Jazz Trumpeters- Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis

The next few weeks I'm going jazz. This week is dedicated to two phenomenal trumpeters, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis.

Miles Davis grew up in well to-do East St. Louis. He made a trip to New York saying he was attending Julliard Music School, but his real purpose was to hook up with other jazz musicians. Over the years he formed many different groups and help to revolutionize jazz. He was always trying something new and always had the best up-and-coming young artists. He went through his own trial and tribulations of drug abuse and other things. He was always up to trying something new and formed the first professional nonet, a group of nine musicians. He did not discriminate when choosing musicians for his group, as long as they could play well that was all that mattered. He had a skill for meshing many different styled musicians and making it work. His solos are not fast licks in the upper octaves, but rather lower notes at a slower pace and with the spacing of his solos. Also, many members of his bands went off to form their own groups. One blogger comments that very “few trumpet players could match the quality of his tone and no one has changed jazz as many times or spawned as many jazz leaders as Miles Davis.” I agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

The next trumpeter is Louis Armstrong. He grew up poor in New Orleans. He first learned to play the cornet while in reform school after shooting a gun in the air on New Year’s Eve at the age of 12. After he was done with that he was back to selling stuff and working to survive. It wasn’t until he met Joe “King” Oliver, who acted as his mentor and taught his how to play the cornet better. Over the years he played in numerous groups, went through numerous wives and traveled the world. When he went to Chicago as a young man early in his career his New Orleans style of playing was all the rage and other bands from New Orleans traveled to Chicago to bask in the craze. Louis Armstrong was known as “America's Ambassador” since he traveled across the country and the world wowing audiences with his band. Because of his great influence of the jazz work ever since 1974 high school jazz bands throughout the country have been honoring their most outstanding jazz students with the Armstrong Jazz Award. Every year, at my high school and many others, at the final band concert of the year the Armstrong Jazz Award is given to a senior who has displayed their love of jazz music and their skill at playing. Louis Armstrong lives on with this award and through his music.

I listened to both of these artists this week. Davis likes to have silence when he solos instead of playing as many notes as he can as fast as he can and as high as he can. Just listening to some on his pieces I am awed at his skill and love of the music. I love to listen to jazz music, but failed at the playing part and was terrified of soloing.

Louis Armstrong’s music also is quite phenomenal. One of his most famous songs is What a Wonderful World. I had heard this song many times, but had no idea that the great Louis Armstrong was its creator.



For more information:

http://www.redhotjazz.com/louie.html

http://www.miles-davis.com/timeline

http://airjudden.tripod.com/jazz/milesdavis.html

Pictures from:

http://eleetmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/miles_davis1.jpg

http://alexpantarei.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/louisarmstrong.jpg