Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

(1901–1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and in all of American popular music. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in jazz. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive"

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

and

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. There is also a soprano cor ...

player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at scat singing. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for black men of his era.

Discography

78 and 45 rpm

Original albums

These LPs and

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

were released during Armstrong's lifetime and contained original studio and/or live recordings. The year and label information is for the first vinyl release, unless otherwise noted. Additional information such as number of tracks is given only when necessary to distinguish between different releases under the same title. In most cases, the number of CD releases listed is limited, with preference given to the label that originally released the album.

Posthumous releases

These LPs and CDs were released after Armstrong's 1971 death. * Louis Armstrong in Prague Lucerna Hall 1965 ( Panton, 1979) – reissued on CD in 2000 by Columbia * ''Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: 1923-1934'' (Legacy / Columbia, 1994; Sony Music, 2001) * Louis Armstrong's All Time Greatest Hits ( MCA, 1994) * 16 Most Requested Songs (Columbia/

Legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...

, 1994) * Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions ** '' Hot Fives & Sevens'' ( JSP, 1998) ** ''The Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings'' (Columbia/Legacy) * '' Struttin''' (Drive Archive, 1996) – 8 February 1947 concert with Edmond Hall's All-Stars * '' The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve'' (1997) – repackaging of ''Ella and Louis'', ''Ella and Louis Again'', and ''Porgy and Bess'' * rereleases of ''Together For The First Time'' and ''The Great Reunion'' ** '' The Great Summit: The Master Takes'' (2001) ** '' Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington: The Great Summit/Complete Sessions'' (2000) – includes additional CD of alternate takes * ''The Legendary Berlin Concert'' (Jazzpoint, 2000) – 22 March 1965 concert with Billy Kyle, Tyree Glenn, Eddie Shu, Arvell Shaw and Danny Barcelona * ''The Katanga Concert'' (

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, 2000) – previously unreleased November 1960 concert in Katanga, Africa with Trummy Young, Barney Bigard, Billy Kyle, Arvell Shaw, Danny Barcelona and Velma Middleton. Also contains 17 tracks that were previously issued on one of two earlier Milan CDs, Blueberry Hill (Recorded 17 May 1962 in Nice, France) and What a Wonderful World: The Elizabethtown Concert (Recorded November 1960 in Elisabethville, Africa) * ''The Definitive Collection'' ( Hip-O/ Verve, 2006) * ''Live in Amsterdam 1959'' (Ais Records, 2011) * ''The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars'' (Mosaic Records, 1993) *''The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions 1935–1946'' (Mosaic Records, 2009) *''The Columbia & RCA Victor Live Recordings of Louis Armstrong & The All-Stars'' (Mosaic Records, 2013) *''The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946–66'' (Mosaic Records, 2021) *''Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule'' (Verve Records/

UMe ''Prunus mume'', the Chinese plum or Japanese apricot, is a tree species in the family Rosaceae. Along with bamboo, the plant is intimately associated with art, literature, and everyday life in China, from where it was then introduced to Kor ...

, 2022) *''Louis In London'' (Verve Records/

, 2024)

List of songs recorded

Chronology of the recordings of Armstrong's songs:

References and sources

References

Sources

* Willems, Jos, ''All of Me : The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong'', Scarecrow Press, 2006,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Louis Discographies of American artists Jazz discographies