When we talk about jazz, one of the first instruments that comes to mind is the trumpet. The trumpet is an emblematic image of jazz. From the smooth, laid-back “cool jazz” of Miles Davis to the hard bop of Clifford Brown, the trumpet is a staple in any jazz band. But all this would not be the case without the godfather of jazz trumpet, Satchmo, Pops, or better known as Louis Armstrong. During his five-decade career, Armstrong changed not only the way the trumpet is played, but also the entire idea of ​​improvisation in jazz. Louis' impact on jazz is due to his willingness to feature soloists rather than collective improvisation, his playing style, his popularity and fame, and the people he influenced who pushed jazz even further from Dixieland and traditional jazz towards the idioms of bebop and hard. -bop, modal and cool jazz. This essay will delve into all of these themes and discover how Louis was such an impactful musician. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Before we examine Louis Armstrong's style, we must first understand what jazz music was like before and early in his career. Jazz originated in the mid-to-late 1800s with the blues. It was a product of slavery in America. Slaves sang work songs and sang blues to help them cope with their terrible treatment. In the late 1800s, ragtime was invented and gradually became popular. By the early 1900s, this had evolved into a New Orleans style of Dixieland jazz. In the 1920s, at the start of Satchmo's career, New Orleans and Dixieland Jazz were at the forefront (Hunter, 2015). Louis got his first big break with the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band and the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, playing that kind of music, then forming his own Dixieland group, "Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five." It was in this Hot Five group that Louis began to make a name for himself in the jazz community. In the final months of 1925, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five formed in Chicago to record their first album on Okeh Records. This is where Armstrong began to create a real influence on the rest of the jazz scene. The music of Dixieland and the Hot Five focused on collective group improvisation instead of featuring an individual soloist. The music also rarely deviated from the written melody and often featured call and response phrases among the group of improvisers). Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five (and later Hot Seven) created seminal traditional records that really paved the way for this genre of music to become popular and relevant. Louis Armstrong began to make an impact with his music around this time by breaking away from the idea of ​​collective improvisation by featuring a single soloist (louisarmstronghouse, ND). Louis introduced himself and his skills, or another member of the group, one by one. Louis, unlike improvisers before him, used space in his solos, instead of a constant swirl of notes, and built his solo to have a climax or peak so that each solo had its own story. This emphasized the musicians' own virtuosity, which has still become a standard procedure for almost all jazz combos today. The idea of ​​collective improvisation is almost forgotten today and is very rarely practiced in straight jazz groups. Not only was Louis' improvisation revolutionary, but his sound was one never heard before. The style of playLouis Armstrong's trumpet is an amalgam of; his life and experiences, his personality and his influences. Louis had a difficult upbringing in New Orleans. He was born into a poor family and was raised by his grandmother until the age of five, when he went to live with his single biological mother. Louis obtained his first cornet in a Jewish family, the Karnoffskys, for whom he worked at a very young age (Teachout, 2009). At the age of eleven, on New Year's Eve, Armstrong fired a blank bullet into the air from his stepfather's pistol and was arrested. He spent the next two years at the Colored Waif's Home for Boys where he properly learned the cornet and played and eventually became the leader of the Waif's Home Brass Band. This is what inspired Louis to become a musician and shortly after his release he began working with King Oliver. All these experiences came out of Louis' playing, as he said: "what we play is life." This can be heard in the way Louis improvises and accompanies with his trumpet. His strong, brash, almost military tone can be attributed not only to his Brass Band training, but also to his time spent playing Dixieland music, having to play other instruments called upon to play loud and commanding. But through that, you can hear his soul and his blues cry. Dizzy Gillespie said of Louis: "In his day, all he did was play strictly from the soul." Despite this, his cheerful and always smiling personality can be heard in the playfulness of not only his trumpet but also his singing. In his 1956 album, "Ella and Louis" with Ella Fitzgerald and the Oscar Peterson Quartet, Louis can be heard sharing cheeky remarks with the group, including singing "swing it boys" to them. A final defining element of Louis' signature sound was his range. “I was always hitting them notes that the other cats couldn't