When we talk about jazz, one of the first instruments that comes to mind is the trumpet. The trumpet is an iconic image of jazz. From the smooth, laid-back "cool jazz" of Miles Davis to the hard bop of Clifford Brown, the trumpet is a vital piece in any jazz band. All this, however, would not be so if it were not for the godfather of jazz trumpet, Satchmo, Pops, or better known as Louis Armstrong. Over the course of his fifty-year career, Armstrong changed not only the way the trumpet is played, but the entire idea of ​​improvisation in jazz. Louis' impact on jazz was due to his push to include soloists rather than collective improvisation, his playing style, his popularity and fame, and the people he influenced who pushed jazz even further away from Dixieland and from traditional jazz into the idioms of bebop, hard-bop, modal and cool jazz. This essay will delve into all these themes and discover how Louis was such a seminal musician. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Before we look at Louis Armstrong's style, we must first understand what jazz music was like before and at the beginning of his career. Jazz was born in the mid to late 1800s with the blues. This was a product of slavery in America. Slaves sang work songs and blues to help them cope with their terrible treatment. In the late 1800s ragtime was invented and slowly became popular. By the early 1900s, this had evolved into a New Orleans Dixieland jazz style. In the 1920s, Satchmo's early career, New Orleans and Dixieland Jazz were at the forefront of the scene (Hunter, 2015). Louis got his first big break with the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band and the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, playing this type of music, and later forming his own Dixieland group, "Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five". It was in this Hot Five group that Louis began to really 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 rather than an individual soloist. The music also rarely strayed 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 some seminal mainstream records that really paved the way for that type of music to become popular and relevant. Louis Armstrong began to make an impact with his music in this period by breaking away from the idea of ​​collective improvisation by presenting a solo single (louisarmstronghouse, ND). Louis would highlight himself and his abilities, or another band member one at a time. Louis, unlike improvisers before him, used space in his solos, instead of a constant flurry of notes and constructed his solo to have a climax or peak so that each solo had its own plot. This placed an emphasis on the virtuosity of the musicians, which has become standard procedure for almost all jazz combos even today. The idea of ​​collective improvisation is almost forgotten today and is very rarely practiced in jazz groups. Not only was Louis' improvisation revolutionary, but his sound was never heard before. Louis Armstrong's trumpet playing style is a fusion 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 isHe was raised by his grandmother until the age of five, when he went to live with his single mother. Louis received his first cornet from a Jewish family, the Karnoffskys, for whom he worked when he was very young (Teachout, 2009). At the age of eleven, on New Year's Eve, Armstrong fired a blank shot from his stepfather's gun into the air and was arrested. He spent the next two years in the Colored Waif's Home for Boys where he learned to play 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 he was released, he began working with King Oliver. All these experiences emerged through Louis' playing, as he famously said "what we play is life". This can be heard in the way Louis improvises and accompanies with his trumpet. His loud, brash, almost military tone can be attributed not only to his brass band upbringing, but also to his time spent devoted to Dixieland music, having to play over other instruments required for a loud, authoritative sound. Through this, however, you can hear his soul and the blues cry. Dizzy Gillespie stated of Louis that: "In his day all he did was play strictly from the soul." Despite this, his joyful and always smiling personality can be heard in the playfulness of not only his trumpet but also his singing. On his 1956 album, "Ella and Louis" with Ella Fitzgerald and the Oscar Peterson Quartet, Louis can be heard sharing cheeky comments with the band, including singing them "swing it boys." A final distinguishing feature of Louis' sound was his range. “I always hit those notes that the other cats couldn't play” (Teachout, 2009). In a recording Armstrong makes with the Henderson Orchestra on a song called "Shanghai Shuffle", Louis explosively begins his solo with eighteen high Cs one after the other. The legendary Coleman Hawking said of another concert where Satchmo played so incredible that "[the band] made him play ten choruses" (Teachout, 2009). His style combined with his personality brought him a lot of popularity. Louis was known for his friendly and playful personality, which earned him fans of all races in America at a time when segregation was unfortunately still alive. Jazz in the 1930s was starting to become popular and needed someone to front it. With a seductive personality and the ability to bring people together, Satchmo became the face of jazz music and even took up acting, appearing alongside the likes of Grace Kelly and Barbara Streisand (francemusique, 2017). Being on such a big stage, Louis was able to influence more and more younger musicians with his music. Jazz was reaching a much wider audience than before. In 1929, Armstrong began recording with a big band, which wasn't unusual, but the type of music they recorded was. Instead of playing classical big band repertoire, they recorded pieces from the great American songbook, converting compositions by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and others into jazz arrangements (Yanow, 2019). As a result, his jazz music was much more accessible to the listener as he played already popular songs. Louis was also well known for his stage presence and personality. His confidence and demeanor attracted people to his concerts. In video footage of his performance, he can be seen walking around the stage singing, chanting, and playing the trumpet, as well as cracking jokes and interacting with the crowd in a way that has never been done before by a jazz musician (Conrads, 2009). Satchmo himself said it simply: "I never tried toto prove nothing, I just wanted to put on a good show... What you're there for is to please people." In the late 1940s Louis' big band split but he formed a smaller sextet called The Louis Armstrong All Stars. Having a smaller band meant it was much more financially feasible to travel and tour around the world. With this group, Louis toured all over the world from America to Europe and even Australia He has gained worldwide fame and recognition, being one of the most famous musicians, artists and entertainers in the world. The list of musicians influenced by Armstrong is endless and growing from players immediately after him such as Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis to more modern players like Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, when asked about Louis Armstrong, said, "No him, no me." Louis had. Dizzy's career began in the late 1930s, right at the beginning of the rise of bebop. This jazz movement was never played by Louis Armstrong but without a doubt his influence is still strong. The bebop era was led by trumpeters such as Dizzy Gillespie and Clifford Brown, as well as other instrumentalists such as Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, and Sonny Stitt. Both known for their incredible speed and technical skill on the instrument, they credit Armstrong as an influence. Even musicians coming out of the bop era and into the cool jazz era praise the influence of Louis Armstrong. Miles Davis, probably one of the most famous and influential trumpeters, speaks highly of his predecessor. “I love his approach to the trumpet; it never sounds bad.” Miles in a sense became the Satchmo of his generation, performing slower ballads like "When I Fall in Love" and "Stella by Starlight" connecting with the audience the same way Louis played "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" and "Let's Fall in Love" would connect to their parents. More modern musicians like Wynton Marsalis still take inspiration from him, this is a true testament to how long his influence and legacy lives on. “It wasn't considered difficult... But when I tried to learn one of his solos, just the stamina needed, not to mention the kind of soul [he played with]... it was eye-opening for me. All these trumpeters coming from the Satchmo school, like Satchmo, pushed the genre of jazz. Louis moved from Dixieland to swing and big band music, Clifford and Dizzy came out and transformed jazz into bebop and hard bop. Miles started in the bop scene, then got tired of constantly playing loud and fast and from this cool jazz and modal jazz was born. By developing the genre of jazz, Louis directly influenced these musicians and, in turn, they did the same. As a result, Louis has in one way or another, directly or indirectly, influenced almost all trumpeters as these musicians who give him credit, have become the most influential trumpeters. Please note: this is just an example. 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 through; with a solo single, his individual tone and sound, his celebrity status and influencing musicians who went on to influence many, many more and many more to come. Satchmo's influence and legacy will live on for many more decades and continue to inspire generations of young trumpeters and musicians. Above all, the passion and love Satchmo had for music and entertainment was his most important quality. Without his push and