Louis Armstrong says he was born on July 4, 1900 but, was actually born on August 4, 1901. Louis was one of the first truly popular African Americans entertainers. He was known for his American jazz trumpet playing and his deep voice. He was a skilled at scat singing, which is using sounds and syllables instead of lyrics for singing. Louis Armstrong grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born into a poor family and grew up in the rough neighborhood of the Uptown of New Orleans what his father called “Back of Town”. At the age of five he attended a Fisk school for boys, but dropped out at the age of eleven. Armstrong worked at odd jobs and joined a group of boys that sang for money on the street but, it was not enough for his mom to stay clear of prostitution. In 1913, he was sent to the Colored Waifs home by being a juvenile delinquent. While he was at the Colored Waifs home, he learned to play the cornet. Prof. Davis had made him the leader of the Colored Waifs home band. At the age of thirteen, people started listen to Louis because of his cornet playing. When he turned fourteen, he was released from the home then lived with his father and new stepmother and back with his mother and again on the streets. He played in the New Orleans brass band parades. Later on, he started to play in brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans and traveled with the band of Fate Marable. In 1918, his mentor Joe “King” Oliver decided to go up north and quit the Kid Ory’s band. Armstrong was skilled enough to replace Joe “King” Oliver. In 1922, his mentor Joe invited him to his Creole Jazz Band. He enjoyed his partnership with his mentor but his second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong told him to seek more places.
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