hit” (Teachout, 2009). In a recording Armstrong made with the Henderson Orchestra of a song called "Shanghai Shuffle", Louis begins his solo explosively with eighteen back-to-back high Cs. The legendary Coleman Hawking spoke of another concert where Satchmo performed so incredibly that "[the band] made him play ten choruses" (Teachout, 2009). His style coupled with his personality has earned him great popularity. Louis was known for his friendly and cheerful personality, which earned him fans of all races in America at a time when unfortunately segregation was still alive and well. Jazz in the 1930s was starting to become popular and needed someone to lead it. Endowed with an attractive personality and an ability to unite, Satchmo became the muse of jazz and even launched into comedy, alongside Grace Kelly and Barbara Streisand (francemusique, 2017). Being on such a big stage, Louis was able to influence more and more young musicians with his music. Jazz reaches a much wider audience than before. In 1929, Armstrong began recording with a big band, which was not unusual, but the type of music they recorded was. Instead of playing classic big band repertoire, they recorded songs from the Great American Songbook, converting the compositions of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and others into jazz arrangements (Yanow, 2019). As a result, his jazz music was much more accessible to the listener because he played songs that were already popular. Louis was also well known for his stage presence and personality. His confidence and attitude attracted people to his concerts. In video footage of him performing, he can be seen strutting around the stage singing, chanting and playing the trumpet, cracking jokes andinteracting with the crowd in a way that had never been done before by a jazz musician (Conrads, 2009). Satchmo himself said it simply: "I never tried to prove anything, I just wanted to put on a good show... What you're here for is to please people." In the late 1940s, Louis' big band broke up but he formed a smaller sextet called The Louis Armstrong All Stars. Having a smaller band meant it was much more financially viable to travel and tour around the world. With this group, Louis tours all over the world. From America to Europe and even Australia. He has achieved worldwide fame and recognition, being one of the most famous musicians, performers and artists in the world. The list of musicians influenced by Armstrong is endless and growing. From players just after him like Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis to more modern players like Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove. Dizzy Gillespie, when asked about Louis Armstrong, famously said: “Not from him, not from me.” This simple statement sets the stage for the magnitude of the impact Louis had. Dizzy's career began in the late 1930s, at the start of the bebop boom. This movement of jazz was never played by Louis Armstrong but his influence is undoubtedly still strong. The bebop era was led by trumpeters such as Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown, as well as other instrumentalists like Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Sonny Stitt. Both known for their incredible speed and technical ability on the instrument, credit Armstrong as an influence. Even musicians who emerged from the bop era and entered the cool jazz era praise the influence of Louis Armstrong. Miles Davis, arguably one of the most famous and influential trumpeters, praises his predecessor. “I love his approach to the trumpet; he never looks bad.” Miles, in a sense, became the Satchmo of his generation, performing slower ballads such as "When I Fall in Love" and "Stella by Starlight," connecting with the audience in the same way Louis played "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues. and "Let's Fall in Love" would have established a connection with their parents. More modern musicians like Wynton Marsalis still draw inspiration from him, it's a true testament to how long his influence and legacy has lasted. “It wasn't considered difficult... But when I tried to learn one of his solos, the endurance it required, not to mention the type of soul with which he played... was revealing for me. All these trumpeters from Satchmo's school, like Satchmo, pushed the genre of jazz. Louis progressed out of Dixieland into swing and big band, Clifford and Dizzy came out and evolved jazz into bebop and hard bop. Miles started out in the bop scene, then grew tired of constantly playing loud and fast, which gave rise to cool jazz and modal jazz. In developing the genre of jazz, Louis directly influenced these musicians and, in turn, they did the same. Therefore, Louis has, in one way or another, directly or indirectly influenced almost every trumpeter, as the musicians who credit him have become the most influential trumpeters. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay To conclude, Louis Armstrong has undeniably created an everlasting impact on the trumpet in jazz. He achieved this thanks to; featuring a single soloist, his individual tone and sound, his celebrity status and influencing musicians who have gone on to influence many more and many more to come. Satchmo's influence and legacy