Tanenhaus, Sam

New York/Philadelphia. 1989. Chelsea House. Reprinted Paperback Edition. Very Good in Wrappers. 0791002217. Black Americans of Achievement series, Senior Consulting Editor: Nathan Irvin Huggins Director, W. E. B. Du Bois Institute For Afro-American Research, Harvard University. BLACK AMERICANS OF ACHIEVEMENT tells the stories of black men and women who have helped shape the course of modern history. Written in a straightforward, colorful style for young adults, the series is richly illustrated with photographs, art, and documents. Each volume contains a bibliography and complete chronology of the subject’s life. Coretta Scott King’s inspirational essay, ‘On Achievement,’ gives additional meaning to these diverse biographies. 128 pages. paperback. keywords: Biography African American Jazz New Orleans History Music Louis Armstrong. FROM THE PUBLISHER - One of America's most beloved entertainers, Louis Armstrong revolutionized jazz and helped establish it as the nation's first highly popular black art form. Born at the turn of the century in New Orleans, Armstrong was deserted by his father and raised by his mother in the city's tumbledown ghetto. At the age of 13 he was sent to reform school, where he learned to play the cornet. Upon his release, he perfected his art in the dance halls and saloons of Storyville, the New Orleans entertainment district that gave birth to jazz. In 1922, bandleader Joe ‘King' Oliver induced Armstrong to shift his career to Chicago. There he headed a group known as the Hot Five and devised a new style of play: solo improvisation. First captured on ‘West End Blues' and other now-classic recordings, his innovations immediately changed jazz and have since influenced nearly all forms of popular music. Onstage, Armstrong complemented his expert playing with raspy scat vocals and dazzling showmanship. His diverse talents made him one of the first blacks to star on Broadway, in Hollywood - in such films as Pennies from Heaven and Hello, Dolly! - and on television. His following grew so large that in 1960 he became America's official goodwill ambassador, touring the globe to foster international relations. A musical genius, Louis Armstrong rose from deepest poverty to become jazz's greatest pioneer and its brightest star. inventory #15806 ISBN: 0791002217.