There are artists that come and go, then there are those artists that stick around for a while and people remember. But every so often, a legend comes along, someone whose music outlives them, and the moment we hear the opening notes of a song we know it is one of theirs, artists like Louis Armstrong.
He got his musical start in grammar school when a junk man he worked for helped him pay for his first cornet. Self-taught on the instrument, he dropped out of school at 11 to join an informal band. However, he was sent to reform school just a few years later, where for two years, he studied music until his release. Despite his rocky start into music, he quickly grew to be one of the finest jazz soloists of his era, and in my humble opinion, of all time.
Not only recognizable by his wonderful cornet and trumpet skills, his voice is also one that stands out as well. It has a thick and full sound, with gravelly undertones that work so well with the songs he plays. Between his voice and instrumentation of his songs, Louis Armstrong truly set himself apart from the rest early in his career.
His songs are beautiful to say the least, and filled with emotion. All of them, whether they have lyrics or not, paint images in your head of the way Louis saw the world, or your interpretation of what Louie was trying to say through with his songs. I would compare his painful song “What a Wonderful World” to John Lennon’s bittersweet “Imagine.” The song has a slow, almost content, happy melody which just puts you in this relaxed state. But as you listen to the lyrics, he is painting an image of a truly happy and peaceful world, something we haven’t known since man crawled up out of the primordial muck.
Also, even though Bobby Darin made the song famous, Louis Armstrong also has a version of “Mac the Knife,” which is just as good, if not better. The song through Louis’ style takes on a softer, smoother vibe, which makes it almost an entirely different song. Driven more by trumpet and melody, as apposed to hard hitting drums and a big band sound, both versions of the song are fantastic, it’s just a matter of what you are in the mood for.
But one of my favorite songs by him has to be “When You’re Smiling.” It is just one of those songs that can do so much to lift you up when you are down, because who wouldn’t start to feel better with lyrics like “When you’re smilin’….keep on smilin’ The whole world smiles with you. And when you’re laughin’….keep on laughin’ The sun comes shinin’ through.” Its lyrics and its melody just put your mind at ease and all your worries just seem to float out the window.
So if you’re looking for something to listen to while you’re studying or not studying, you should check out Louis Armstrong, because no matter what genre you’re into, you’re bound to find a few Louis Armstrong songs you like, whether they’re his upbeat foot tapping jams or his slow soulful social commentaries.
