His trumpet playing revolutionized the world of music, and he became one of our century’s most recognized and best loved entertainers. Now, thirty years after his death, Armstrong’s work as an instrumentalist and vocalist continue to have a profound impact on American music.

What is Louis Armstrong famous for? Louis Armstrong is considered the leading trumpeter and one of the most influential artists in jazz history, who helped develop jazz into a fine art.

According to the biography Pops by Terry Teachout, Armstrong’s voice first became gravelly due to a prolonged cold playing jazz on a steamboat ca 1921. In 1936 and 1937, he had surgeries to try to repair his vocal cords, which had the opposite effect. Miles Davis had a similar vocal cord surgery as well.

Selmer trumpet

But it was her 1938 version of the nursery rhyme, “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”, a song she co-wrote, that brought her public acclaim. She recorded nearly 150 songs with Webb’s orchestra between 1935 and 1942. In addition to her work with Webb, Fitzgerald performed and recorded with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.

Deceased (1917–1996)

Monroe helped bring Fitzgerald’s career to the next level By the 1950s, Fitzgerald’s enthralling singing voice had won her fans across the country. But the venues that hired her were often smaller clubs; some places weren’t interested in having an overweight Black woman perform for them, no matter her talent.

The 1960 LP Ella Fitzgerald Sings Songs From Let No Man Write My Epitaph included songs from the film in which she appeared in as a pianist-singer, and became her third full album with only piano accompaniment, this time played by Paul Smith.