Louis Armstrong

American jazz trumpeter, a raspy voiced singer and band leader who was known as the great "Satchmo" for Satchelmouth, the size of his mouth. His infectious huge grin made him lovable to people everywhere and he was known for his sense of humor and vivid energy. Armstrong is the most important improviser of jazz of his day with his perfect pitch and immaculate timing and he taught the world to swing. Innovation and excitement marked his style of the music that is distinctly American, born in the black quarters of New Orleans. With a record of top-ten hits in every decade for half a century, Armstrong is memorable for "Hello, Dolly," and "When The Saints go Marchin' In," as well as his classics, "Weather Bird" and "What a Wonderful World."

Armstrong grew up poor among prostitutes and lowlifes in New Orleans, working from the time he was a kid to help his family. He sang on the street corners in the Old Quarter and taught himself to play the cornet, quickly becoming acquainted with the culture of music that could be heard on every street. He rose from a rough and tumble childhood to become one of the first black men in America who had the courage and clout to say, "I wouldn't play no place I couldn't stay." At age 21, he was the talk of South Side Chicago, playing in his mentor's band, Joe "King" Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. So popular were the trademark two-cornet breaks he and Oliver worked out, that they would perform with handkerchiefs over their hands to hide their fingering from imitators. At age 41, his records and movie appearances had made him world famous. He had a rigorous schedule of touring, recording and performing, gradually adding films and TV.

Somehow, Armstrong stayed down to earth, never moving any further into drugs than his daily hits of marijuana, which never seemed to hurt his playing. He was, however, known as a world-class eccentric, his own man, brash and irreverent.