The Significance of Louis Armstrong’s Contribution To Jazz.

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The significance of Louis Armstrong's contribution to Jazz.

By 1919 Marable's band had been joined by the young cornettist Louis Armstrong who was destined to become the most influential of all early Jazz performers. Armstrong's lowly background in New Orleans was typical of many first generation jazz musicians. Born in a slum, Louis gained his formative musical experiences in the bordellos of Storyville and by singing in street groups with friends. After Louis was released from being arrested he resolved to pursue a career as a musician and owed his initial success to the timely patronage of King Oliver.

Armstrong was faced with a new challenging task when he joined Oliver's band. In the New Orleans ensemble style it was difficult enough for the standard 3 instrument front line to create convincing polyphony; the addition of a fourth melodic strand, which Armstrong was asked to provide, caused further problems because his instrument was identical to Oliver's. This experience undoubtedly sharpened Armstrong's aural perception.
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Armstrong's playing was characterized by a wide variety of original melodic and timbral devices and make his style instantly recognizable. Louis's idiosyncratic mannerisms, adumbrated in his recordings with Oliver and developed in the later 1920's, include descending arpeggio patterns in triplets, so called 'rips' in which a high note is approached by an aggressive glissando, and a rich terminal vibrato colouring sustained notes after the initial attack. His playing in these early years is distinguished by a powerful sense of swing, a characteristic that made him one of the 'hottest' performers of the time.

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