7 Louis Armstrong 7Europe as a trumpet soloist accompanied by big bands; for
several years beginning in 1935, Luis Russell’s big band
served as the Louis Armstrong band. During this time he
abandoned much of the material of his earlier years for
popular songs by such composers as Hoagy Carmichael,
Irving Berlin, and Duke Ellington. With his new repertoire
came a new, simplified style: he created melodic paraphrases
and variations as well as chord-change-based improvisations
on these songs. His trumpet range continued to expand, as
demonstrated in the high-note showpieces in his repertoire.
His beautiful tone and bravura solos with brilliant high-
note climaxes led to such masterworks as “That’s My
Home,” “Body and Soul,” and “Star Dust.” One of the
inventors of scat singing, he began to sing lyrics on most of
his recordings, varying melodies or decorating with scat
phrases in a gravel voice that was immediately identifiable.
Although he sang such humorous songs as “Hobo, You
Can’t Ride This Train,” he also sang many standard songs,
often with an intensity and creativity that equaled those
of his trumpet playing.
Louis and Lil Armstrong separated in 1931. From 1935 to
the end of his life, Armstrong’s career was managed by Joe
Glaser, who hired Armstrong’s bands and guided his film
career (beginning with Pennies from Heaven, 1936) and radio
appearances. Armstrong was the dominant influence on
the swing era, when most trumpeters attempted to emulate
his inclination to dramatic structure, melody, or technical
virtuosity. Trombonists, too, appropriated Armstrong’s
phrasing, and saxophonists as different as Coleman Hawkins
and Bud Freeman modeled their styles on different aspects
of Armstrong’s. Above all else, his swing-style trumpet
playing influenced virtually all jazz horn players who fol-
lowed him, and the swing of his vocal style was an important
influence on singers from Billie Holiday to Bing Crosby.