Priscilla Rosario
Artist Paper
American Roots Music
Throughout his life, Louis Armstrong was inducted into the Grammy and Rock n Roll Halls of Fame, earned a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. Louis contributed many important innovations, including improvisation of both lyrics and melodies. Nicknamed ‘Satchmo’ for his large, satchel mouth, he remains a gem in the crown of New Orleans musicians. A jazz festival is held every year in his city, in his name, and he has an entire park dedicated to him as well. From the grandson of slaves to a man that broke the color barrier with his music, Louis Armstrong trekked an unbeaten path throughout his lifetime.
Louis was born in a neighborhood known …show more content…
He found a father-figure in that school in Professor Peter Davis, who believed in teaching music would fortify the spirit of the young troubled boys. A strict man, Davis did not have faith in Louis at first, for having been raised among “honky-tonks, toughs, and fancy women” (Bergreen 87). Young Armstrong connected music to freedom- as a way to escape the neighborhood he had grown up in, and frequently snuck into the room where the school band practiced to be able to listen. His determination finally proved to the professor that he too could be changed by music despite his background, and Louis was invited to join the brass band.
Davis began to teach the young Armstrong the bugle, and later the cornet, and the band began to work picnics, parties, and parades around the city. Armstrong recounts his time at the Waif’s School as the best in his life, and was reluctant to leave with his father, knowing that he would have no time to dedicated to his music. He had built a reputation and relationships at the school, “everyone there loved [him], and [he] was in love with everyone” (Bergreen 112). The courts agreed without his knowledge that he would be released to his father. Once there, Armstrong began to work to help his father and
Artist Paper
American Roots Music
Throughout his life, Louis Armstrong was inducted into the Grammy and Rock n Roll Halls of Fame, earned a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. Louis contributed many important innovations, including improvisation of both lyrics and melodies. Nicknamed ‘Satchmo’ for his large, satchel mouth, he remains a gem in the crown of New Orleans musicians. A jazz festival is held every year in his city, in his name, and he has an entire park dedicated to him as well. From the grandson of slaves to a man that broke the color barrier with his music, Louis Armstrong trekked an unbeaten path throughout his lifetime.
Louis was born in a neighborhood known …show more content…
He found a father-figure in that school in Professor Peter Davis, who believed in teaching music would fortify the spirit of the young troubled boys. A strict man, Davis did not have faith in Louis at first, for having been raised among “honky-tonks, toughs, and fancy women” (Bergreen 87). Young Armstrong connected music to freedom- as a way to escape the neighborhood he had grown up in, and frequently snuck into the room where the school band practiced to be able to listen. His determination finally proved to the professor that he too could be changed by music despite his background, and Louis was invited to join the brass band.
Davis began to teach the young Armstrong the bugle, and later the cornet, and the band began to work picnics, parties, and parades around the city. Armstrong recounts his time at the Waif’s School as the best in his life, and was reluctant to leave with his father, knowing that he would have no time to dedicated to his music. He had built a reputation and relationships at the school, “everyone there loved [him], and [he] was in love with everyone” (Bergreen 112). The courts agreed without his knowledge that he would be released to his father. Once there, Armstrong began to work to help his father and