Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Born: August 4, 1901

Died: July 6, 1971

Louis Armstrong, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 4, 1901 (according to the most recent research), in the poorest section of town. He overcame poverty to become one of the most important people in the history of music.

Louis Armstrong was called "the single most important figure in the history of jazz" by Billboard magazine, a publication that tracks the recording industry. The jazz magazine Down Beat agreed. Why is Armstrong so important in the history of this American musical art form called jazz?

No one before Armstrong had ever played the trumpet the way that he did. He was one of the first great soloists of jazz music. The solos he played were as interesting and innovative as any music written at the time. Rather than follow notes on a page, he improvised, playing what was in his head instead. This type of playing laid the foundation for all jazz to come.

Armstrong also pioneered a type of singing. Do you know what it was called?

The new style of singing that Louis Armstrong pioneered was called "scat." Scat singing is a lot like improvising on a musical instrument. Instead of singing real words, with scat one sings nonsense words to the melody. Armstrong became as famous for his scat singing and gravelly voice as his trumpet playing. He recorded many songs with another jazz great and scat singer, Ella Fitzgerald.

In addition to all of his accomplishments, Louis Armstrong holds the record for being the oldest artist ever to have a Number 1 record. He accomplished this when he was 63 years old with his version of the song "Hello, Dolly," from the musical of the same name. What is even more extraordinary is that he reached Number 1 in 1964 by toppling the Beatles from the top of the charts! Louis Armstrong had come a long way from his poor Louisiana beginnings.

Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones

Born: March 14, 1933

As a child, Quincy Jones studied the trumpet and began playing and arranging music professionally as a teenager when he formed a band with singer and pianist Ray Charles. At the age of 16, Jones attended the Berklee College of Music on a scholarship. He later became vice president of Mercury Records, one of the first black Americans to hold a senior executive position at an American record company. As an arranger and producer, Jones has worked with hundreds of popular performers and has composed the music for more than 30 motion pictures. He founded his own record company, Qwest Records. He produced the motion picture “The Color Purple,” directed by Steven Spielberg. He began publishing the rap magazine Vibe and a year later formed Qwest Broadcasting, a minority-owned broadcast company. Jones has won Emmy and Academy Awards for his musical scoring.

Yo-yo ma

Yo-Yo Ma

Born: Oct. 7, 1955

A world-renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma began studying the cello with his father at age four. As a performer, he maintains a balance between his engagements as a soloist with orchestras throughout the world and his recital and chamber music. One of his personal goals is to demonstrate how music is a means of communication in both Western and non-Western cultures. To that end, he has immersed himself in music as diverse as native Chinese music and the music of the Kalahari bush people in Africa. In 1997, he received a Grammy Award as Artist of the Year.