Jazz Giant Louis Armstrong Was Born
August 4, 1901
No one before Armstrong had ever played the trumpet the way that he did. He was one of the first great soloists of jazz music. The solos he played were as interesting and innovative as any music written at the time. Rather than follow notes on a page, he improvised, playing what was in his head instead. This type of playing laid the foundation for all jazz to come.
Armstrong also pioneered a type of singing. Do you know what it was called?