04/08/2021
Louis Daniel Armstrong, aka Satchmo was born this day in 1901 to parents Mary Albert and William Armstrong.
Born and raised in a racially blighted part of New Orleans, he made his way out of grinding poverty to become the foremost Jazz musician of his time, it is said he tried playing a tin horn to attract customers to a Jewish family who had taken him in, given him a job and further a loan on that job to buy him his first musical instrument a cornet.
He sought work as a musician after that and among other things tried his hand at shipping management but it was the hearing of early Jazz which caught his ear, he joined brass bands playing on riverboats, excursions and steam boats which gained him a burgeoning reputation, he was encouraged to sight read
So by 1920 Louis Armstrong could indeed sightread and spent considerable time in Chicago which at the time was on the rise and with his musical gift was able to quit his day time jobs and focus on playing as the wages in Chicago allowed a little for the type of entertainment Louis espoused.
Still Louis Armstrong despite his growing emergence and sought after catalog was not exempt from the attrition of the Great Depression of the early 1930's, but he adapted his style, toured extensively, played the trumpet, collab'd with other leading musicians of the time, transformed the Harlem and New York Jazz scenes and developed his singing voice.
Most of us will know and have heard his song "What a wonderful world!" I'd be surprised even if you haven't studied music, that you didn't,know of him and even further that song wasn't supported or celebrated first time around in the US at the time, but it made waves in Europe and went to number 1 in the UK.
Without a doubt Louis Armstrong has made an indelible mark on music of World and Nubian origin and died an untimely death after performing well into his sixties and we at Nubian Accoustics celebrate his life, success and achievements against seemingly insurmountable odds on today the day of his birth today August 4th,
Rest in Peace Satchmo!