Armstrong’s status in popular music history rests on two distinct achievements. Through his genius for improvisation and his technical virtuosity on trumpet and cornet, he made the greatest individual contribution to the evolution of jazz. He was also one of the best known entertainers in show business, with a distinctive gravely singing voice, and a stage personality with roots in the vaudeville era. Through this persona, he signified ‘jazz’ to a global audience far larger than the aficionados of the genre. Armstrong’s early life was spent in Storyville, the red-light district of New Orleans and the birthplace of

 jazz. He first learned cornet in the Colored Waifs’ Home, where he played in a brass band in 1913. In 1919 he gained his first full-time job as a musician, playing in Fate Marable’s band on the Mississippi riverboats. With a growing reputation, Armstrong was brought to Chicago in 1922 to join Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band which performed for both black and white audiences. Armstrong and Oliver developed a unique dual-cornet style that was the feature of their many recordings.  In Oliver’s band, he met pianist Lil Hardin, who became his second wife and who guided his career throughout the twenties. At her prompting, Armstrong left Oliver and joined Fletcher Henderson in New York in 1924. His ‘hot’ style was a novelty within this highly arranged big-band format. With Henderson, he made his first vocal recording, ‘Everybody Loves My Baby’. Armstrong was also in demand for small-group jazz recordings and as an accompanist for classic blues singers like Ma Rainey, Clara Smith and Bessie Smith.                 
   Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925, and for the next four years played in various bands led by Lil Armstrong, Erskine Tate, Carroll Dickerson and  himself. With this career as a popular dance-band soloist  he was billed as ‘The World’s Greatest Trumpet Player’.  The first track released under Armstrong’s name was ‘My Heart’  and in over a three-year period he cut sixty tracks with various top notch musicians. By 1928 Armstrong had established full improvisation the invention of new melody lines as the way forward for jazz.
   The impact of the Depression on the Chicago nightclub scene led Armstrong to New York in 1930.  He recorded a further series of ballads with a band that included the young Lionel Hampton. From 1931 to 1947, Armstrong led a series of big bands, he toured extensively in America and visited Europe in 1932 and 1934, doing much to popularize jazz there. The thirties also saw the transition from Armstrong jazz musician to Armstrong entertainer. His singing came to dominate his live performances. Armstrong’s following among white audiences was strengthened by his pairing with a variety of other artists, including The Mills Brothers, Tommy Dorsey, Louis Jordan, Andy lona and Ella Fitzgerald.
   His Hollywood film career began with 'Pennies from Heaven', with Bing Crosby as his co-star.  The success of a small group jazz format plus the uncertain economic situation for big bands led to the formation of  Armstrong’s All Stars in 1947, he constructed an act that combined showmanship and jazz in equal amounts. Within two years, the All Stars were the highest paid jazz group of its size. With various personnel changes, the group’s fourteen year career involved frequent tours to all parts of the world, including a 1960 forty-five-date African trip.
   ‘Hello Dolly’, had reached No.1 in 1964, and was one of the last in a series of postwar hits which began after Armstrong was re-signed to Decca in 1948. The song ‘Blueberry Hill’  reached No. 1 and was followed by ‘La Vie en Rose’/’C’est Si Bon’, ‘Ramona’ and  ‘Mack the Knife’.  Armstrong’s final chart success was ‘What A Wonderful World’.  Apart from the hit singles, Armstrong’s later recordings were many and varied. In 1957 the four album 'Satchmo: A Musical Autobiography', was released  with a narrative by Armstrong, the record  included a number of tunes from the earliest phases of his work.  After 1954, Armstrong recorded on a freelance basis, for Verve, Columbia and Mercury as well as Decca. He collaborated with Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck and Duke Ellington. In 1970, a vocal album, 'Louis and His Friends'  included material as varied as Ellington’s ‘Mood Indigo’ and John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’ with players as diverse as Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman and Eddie Condon.