爵士音樂家：路易斯·阿姆斯特朗

Like most of the great innovators in jazz， Louis Armstrong is a small man. But the extent of his influence across jazz， across American music and around the world has continuing stature. His life was the embodiment of one who moves from poor to rich， from anonymity to internationally imitated innovator. Louis Daniel Armstrong supplied revolutionary language that took on such pervasiveness that it became commonplace， like the light bulb， the airplane， the telephone.

Armstrong was born in New Orleans on Aug. 4， 1901. He grew up at the bottom， trying to bring something home to eat， sometimes searching garbage cans for food that might still be suitable for supper. The spirit of Armstrongs world， however， was not dominated by the deprivation of poverty and the dangers of wild living. As a child， he was either dancing for pennies or singing for his supper with a strolling quartet of other kids who wandered New Orleans freshening up the subtropical evening with some sweetly harmonized notes. But he had his dreams. In 1915， he got first cornet and was soon known around New Orleans as formidable.

The places he played and the people he knew were sweet and innocent at one end of the spectrum and rough at the other. Out of those experiences， everything from pomp to humor to grief to majesty to the profoundly gruesome and monumentally spiritual worked its way into his tone. He became a beacon of American feeling music.

In 1922 he went to Chicago and joined his mentor Joe Oliver， and the revolution took place in full form. His improvisations set the city on its head. The stiff rhythms of the time were slashed away by his combination of the percussive and the soaring. His combination of virtuosity， strength and passion was unprecedented. No one in Western music has ever set the innovative pace on an instrument， then stood up to sing and converted the vocalists. Armstrong performed the world constantly. In 1932 he visited Europe and played for King of England. In 1956 he was hailed by crowds during African tour. In 1964 his recording of Hello， Dolly. hit No. 1. Armstrong died on July 6， 1971 in New York City. But he will always remain as one of the greatest artists who make the world a happy place.

像爵士界大多數創新者一樣，路易斯·阿姆斯特朗是個小個子。但是他給爵士樂、美國音樂和全世界留下的影響卻是持久的。他的生涯是一個人從貧窮到富有，從默默無聞到成為全球效仿的創新者的具體體現。路易斯·丹尼爾·阿姆斯特朗發明了革命性的語言，且廣為傳播、家喻戶曉，如同人們生活中的燈泡、飛機和電話。

阿姆斯特朗1901年8月4日出生于新奧爾良。他是在社會底層長大的，曾盡力往家里帶些可吃的東西，有時在垃圾里搜尋可用作晚餐的食品罐頭。然而，阿姆斯特朗的精神世界卻沒有被窮困而危難的生活所籠罩。孩童時期，他就通過跳舞換取微薄收入，或者與在新奧爾良四處賣唱的四孩童演唱組一起演唱，以求得一頓晚餐；演唱小組樂調甜蜜和諧，為炎熱的夜晚帶來了清新。然而他有自己的夢想。1915年，他擔任首席短號手，很快就享譽新奧爾良，被人們認為無人可比。

他演奏過的地方和他認識的人都有兩種特性，一方面是可愛無邪的，另一方面則是粗魯無理的。由于具有這些經歷，他的樂聲五光十色，應有盡有。華麗、幽默、悲傷、莊嚴，以及極度的可憎和永恒的圣潔。他因此成為美國情感音樂的“燈塔”。

1922年，他來到芝加哥，師從喬·奧利弗。于是一場音樂界的革命全面展開了。他的即興演奏令整個城市瘋狂。當時的沉悶節奏被一掃而光，取而代之的是他的打擊樂器與引吭高歌的結合。他的技巧、力量和熱情前所未有。西方音樂中還沒有人在一件樂器上做出這樣的創新，然后站起來演唱，從而改變了一代的歌唱家。阿姆斯特朗經常到世界各地演出。1932年他訪問了歐洲，并為英國國王演出。1956年在非洲的巡回演出中，他收到聽眾的諸多贊譽。1964年他的唱片《你好，多利》躍居排行榜第一。阿姆斯特朗1971年7月6日在紐約城去世，但是他將永遠是使世界成為一片樂土的最偉大的藝術家之一。