Louis Armstrong (1091–1971) was an American trumpeter, composer, and singer who is considered to be one of the influential figures in jazz with a career that spanned five decades. He came to prominence in the 1920s, and was influential from shifting to focus from group to solo performances. He was also one of the first African-American artists to “cross over”, meaning his skin color was seen unimportant in comparison to his musical talent in an American that was extremely racially divided.
Armstrong was born into poverty in New Orleans, in the rough neighborhood “the Battlefield”. Both of his parents abandoned him and his younger sister at a young age, leaving them to be brought up by their grandmother and uncle. Taking odd jobs to bring in money, he got into trouble with the law was sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs. It was there that he developed his cornet playing skills at the age of thirteen. After being released from the Waifs home, he began to play as much as possible in brass band parades as much as possible, eventually becoming part of Fate Marable’s steamboat band. During that time he was able to gain a much wider experience with playing sheet music and incorporating singing into his act.
