Louis Armstrong's Journey to Success

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Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother was Mary Albert and his father was William Armstrong. He was born into a poor family and his father left the family when Louis was a baby. Later in life, Louis attended the Fisk School for Boys. He did many things to make money including working as a paperboy, finding food and selling it to restaurants, and hauling coal to Storyville (which introduced him to the music he would later play). Armstrong eventually dropped out of the Fisk School for Boys at the age of 11 and joined a quartet of boys. He often worked for a Jewish family, the Karnofskys, who also helped provide him with food and other necessities.
Louis Armstrong started to play the cornet seriously after being sent to the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs. After being made the bandleader at the school, Armstrong was eventually released where he ended up returning to the streets until he got his first job at Henry Ponce’s. He perfected his playing while learning from older musicians such as Joe Oliver. According to biography.com, “In 1918, h...

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