Louis Armstrong
The Father of Scat -Bio
Luis "Pops" Armstrong is one of the most famous songwriters in the 1920's. He was the founder of scat. Born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Louis was born in a section of New Orleans that was so poor that it was nicknamed, "Battlefield." His father was a factory worker and abandoned Louis and his mother shortly after Louis was born. Shortly after Louis's abandonment his mother had turned to prostitution several times to earn more money, and he was left to his maternal grandmother. I grade 5, Louis was forced to leave school and start working, collecting junk and delivering coal, while doing this job he often sang as a pastime and his boss heard and often invited Louis to eat meals and singing to them. Later in life he had fired his stepfathers gun and was arrested. He was taken to Colored Waif's Home for Boys, there he had received musical instruction and found his love for music. When he was released, he began to think of his music dream. Doing odd jobs Louis began to sing again and gained the reputation as a fine blues player. Then the professional Cornet player, Joe "King" Oliver took Louis under his wing and often had Louis sub in for him at gigs. He then started taking over for Joe, and was able to quit his labor job and take on music fully.
Impact on the 1920's
In the 1920's, Louis Armstrong was credited as the king of scat. He brought the world into a new age of blues. Louis often played Cornet in parlors and speak easy's. In the 1920's Jazz and blue's music was very popular, so when Louis brought in scat everyone was confused.