Luis Armstrong was born July 4, 1900, to a poor family in New Orleans. The grandson of slaves Luis grew up in a very poor part of town known as Uptown New Orleans or the Back of Town, as some called it.
His father, William Armstrong, abandoned the family when Luis was an infant. His mother left him and his sister to live with his grandmother until he was five, then he moved back
in with his mother and saw his father only in parades.
He attended the Fisk School For Boys growing up and help a number of odd jobs. He worked as a paper boy and sold discarded food to restaurants. Unfortunately this was not enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He also
hauled coal to the Red Light District, where he would hang out in brothels and
dance halls listening to music.
Luis joined a quartet of boys that sang in the streets for money after dropping out of school at age 11. He started working for a Jewish family who had a junk hauling business. The Karnofskys took him in and treated him
like family.
He became a really good cornet player when he joined a band at the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs. His talent was recognized and he soon became the band leader. He was released from the home at 14 and went back out to the
streets living with his dad and sometimes with his mom. He started playing at a
dance hall that really started him off on his career.
He played with different bands some of which he led himself, and worked his way up till he was playing with a variety of big names. We all today, what a success he had been and how he transformed jazz. I think he was one of the most influential trumpet
players of all time. Without him jazz wouldn’t be the same.
Comments