Louis Armstrong

A trumpet virtuoso with a wide smile and an ebullient personality, jazz pioneer Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) helped to transform this musical tradition into an international phenomenon, in the process becoming one of America's most beloved twentieth-century entertainers. Raised in New Orleans, Armstrong moved to Chicago in 1922 to join Joe Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. Several years later, he formed his own band, billed himself as the "World's Greatest Trumpet Player," and helped to develop the jazz style popularly known as swing. As his contemporary Duke Ellington observed, "Satchmo" became, over his long career, the "epitome of jazz," playing before capacity audiences throughout America and abroad. Well-regarded as a leader in the campaign for racial equality, Armstrong was first and foremost a consummate performer. As he explained, "I never tried to prove nothing, just always wanted to give a good show."