Louis Armstrong : The Man and the Music

In this article you will learn about…..

 

The Jazz Icon – What made Louis Armstrong’s music so successful?

Beginnings – How did Armstrong’s difficult childhood fuel his music?

Success – What steps led Armstrong to become an important figure in the development of jazz music?

Musical Ambassador – What made Armstrong an important role model?

Legacy – How is Armstrong’s music still alive today?

The Jazz Icon

Louis Armstrong, the jazz trumpeter from the US, is one of the most iconic musicians of all time. As well as a master of the trumpet, and one of the pioneers of the style of jazz we still know today, he was also an important leader in the US Civil Rights movement and an ambassador of good will around the world. Rumour even has it that in 1960, the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo came to a standstill for a few days as the two sides got together for a Louis Armstrong concert.

Louis Armstrong’s songs were at the top of the music charts for five decades, and his music is still appreciated today, more than twenty-five years after his death. He provides inspiration for people from all walks of life. David Nicholson, headteacher and educational consultant, is also an avid Armstrong fan. Nicholson has spent his career working in high profile educational leadership positions and is also a trustee for Star4Africa charity. For Nicholson, Louis Armstrong’s music and legacy have always stayed with him.  

Difficult Beginnings

Louis Armstrong was born in 1901 in a derelict section of New Orleans that was nicknamed ‘The Battlefield’. Having a difficult childhood, Armstrong spent much of his early childhood in the care of his grandparents. Louis Armstrong had to quit school when he was ten years old in order to start working and contributing to the family income.

Arrested for firing a gun in the air as part of a New Year’s Eve celebration, Armstrong spent several years in a detention facility entitled ‘The Coloured Waif’s Home for Boys’. An over-the-top punishment for the crime. The event proved providential, however, because Armstrong learned to play the cornet while in the home and went on to find his lifelong calling in the world of music.  



Musical Success

By 1918, Armstrong was working full time as a musician and a member of the most popular jazz band in New Orleans. His big break came in 1922 with an unsolicited offer to play with the famous King Olive in Chicago. He was a huge success; Chicago audiences adored Armstrong, both because of his technical ability and his charismatic style. His first solo recording, a collaboration called ‘Chimes Blues’, came from this period.

A few years later, Armstrong left Chicago to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in New York City. Like Olive, Henderson was quick to use Armstrong’s virtuosity and performance technique to fuel a new approach to jazz. Under Armstrong’s influence, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra grew to become the original image of what is now a traditional jazz band.

Armstrong moved back to Chicago in 1925. He’d become popular enough by this time that his reputation followed him wherever he went. This was the period in which Armstrong switched from the cornet to the trumpet, the instrument for which he is best known, and really began to find his personal style. His recording group, Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five is credited with laying the foundation for the jazz techniques we know today, including the traditional virtuosic solo and the wordless singing, called ‘skat singing’ that Armstrong first introduced in ‘Heebie Jeebies’.  

A Musical Ambassador

Louis Armstrong’s success helped to make jazz music popular around the world. In his heyday, Armstrong gave around three hundred concerts every year and his frequent trips earned him the nickname ‘Ambassador Snatch’. In 1965, his tours broke the communist barrier with performances in Czechoslovakia and East Germany. Yet his music did more than just create goodwill. It help to further the acceptance of African-Americans in the US.



Armstrong was a civil rights pioneer throughout his life. In 1936, he was the first African American to receive major Hollywood billing for his role in ‘Pennies for Heaven’. In 1937, he became the first African-American host a national radio show. Later, he was the only black jazz musician to take a public stand against school segregation in the Little Rock, Arkansas case in 1957. At the time he was criticised for his outspokenness, but since then he has been praised for his courage and recognised for his contribution to the civil rights movement.

Armstrong suffered a minor heart attack in 1959, but continued his rigorous schedule on through the 1960’s. In 1968, however his health began to decline and he had to take a year off performing. He returned to the stage briefly in 1970, but suffered another heart attack and died peacefully in his sleep in July of 1971.  

A Growing Legacy

Armstrong’s death did nothing to decrease his popularity and his recordings and music are still very much alive. Young jazz musicians from the 80’s and 90’s continued to emulate Armstrong’s style, and he has received even more recognition for his role in the civil rights movement in recent years. Despite his worldwide fame, Armstrong was always known for his humble personality and simple lifestyle. Music was his passion. This music has drawn people together from other countries and continents, like the music loving headteacher, David Nicholson, and continues to spread the legacy of Armstrong’s life.

