Louis Armstrong (1901–1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and in all of American popular music. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in jazz. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive"

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also skilled at

scat singing In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, the singer improvises melodies and rhythms using the voice as an instrument rather than a speaking medium. ...

. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

in the

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. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society which were highly restricted for

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of his era.

Discography

Singles

Original albums

These LPs and EPs were released during Armstrong's lifetime and contained original studio and/or live recordings. The year and label information is for the first vinyl release, unless otherwise noted. Additional information such as number of tracks is given only when necessary to distinguish between different releases under the same title. In most cases, the number of CD releases listed is limited, with preference given to the label that originally released the album.

Posthumous releases

These LPs and CDs were released after Armstrong's 1971 death. * Louis Armstrong in Prague Lucerna Hall 1965 ( Panton, 1979) – reissued on CD in 2000 by Columbia * ''Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: 1923-1934'' (Legacy / Columbia, 1994; Sony Music, 2001) * Louis Armstrong's All Time Greatest Hits ( MCA, 1994) * 16 Most Requested Songs (Columbia/ Legacy, 1994) *

Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions The Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven Sessions were recorded between 1925 and 1928 by Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five and Hot Seven groups. According to the National Recording Registry, "Louis Armstrong was jazz's first great soloist and ...

** ''

Hot Fives & Sevens ''Hot Fives & Sevens'' is a 2000 box set collection of recordings made by American jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong with his Hot Five, Hot Seven, and other groups between 1925 and 1930. First released on JSP Records on 22 August 2000, th ...

'' ( JSP, 1998) ** ''The Complete Hot Five & Hot Seven Recordings'' (Columbia/Legacy) * ''

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'' (Drive Archive, 1996) – 8 February 1947 concert with Edmond Hall's All-Stars * '' The Complete Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong on Verve'' (1997) – repackaging of ''Ella and Louis'', ''Ella and Louis Again'', and ''Porgy and Bess'' * rereleases of ''Together For The First Time'' and ''The Great Reunion'' ** '' The Great Summit: The Master Takes'' (2001) ** '' Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington: The Great Summit/Complete Sessions'' (2000) – includes additional CD of alternate takes * ''The Legendary Berlin Concert'' (Jazzpoint, 2000) – 22 March 1965 concert with Billy Kyle, Tyree Glenn, Eddie Shu, Arvell Shaw and Danny Barcelona * ''The Katanga Concert'' (

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, 2000) – previously unreleased November 1960 concert in Katanga, Africa with Trummy Young, Barney Bigard, Billy Kyle, Arvell Shaw, Danny Barcelona and Velma Middleton. Also contains 17 tracks that were previously issued on one of two earlier Milan CDs, Blueberry Hill (Recorded 17 May 1962 in Nice, France) and What a Wonderful World: The Elizabethtown Concert (Recorded November 1960 in Elisabethville, Africa) * ''The Definitive Collection'' (

Hip-O Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as wel ...

/ Verve, 2006) * ''Live in Amsterdam 1959'' (Ais Records, 2011) * ''The Complete Decca Studio Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars'' (Mosaic Records, 1993) *''The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions 1935–1946'' (Mosaic Records, 2009) *''The Columbia & RCA Victor Live Recordings of Louis Armstrong & The All-Stars'' (Mosaic Records, 2013) *''The Complete Louis Armstrong Columbia & RCA Victor Studio Sessions 1946–66'' (Mosaic Records, 2021) *''Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule'' (Verve Records/

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, 2022)

List of songs recorded

Chronology of the recordings of Armstrong's songs:

References and sources

References

Sources

* Willems, Jos, ''All of Me : The Complete Discography of Louis Armstrong'', Scarecrow Press, 2006,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Louis Discographies of American artists Jazz discographies