Louis Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), Pops, was an
American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive"
trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz,
shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo
performance. With his instantly-recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also
an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending
the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at
scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics).
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost
as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond
jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded
as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the
first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over",
whose skin-color was secondary to his music in an America that was severely
racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay
of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation
during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him
socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were
highly restricted for a black man.
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