Important Dates to Celebrate with STAR4Africa’s School2School Programme

STAR4Africa’s School2School programme focuses on making a direct connection between education in the UK and schools in Africa, specifically Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia. According to a 2011 statement by the Development Education Association, more than half of the UK’s children ‘are not learning about major world events and problems’.

STAR4Africa works to change that by establishing international school partnerships that further education and communication. Trustee David Nicholson, headteacher and educational consultant, has been an advocate for this type of collaboration throughout his career.

The programme is entirely free. Among the many resources available to participating schools, STAR4Africa sponsors celebrations commemorating International Awareness Days, helping to create a shared cultural experience for all School2School students, as well as bringing attention to important world problems.



These are some of the fun events, past and present. 

• February 7 – Idea Exchange – in 2013 and 2014, teachers at schools enrolled in School2School took part in cyberspace sharing to learn more about their colleagues and compare teaching methods. 
• March 22 – World Water Day – this day was designated by the UN in 1993. In 2012, School2School organised a challenge for students in participating schools to find out ‘how much water they eat’. Students researched the amount of water it took to make their favourite foods and shared their findings in a contest. 
• April 2 – Children’s Book Day – commemorating Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday, this has been celebrated since 1967. In 2013, School2School students made personal recordings of their favourite stories and shared them with their international peers. 
• June 5 - World Environment Day – students challenge each other to design the most environmentally conscious project for this day, celebrated around the world since 1974. 
• June 21 – World Music Day – also called Fête de la Musique, this started in 1982 in Paris. On this day, students learn about world music and share a recording of their country’s national anthem with their School2School partners. 
• October 5 - World Teacher’s Day – this day has commemorated the important work teachers do since 1994, and it is an annual celebration for School2School. In 2012, students shared the most valuable thing they’d learned from their teacher, and STAR4Africa printed the messages on an ‘appreciation towel’ for all the teachers involved. 
• October 16 – World Food Day – this day honours the founding in 1945 of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, and it is an annual pledge to eventually eliminate hunger. School2School activities have included learning about the effect of world food prices and a school cooking competition judged by UK cook and entertainer, Levi Roots. 

With its focus on sharing world events, STAR4Africa’s School2School programme makes learning an international collaboration. This benefits students in African countries as well as in the UK and helps to promote higher educational standards everywhere.

STAR4Africa Builds Lasting Relationships with African Communities

Founded in 2007, STAR4Africa has spent the last decade helping underdeveloped communities in Africa. The organisation draws on a wealth of different experiences among its management staff. Its founder, Nick Nicholson, spent twelve years in banking and has a network of connections throughout Africa. Meanwhile, long-time trustee David Nicholson is a headteacher with almost two decades of experience in education and school management.

STAR4Africa has worked on a number of different projects in Kenya, Zambia and Ghana, among other nations. What makes this organisation particularly effective is its system of ongoing support that links past efforts with current projects. Much of STAR4Africa’s early work focused on building educational infrastructure in Africa. Now, shifting its emphasis to the School2School programme that connects schools in Africa and the UK, the charity has been able to integrate these developing schools into an international education system.



Baharini Pre-school in the Kihoto Village of Kenya was one of STAR4Africa’s early successes. The village was devastated by violence in 2007 and high levels of poverty and HIV still add to the instability, especially for children. STAR4Africa enabled the development of the pre-school, which serves children aged between two and seven years old. The organisation continues to ensure the school’s survival by bringing qualified volunteers to help with classes and after-school activities for the students. Baharini is also a member of the School2School programme, partnering with Bowesfield Primary School in the UK.

STAR4Africa has worked extensively with Livingstone Women Make a Difference (LIWOMADI) in Zambia. This local organisation supports women and children in the area who suffer as a result of the national AIDS epidemic. Among other projects, six community schools help to educate children. STAR4Africa is instrumental in this effort with an ongoing programme that funds grants to train local volunteer teachers and make sure the schools’ students receive a high standard of education. Indeco School also works with STAR4Africa to bring in international volunteers, and the school maintains a valuable connection with St Cuthbert’s Primary School via School2School.



In Ghana, STAR4Africa has partnered with the Assin Endwa Trust for more than four years. The charity funds the education of twelve children and helps to support the local trust’s goal of improving literacy. Currently, only 30 percent of the population has a basic level of education. STAR4Africa also organises a cultural interaction programme each summer, hosting a large group of UK volunteers in the Assin Endwa community and helping to make the needs of underprivileged children in Africa more than just an abstract idea.

These are just a few of the places where STAR4Africa has been able to help further local projects and support its mission of providing ‘active participation and mutual collaboration’ at an international level. There is always more work to be done in this area, but STAR4Africa’s accomplishments help to promote a more positive, self-reliant future for Africa.