Louis Armstrong Because This Was a Poor,

¶ … Louis Armstrong because this was a poor, common person who made it to the top of his field. He defeated racism and all of his other problems to get to his goal.

Louis Armstrong was probably the most talented and successful jazz musician in history. His influence and career continues to affect the jazz world today. That is what made him become what he is known to many today in the history of music, a legendary influence upon the craft. He was born on August 4, 1901 in the poorest portion of New Orleans. Louis grew up with his grandparents, as his parents were separated. He learned much of what he knew outside of their home.

An interesting early influence on Armstrong's life was the Karnofsky family. He worked for the Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family who were junk haulers and provided him with odd jobs. They took him in into their home and treated the young boy almost as a family member. They knew he lived without a father in his life and would feed and help him. He later described his discovery of the fact that this family were also victims of discrimination by other whites who felt that they were better were superior to the Jewish race. It is known that Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life after he met the Karnofskys and wrote about that he had learned to how to really live life and to have determination. The experience taught him to overcome his problems by hard work and caused him to be a philo-Semite (lover of Jews) for the rest of his life.

On January 1, 1913 he made a mistake. However, it turned out to be the best lucky occurrence that ever happened to him. At a New Year's party in downtown New Orleans Armstrong, fired a pistol into the air. He was then placed in the Colored Waifs' Home. It was in the home that he met a big influence in his life. Peter Davis was a brass band leader who taught Satchmo how to play the cornet. Soon after Louis began playing, he was made the leader of the band. This something he was really proud of.

Armstrong the Waifs' Home in June of 1914. After that, he was hired by different cabarets throughout the New Orleans. He also played at picnics, dances and funerals. It was at one of events places that he was discovered by the famous musician Joe "King" Oliver. Joe Oliver found Armstrong stand-in jobs at orchestras and other musical venues. In 1918, Armstrong was offered a vacant seat left by Oliver in the Brown Skinned Babies jazz band.

At the end of 1918 Louis married Daisy Parker. She was a prostitute he had met at a dance hall where he had played jazz on Saturday nights. This union ended only four years later. She beat him regularly. Armstrong was later hired in May of 1919 to play jazz on a riverboat that traveled on the Mississippi River from New Orleans to St. Louis. He soon became extremely popular in St. Louis and was in high demand there. In two and a half years later, Louis was thrown off of the riverboat and fired from his job due to a fight. After returning to his native New Orleans, he received an important telegram from his old friend King Oliver in Chicago.

In 1922, Louis Armstrong joined the Joe Oliver Creole Jazz Band. At that time, he meet Lil Hardin and Joe Oliver. These were two of the most influential people on Armstrong's life. They influenced Armstrong in many different ways musically to shape and mold him and his style of music. In 1932, he returned to the state of California. Then he left for England where he found great success. For three years, Armstrong was almost always on the road. He crossed America dozens of times. Then he returned to Europe where he played in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Holland and England.

In 1935 Armstrong returned to America. And hired Joe Glaser as his manager. He had known Glaser when the man was the manager of the Sunset Cafe in Chicago. Glaser allegedly was connected to the Al Capone mob. However, he proved to be a great manager and fond friend for Louis. Glaser remained as Armstrong's manager until his untimely death in 1969. Glaser further took care of the business end of affairs. This left Armstrong free to concentrate on his jazz music.