One of the first great cornet player, Joe 'King' Oliver and his top student, Louis Armstrong hailed from New Orleans. Armstrong was born in one of the poorest sections of New Orleans on Aug.4, 1901. When he was 11 years old, juvenile court sent him to reform school for firing a pistol into the air. While there, he had his first formal music lessons and played in the reform school's brass band. After about 18 months he was released. From then on, he largely supported himself as a musician, playing in small clubs with his mentor Joe 'King' Oliver. He was one of a few musicians in New Orleans who were creating a new brand music out of Blues and Ragtime to be called Jazz. He went to Chicago in 1926, where he quickly became a headliner on records and radio, and in Jazz clubs, wowing audiences with the utter fearlessness and freedom of his groundbreaking trumpet solos. His 'scat' singing transformed vocal tradition and musicians studied his recordings to hear what a horn could do. It has been said that Armstrong used his horn like a singer's voice and used his voice like a musical instrument. He was one of North America's most important artists by the late 1930s, and had created a sensation in Europe with performances and records. His music had had a major effect on 'Swing' and the big band sound. By the 1950s, Louis Armstrong was an established international celebrity, an icon to all musicians and lovers of Jazz. His death on July 6, 1971 was front-page news around the world, and more than 25,000 mourners filed past his coffin at the New York National Guard Armory. "And all I'm saying is, see what a wonderful world it would be if only we would give it a chance. Love, baby, love. That's the secret. Yeah." -Louis Armstrong   MP3 | Blues In The Night | St. Louis Blues | Georgia on my Mind |