ETHNOMUS 50A Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Louis Armstrong, Jazz Age, Ragtime
9 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Trumpet Players
• Louis Armstrong
o Trumpet player, composer, entertainer, vocalist, band leader
o The most important figure in the development of jazz
o Referred to as the father of jazz
o Nicknames: Satchmo, dipper mouth
o Groundbreaking, influential recordings were mostly made in the late 1920s
o Led his own band
▪ Louis Armstrong and his hot 5
▪ Louis Armstrong and his hot 7
o Most widely imitated improviser prior to the 1940, greatest improviser
▪ Not only on trumpet but on clarinet, saxophone, trombone, piano, etc
o Collective improvisation – improvising with a lot of instruments
o Solo improviser
▪ Louis Armstrong showed that a solo improviser could be just as entertaining and
engaging as collective improvisation
o Prior to the jazz age and prior to Louis Armstrong, the rhythmic influences came from
ragtime
o Louis Armstrong refined the jazz rhythm
o Louis Armstrong built up skill and ability to play a higher scale on the trumpet than any
other trumpet players
▪ Brought sense of drama and energy to music
o Louis Armstrong’s vocal
▪ Voice sounded very different
▪ Expressed so much emotions and feelings through his voice
▪ Singers today are influenced by Louis Armstrong
• Vix Biderbecke
o Caucasian trumpet player
o Short lifespan 1903-1931
o Said to be influenced by Louis Armstrong
▪ Said he heard Louis Armstrong play on a riverboat
o Very influential trumpet player and composer
o Stylistically, doesn’t really sound like a player from New Orleans
o First recorded in 1924 with a band called Wolverine orchestra
o Became a featured soloist in a band by Paul Whiteman
o Biderbecke style of playing was not as piercing or loud as Armstrong
o As a composer, Biderbecke blending ragtime, classical, and jazz
o Teamed up with a saxophonist, Frankie Trumbauer
▪ C melody saxophone – rarely played
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