... the age of seven, he was able 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. At the time there were very few musicians in New ... ...

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• Grade Level: High School

... she was born. When she was ten years old she was raped and sent to a foster home where she lived for three years. At the age of 13 she moved back home and started working at a brothel. It was while working at the brothel she first heard recordings of Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong. These were to be her biggest influences. It ... the stage of the Harlem Apollo Theatre in 1934. However, she was too nervous to perform her dance routine so she began singing instead. She sang two songs and took home first prize in the competition. Ella was soon discovered by Chick Webb. Webb took the young...

• Word Count: 616
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• Grade Level: High School

... life. Willie Armstrong, his father left the family out to dry at the time of Louis" birth. Louis" mother gave him to his grandmother for raising, and later he returned home to his mother. He lived in poverty with only one friend, his mother. At a young age he was placed around music. He lived all around saloons, halls, and brothels (Armstrong1 ... 1). Celebrating New Year Eve's with the boys in the barbershop quartet Louis fired a pistol. Later he was then arrested, and he was sent to a Colored Waifs Home in New Orleans. While in the Colored Waif Home he received musical training by a m...

• Word Count: 1017
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 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. Davis he began to study music. First learning vocals, and then percussion, then he became the home bugler, and finally cornet. He would play to Taps to wake the boys up and for them to eat. He basically learned marches and other en...

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

... into the air and was arrested. This turned out to be a very fortunate occurrence for Jazz and probably for him; he was admitted to the city's Colored Waif's Home for Boys. In this home he began his tutorship of Peter Davis who was the music instructor there. He began to study music, first vocal, and then percussion, then he became a bugler, and ... finally began to play a cornet. The music he played was very structured, mostly marches and other ensemble music. Armstrong was released from the waif's home at fourteen and began work. He sold papers, unloaded boats, and sold coal from a hor...

• Word Count: 924
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• Grade Level: High School

... to do things his own way. He began to hang around Frank Holliday's hang out the Pool Room which was next to the famous Howard Theater. As well as being home to some of the best pool players in town it was also the place for musicians to unwind after a show, Some of them being world class pianists. One of these ... must hear him play. The sound of Brooks" music to Duke was invigorating, it was fuel to push his desire to continue, to strive to be the best. "When I got home I had a real yearning to play. I hadn't been able to get off the ground before, but after hearing him I said to mysel...

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• Grade Level: High School

... was of poverty and unhappiness. By the age 10 she was well developed that the men viewed her different. She was later raped and sent to a Catholic home for girls. Billie left the girls home at the age of 12 with the help of her mother and grandfather. Billie loved imitating popular songs by her favorite singer Bessie Smith. By age 14 ... ...

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... back to the liners, they would play the music there and teach themselves hot to dance the proper way to this music style, dances like the foxtrot. When they return home, these orchestras would play in hotel lobbies and play ragtime, foxtrot, or jazz.8 The Japanese had to improvise the majority of the time when playing this style of music, but ... ...

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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... ". But, everyone should at least agree that jazz is the mother of all music, and is referred to as the only art form originating in the United States. America was home to immigrants from all over Europe and beyond who wished to build a new life, or just needed to escape from the old. These people, often thought of as second-class ... ...

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... comparison however, to baseball. The ultimate player of the 1920's was Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees. Hoards of fans poured into the Yankees stadium to see him hit home runs. He was the star of baseball and set a record that wasn't broken for more than 30 years. Not all of the heroes of the 1920's were athletes however. The ... ...

• Word Count: 909
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• Grade Level: High School

... correctly. He and a few friends sang on the streets and made a little money. When Armstrong was in his teens he got into trouble and had to go to the Waif's home, which was a school for boys. He joined the band here and learned to play the cornet, although he was taught incorrectly and ruined his lips. He never learned to read ... ...

• Word Count: 756
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School