1901–1971

Louis Armstrong began his musical education by playing the cornet in New Orleans and Chicago. In 1924 he came to New York City to play with Fletcher Henderson’s Big Band, and his improvisational approach to swing music immediately caught on and influenced the Big Apple’s jazz sound during the following decades. He made many recordings throughout the country but his home turf remained New York, where he played in jazz clubs with a variety of groups and also appeared in Broadway shows. He was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the century, known particularly for his trumpet playing and his nonsense– syllable singing (known as scat–singing). His ebullient personality found expression in his 1968 hit, What a Wonderful World.