Louis Armstrong was born on August 4,1901.  He was born in the Black Storyville part of New Orleans, Louisiana.  It was a common sight to see lots of fights.  Louis had a sister named Lucy.  His mother, Mayann, had different jobs.  Louis’s family was poor.  They lived in a one-room shack.  Later, Louis was sent to live with his sister, Lucy.

        Louis often skipped school.  Instead he sold newspapers on the streets.  Louis loved New Orleans jazz, but he still liked old spirituals too.  He went to church every Sunday.  Louis was in lots of fights. “You’re going to get in trouble,” Grandma Josephine would tell him.

Louis Armstrong was common to see since he sold newspapers on the streets for money.  He would buy food with the money for his family.  One day Louis and his friends shot a gun up into the air.  A policeman saw Louis fire the gun and arrested him.  The bullets were not real and no one got hurt.  But Louis broke the law.  He was sent to reform school.  Louis thought that the world was coming to an end.

        Peter Davis taught music at the school.  He asked Louis if he wanted to play the cornet.  So Louis joined the jazz band.  At the end of the year, he was the best cornet player at the school.  Once Louis led the band through Storyville.  His family cheered.  So did his friends.  Louis never forgot that day.  Louis stayed in reform school for about two years.

        Louis was sent to live with his father.  Before long, he was back with his mother in Black Storyville, New Orleans.  He worked all day and played his cornet at night.

        Joe Oliver was Louis’ favorite trumpet player.  Joe Oliver asked Louis to lead the Kid Ory Band.  At last Louis got a chance to be heard.

        Soon people came to New Orleans just to hear Louis Armstrong!  Joe Oliver asked Louis to perform in Chicago, Illinois with the Creole Jazz Band.  Louis Armstrong went to Chicago.

       In Chicago Louis met Lillian Hardin.  She was the piano player for the band.  There he married her.  She asked Louis to start his own band.  But Louis wasn’t ready.  He played with some of the best bands that were across the United States.  In the 1920’s everybody was talking about Louis.  He was in lots of Broadway musicals.  His most famous one was in 1929 when he was in Hot Chocolates.  He also made lots of hit records.

        One day he tried the trumpet.  He liked the sound.  From then on he played the trumpet.  More and more people liked his music.  At last Louis started his own band.  Sometimes Louis sang.  His voice sounded like he had a bad cold.  But it was his own special sound.  Louis often scatted like Do-skid-dat-de-dat-dat-do.  Louis played his music all over the world.  People loved him.

        Louis had not taken his band to New Orleans.  So in 1931 he went back to his home.  His mother, Mayann, had died in 1927, but the rest of the family came to hear Louis play.

        Some people thought that blacks and whites should not play together in the same band.  Louis didn’t agree with that.  His band had both whites and blacks.  Lots of people enjoyed the music.  He earned the nickname satchmo (which means big mouth.)

        Louis and Lillian were no longer together.  Louis was sad and lonely.  To solve his problem he married a beautiful dancer named Lucille Wilson.  Louis was happy again.  Louis often traveled around the world.  In 1960, Louis Armstrong was named a goodwill ambassador.

Louis won many awards.  He was in lots of movies and shows.  Louis was one of the most popular jazz artists in history.  He had one big hit song which was “Hello Dolly!”   It sold millions of copies.  He never wanted to stop making music.  And he never did.  He lived and made music until he was seventy years old.  In 1963, he recorded another number-one hit song called “What a Wonderful World.”

        On July 6,1971 the world’s greatest jazz musician died in his sleep at his home in Queens, New York.  He is buried in Flushing Cemetery, Queens, New York City, New York.   

Who is the best jazz musician in the world?  That answer is easy:  Louis Armstrong.  Louis Armstrong loved music from the day he was born.  He made lots of hit songs like “Hello Dolly!” and “What a Wonderful World.”  This report is about Louis’s life, early adulthood, major accomplishments and death.

In conclusion, Louis Armstrong was the best trumpet and cornet player in the world.  He set lots of records and was in lots of movies and shows.  He also created lots of hit songs like “What a Wonderful World” and “Hello Dolly!”