Louis Daniel (Satchmo) Armstrong was one of the greatest trumpet players ever known to man. Other than his trumpet, Louis had a great voice for the music he played which was called jazz music. Still today he is known for his music and being one of the pioneer's of jazz and big band.
In The Beginning .
Louis was born in the Storyville District of New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 4, 1901. He always celebrated his birthday on July 4, 1900 because his family told him that. It wasn't until he died on July 6, 1971 that people found out his real birth date. His father Willie, a laborer left the family soon after Louis was born. His mother Mayane, was a domestic servant and a part time prostitute. She left Louis and his sister Beatrice, also called "Mama Lucy", in the care of his grandma much of the time. Even though his family split apart, Satchmo still believed it was his family that helped him through the "rough times." .
Louie grew up in a neighborhood called the Battlefield because the toughest people in town used to live there. They would shoot and fight all of the time between two blocks called Gravier and Perido. It wasn't a very good neighborhood to grow up in he said. He dressed in rags and usually shopped in garbage cans. Then he started singing with some boys on the street for tips and begin to develop his musical talent. It still was not a "Wonderful World" for Louie yet. .
Growing up in not the best neighborhood there weren't many rules that Louis had to follow. To celebrate the New Year in 1913 Louis borrowed a pistol from a friend and shot it in the air and was arrested. This was most likely a good occurrence for Jazz music and a good thing for Louis too. He was admitted to the city's Colored Waif's Home for Boys. There a man named Peter Davis tutored him in music. Louis had some background in harmony singing, as a natural ability, and the experience of singing on the streets, but under Mr.