Cole Greif-Neill
January 17, 2001
Louis Armstrong:
The King of Jazz
He’s been called the king of jazz. He’s been called the most influential
musician in the past one hundred years. He’s even been called the greatest
musician of the 20th century. He was Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, trumpeter and
singer. Louis’ New Orleans growling voice and distinguished trumpet playing are
recognizable around the world. Hits like “What A Wonderful World,” have
become anthems for life, universally. Though he did not invent jazz, he was “its
premier performer and principal molder,” (Miller, p.17). During the Jazz Age of
the 1920’s, Armstrong was one of America’s most well known entertainers and
really showed the world what an American art form was about.
“No I ain’t supposed to be in this band. They’re too good.” This is what
Louis said to himself when he saw Joe “King” Oliver’s band play for the first time.
A few days earlier, Oliver had sent for Louis to come up to Chicago from New
Orleans to play with Oliver’s band. Armstrong was very excited at the thought of
this. He was just a young man, and yet he was playing with the pros. Chicago was
the big-time. Louis roots as a simple boy in the colored waif’s home in New
Orleans were reflected largely when he stepped off the train in Chicago. He was
astounded by the large crowds of people and tall buildings, as anyone who hadn’t
been to a large city would have been.
Louis’ father and mother had separated when he was young and left Louis
and his sister to live with their grandmother, who was a freed slave. Their
grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, lived in the worst neighborhood in Orleans,
adjacent the city jail. The neighborhood was called the Battlefield. “It was called
the Battlefield because the toughest characters in town used to live there, and would
shoot and fight so much,” Louis later recalled (Miller, p.19). These impoverished
beginnings added to the humbleness and simplicity with which Louis lived.
Though his beginnings were very harsh at times, his grandmother always
stressed the importance of being humble, joyous, and kind to all. This can be seen
when Armstrong tended to focus on the positive aspects of his childhood. He
emphasized his closeness with his family, his friends, and also the importance of
the church in his life. His childhood also showed him that to succeed, he would
need to be determined. Through his many jobs that followed, he would also learn
to be a very hard worker.
Louis looked up to Oliver as a father figure – he had been there when Louis’
true father hadn’t. Oliver was a stern man who believed in discipline and respect.
He had his nickname because of his stature in the music scene in New Orleans.
Louis had improved his trumpet playing greatly under Oliver’s instruction, and had
also been introduced to the Storyville scene and to the “jazz nightlife,” by him. He
first met Oliver when he was in the waif’s home. Young Louis had entered the
home at age eleven for firing a gun into the air on New Years Eve (Meryman, p.15).
Louis received his first formal music lesson there. He was always very involved
with the “Colored Waif’s Home Brass Band,” and would practice constantly - going
from playing tambourine, to bugle, and then last to cornet. Peter Davis was Louis’
music teacher at the home, and Davis quickly recognized his exceptionally talented
pupil. Oliver had heard young Louis play, and saw true potential.
The first time Louis came in contact with a horn though was before he had
entered the home. At age seven he began to work for a Jewish family living in New
Orleans by the name of Karnofsky. The Karnofskys owned a business that bought
and sold junk. One of his jobs was to stand atop the wagon in which the business
was being conducted, and blow his horn to attract attention. Louis was very loyal
to the Karnofskys, and became dear to them. They helped him buy his first cornet,
which he found in a pawnshop for the price of five dollars.
After he was released from the waif’s home, Oliver proceeded to take
Louis under his wing, and soon they were playing together in Kid Ory’s “Creole
Jazz Band” in New Orleans. This band was one of the first Jazz bands ever, led by
Kid Ory, a trombone player. Louis was already becoming respected in the jazz
scene of New Orleans, and earned himself the nickname, “Little Louis.” Armstrong
respected King Oliver highly. He had always been there for Louis, and basically
showed him the ropes, and in return, Louis would always be there for Oliver. So
soon Armstrong would move to Chicago, where for the next two years he would
work very hard in Oliver's band. During this time, he also began to make a good
living, and was able to buy a house for himself and his mother in Chicago.
Armstrong once wrote, “Jazz and I grew up side by side,” an accurate recollection
of his early years.
So now as Louis heard King Olivers group play in Chicago for the first
time, he was just a bit astonished. The members of the group included people such
as trombonist Honore Dutrey, drummer Baby Dodds, and bassist and guitarist Bill
Johnson. The piano player in Oliver’s group was a light-skinned, educated young
woman by the name of Lillian Hardin. She had studied classical piano for a year at
Fisk University a few years earlier. Fisk University is a liberal university dedicated
to the arts. It was founded in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1866, with the original
purpose of educating the newly freed slaves. People such as W.E.B Dubois, and
Aaron Douglas had graduated from Fisk. Lil, as she was called, knew everyone and
everyone knew her. Lil had grown up a middle class African-American family, and
this gave her the privilege of going to a prestigious school such as Fisk. In the
beginning her family had discouraged Lil from playing jazz, because of the fact that
the music was associated with lower class people, gambling, and prostitution. Lil
had always admired and had received inspiration from New Orleans jazz musicians
such as Jelly Roll Morton, and W.C. Handy. At this time (and to this day) there
were very few women in the music industry, other than the singers, such as Bessie
Smith. Because of this reason, she was highly dignified.
Lil was one of the most important women in the advancement of jazz in the
1920’s. She not only played piano but also composed and arranged tunes for many
of the popular New Orleans and Chicago bands. While working in a music store in
New Orleans in 1920, Lil was asked to play with Sugar Johnny’s Creole Orchestra.
She played with that group for a few months, and the moved to leading a band of
her own. In 1921 she joined King Olivers group.
At first Louis did not notice Lil. He thought of her as a good-looking girl,
but she was just a co-worker, and he had too much to think about with the huge new
city, among other things. From almost the beginning Lil had a secret love for
Louis. “I was wrapped up in music and did not pay any attention at first to the fact
that Lil was stuck (had a crush) on me….Who was I? To think that a big high
powered chick like Lillian Hardin who came to Chicago from Memphis Tenn – the
year of 1917 – right out of Fisk University – valedictorian of her class – who me? –
I thought to myself. I just couldn’t conceive the idea,” Louis later said. After a
couple years of working together in Oliver’s band, Lil and Louis were much closer,
and finally Louis asked Lil to marry him.
Lil was not Louis’ first wife, though. While living in New Orleans, Louis
married a prostitute by the name of Daisy. Louis said this of his relationship with
her: “When I married Daisy (my first wife) she was a prostitute….And the way
those tough men such as gamblers, pimps, etc..got along with their wives and
whores, that was the same way that I had to get along with Daisy….Many times she
and I went to jail from fighting in the streets.” (Miller, p.25)
After marrying, Lil became a huge influence on Louis. She saw his talent,
and saw how he was being held back in the shadow of Joe Oliver. She thought he
was a far better cornetist than Oliver was. There was also quite a visible contrast
between her and Louis. Louis was the polite, simple poor boy who grew up from
the streets of New Orleans, and Lil was the intellectual, strong-willed, rich girl who
grew up in a large house in Memphis.