Louis Armstrong, also known as "Satchmo", or "Pops", was an American jazz trumpeter and singer originally from New Orleans, Louisiana. He earned his earliest acclaim as a trumpet virtuoso, beginning in the 1920s with the studio recordings of his Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles. With these recordings Armstrong charted a future for jazz in highly imaginative, powerful and emotionally-charged improvisation.

Armstrong later became an enduring figure in popular music due to his distinctively-phrased gravelly vocals and his engaging personality, as featured in a series of vocal recordings and film roles throughout a career spanning more than 50 years. He was also greatly skilled at "scat singing", vocalizing with improvised sounds and syllables instead of words. Armstrong's playing and singing styles were a huge influence on instrumentalists and vocalists across all genres of American music. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two of the singers who were greatly indebted to him.

Read the complete Louis Armstrong biography on Legacyrecordings.com

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