... to buy his first horn, which was a cornet. At just the tender young age of eleven, the juvenile court sent him away to a home for shooting a pistol. At the home (Jones Home for Colored Waifs) is where he began his first music lessons, and also played in the brass band. He stayed in the ... Jones home for approximately a year in a half. After leaving the home, Armstrong supported himself by playing with pick-up bands and in clubs with Joe "King" Oliver who was his mentor. ... ...

• Word Count: 442
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... and Men. The Roaring Twenties was a time for many new heroes and heroines across the U.S. Athletes were especially likely to be heroes. The golf hero of the 1920's was Bobby Jones, Bill Tilden and Helen Wills were the masters of tennis, and Gertrude Ederle because extremely popular after she was the first woman to swim the British Channel. Not only people ... ...

• Word Count: 909
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... was sent back to his mother and sister, Bernice. When he turned seven he began working and bought his first coronet. When he was eleven, juvenile court sent him to Jones Home for Colored Waifs for firing a pistol on New Year's Eve. While Louis was at the school he had his first formal musical lessons and played in the home's brass ... ...

• Word Count: 228
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... most-played song for September of 1938. Her record label Vocalion listed the single as its fourth best seller for the same month. "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" went straight to number two on the pop charts. In 1939, Billie would experience even more major success when she was introduced to the song "Strange Fruit", a song based on a poem about the horrific ... "He's Funny That Way". She also recorded new songs that were extremely popular such as "My Old Flame", "How Am I To Know?", "I'm Yours", as well as "I'll Be Seeing You", a number one hit originally by Bing Crosby. She recorded her ver...

• Word Count: 2313
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... published the first true ragtime composition. Tome Turpin was the first African-American composer and wrote a composition called "The Harlem Rag" that same year. Over the years of Ragtime's popularity a number of composers merged as the voice of this musical form. James Scott, Louis Chauvin, Joseph Lamb and Scott Joplin just to name a few. Little is known of the early development ... has seldom been rivaled. Progressive Swing, also known as Progressive Jazz, was an extension of the jazz orchestras following the decline of the big band era. The term applied to a number of bands and small...

• Word Count: 1576
• Approx Pages: 6

... adding backgrounds to his vocals and trumpet solos. He stopped performing live and just recorded lots and lots of music. He became a big hit on the radio and had 15 number one songs. In 1955 he made his first concert tour in Europe since the mid 20's. He kept touring all over the world until settling down again and recording some ... ...

• Word Count: 1011
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School