How old was louis armstrong when he died
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February is Black History Month. Visit the National Archives website for more information on our resources related to African American history. Today’s post, from Alyssa Moore in the National Archives History Office, looks at the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong.
Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 (although he often claimed he was born on July 4, 1900), into a world immersed in the jazz of New Orleans’ saloons, social halls, and dance clubs. Raised largely by a single mother, Mary “Mayann” Albert, Armstrong and his younger sister spent their childhood in the “Back o’ Town” neighborhood, sometimes nicknamed “The Battlefield.” He left school after fifth grade to work for the local Karnofsky family at their tailor shop. The family encouraged him to pursue his interest in music, and Armstrong used his wages to purchase his first cornet.
Armstrong’s life changed on New Year’s Eve in 1912 when he was arrested for borrowing his stepfather’s gun without permission and firing a blank into the air. He was sent to the “Colored Waif’s Home f
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Louis Armstrong is one of the most written-about musicians in history. Seemingly each passing year brings a new book on Armstrong, ranging from general biographies to academic studies to works aimed at children.
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
Armstrong became the first black jazz musician to publish an autobiography with his Swing That Music in 1936. In 1954, Armstrong produced his masterpiece, Satchmo: My Life in New Orleans, the definitive account of his early years in the city of his birth.
BIOGRAPHIES
Much writing on Armstrong was critical for his supposed “commercial” turn and the perception of his being soft on issues of race. This all began to change when Gary Giddins was given access to the materials Armstrong himself wrote and curated in the Den of his Corona, Queens home. Since the publication of Giddins’s Satchmo in 1988 and the opening of the Louis Armstrong Archives in 1994, scholarship on Armstrong has dramatically changed, making great use of Armstrong’s own, previously unpublished works.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following list of books suggested by the Louis Armstro
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Louis Armstrong
American jazz trumpeter and singer (1901–1971)
Louis Armstrong | |
|---|---|
Armstrong in 1947 | |
| Born | Louis Daniel Armstrong[1] (1901-08-04)August 4, 1901 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 6, 1971(1971-07-06) (aged 69) New York City, U.S. |
| Burial place | Flushing Cemetery |
| Other names | |
| Education | Colored Waif's Home for Boys, Fisk School for Boys |
| Occupations | |
| Spouses | Daisy Parker (m. 1919; div. 1923)Alpha Smith (m. 1938; div. 1942)Lucille Wilson (m. 1942) |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | |
| Discography | Louis Armstrong discography |
| Years active | 1918–1971 |
Musical artist | |
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops",[2] was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and severa
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