Louis Armstrong Essay

Similar to society during the Middle Ages, music during this time was somewhat primitive. Being used for only one purpose predominantly, it expressed sacred worship to a deity, and did not often convey any personal passions, particularly at the beginning. In the later stages of the time period, influences from France started music being composed around “courtly love”(“Middle Ages Music”). However, the average commoner still did not listen to music on a daily basis, and few were involved in the making or playing of it. While music did possess a role in this society, it was quite limited when considering its potential. By the time the Classical Period came around, the musical style had shifted substantially. No longer was it structureless
Armstrong, seeming to be part of a pattern followed by great musicians, had a lamentable childhood, being born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in “a section so poor that it was nicknamed ‘The Battlefield’” (“Louis Armstrong”). After being arrested at the young age of 11 for shooting his stepfather’s firearm in the air while celebrating New Year's Eve, Armstrong was sent to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys. He quickly developed a deep passion for music upon receiving cornet lessons (“Louis Armstrong”). As soon as Armstrong was out of the home he began working on his dream of making music. While working random manual labor jobs he was able to train and play with several of the greatest Jazz players of the time. Armstrong’s fame grew exponentially and ended up not only leaving remarkable impacts on the genre of Jazz in general, but he “set a number of African-American ‘firsts’. In 1936, he became the first African-American jazz musician to write an autobiography, get featured billing in a major Hollywood movie, [and] host a nationally sponsored radio show in 1937” (“Louis Armstrong”). With his death in 1971, he left behind a legacy of being a revolutionary trumpeter, Jazz musician, and civil rights