Louis Armstrong And The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was the time period throughout the 1920’s in which entertainment, particularly music, was greatly cherished. It specifically narrowed in on exhibiting black talent and celebrating black culture. The musical movement started in New Orleans, but quickly stretched its way across America, to New York. The flaming passion and emotions that was put into the music during this time is something that is still greatly appreciated today. It is believed that African Americans would not be where they are today, if the renaissance had not occurred. The Harlem Renaissance brought a new sense of identity to African Americans such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Billie Holiday; they were no longer defined as worthless objects in society, they had begun a life beyond that.

Louis Armstrong was an African American musician whose fame skyrocketed during the Harlem Renaissance. In 1912, Armstrong started to sing on the streets of New Orleans, for a living. However, Louis Armstrong fully came into contact with the musical world after being sent to the New Orleans Colored Waifs Home for Boys. He had ended up there after firing a pistol into the air one New Year’s Eve. The musical instructor of the school, Joe “King” Oliver, had seen potential talent in young Louis Armstrong, so he soon became his mentor. Oliver eventually taught Armstrong how to play the cornet. Louis Armstrong started out with small gigs; he often played with bands in lesser known clubs, and performed at funerals all around New Orleans. Eventually, after leaving the Colored Waifs Home for Boys, he took on a night job performing in a dance hall at Henry Ponce’s. After forming a band that was known as the “Hot Five,” Louis Armstrong cut his first record in ...

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...ng for his mother to finish cooking dinner.”

The singer, Billie Holiday, had also shaped her career during the Harlem Renaissance. Holiday had actually performed with Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, in her teenage years. Holiday was said to have had an extremely unique sound to her voice. As Wisely and Copeland say, “she pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo.” Before her career had officially taken off, Billie Holiday often performed in small jazz clubs in cities. In 1930, Holiday performed with Laurence Jackson in many Harlem clubs. Just five years later, in 1935, Billie signed to Brunswick Records, and collaborated with Teddy Wilson. Billie had hits that would later become the building blocks to early American jass. It is hard to believe that she had gotten that far despite the fact that, unlike most artists, she had no professional training.