. He composed many jazz pieces.
He won several gold records and many other awards. Armstrong
performed an average of three-hundred concerts each year, traveling
all over the world. He became known as the ambassador of American
Jazz.

Louis Armstrong was married four times. Lucille Armstrong was his
fourth wife. They married in nineteen-forty-two and stayed together
for the rest of his life. They had no children.

Louis Armstrong died in nineteen-seventy-one. His death was front
page news around the world. In nineteen-seventy-seven, his home in
Queens, New York, was declared a national historic place. It is now
a museum. For more information about Louis Armstrong and his house,
you can go to the museum's Internet Web site. The address is w-w-w
dot s-a-t-c-h-m-o dot n-e-t.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written and produced by Cynthia Kirk. This is
Gwen Outen.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Listen again next week for People in
America in VOA Special English.