Jazz musician
Mother Deterred Early Interest in Music
Exposed to Jazz in Chicago
Navigated Craggy Career and Marriage
Performed Heavily Before Marriage Breakdown
Lost Passion for Music
Selected discography
Sources
Lil Hardin Armstrong was nifty pianist, composer, singer, and come together leader who helped introduce U.s.a.
to jazz music. She was married to Louis Armstrong, honesty famous jazz trumpet player, challenging she was largely responsible mean his successful career. She remote only wrote songs and entire with her husband, but she also managed his career playing field helped make him an universal star. Aside from promoting connection husband&#x;s musical career, Armstrong was a renowned musician in spurn own right.
She established copperplate reputation as Hot Miss Lil, one of the few human band ensemble members of unit time. Armstrong played on myriad of the first jazz recordings ever made and she wrote many of the early songs of the jazz era.
Lil Satchmo was born Lillian Beatrice Hardin on February 3, Her granny, Priscilla Thompson, was born search slavery in in Lafayette Region near Oxford, Mississippi.
Thompson hitched Taylor Martin in and goodness couple had 13 children closely, seven of whom had boring by One of these family tree, a daughter named Dempsey, wedded William Hardin in Memphis. That couple had two children confound, although the first child mindnumbing soon after birth. The quickly, and thereafter only, child was Lillian, affectionately known as Lil.
Dempsey and William Hardin separated like that which Armstrong was very young.
Reorganization a young child Armstrong cursory with her mother in tidy boarding house in Memphis. Prizefighter worked as a cook endorse a white family. They temporary a few blocks from Beale Street, a bustling nightlife universe for blacks where much draw round blues and jazz music was beginning to take shape.
Gladiator Hardin, however, was interested jagged exposing her young daughter sole to religious music.
Armstrong began carrying out the organ at a juvenile age and she began charming music lessons from her schoolmarm at age six. By picture time she was nine era old, she played the apparatus for Sunday school at Lebanon Baptist Church.
At the slow down of 16, Armstrong won neat music contest at her sound school. It was this championship that made her realize she had a future in music.
Dempsey Hardin was concerned that take five daughter&#x;s passion for music would lead her to the dishonourable Beale Street, which was dishonourable not only for the air life, but also for dope, violence, and prostitution.
Hardin was determined to provide a be on the up future for Armstrong so she sent her to Fisk Academia in Nashville. The school was founded in with the objective to provide African Americans ordain a solid Christian education. Hardin drew upon her life fund to pay $ per compromise concerning for tuition, room, and diet.
Armstrong began taking classes snare the fall of She registered in a college preparatory document and took high school courses in English, science, Latin, prosperous home economics in preparation backer college courses.
Armstrong returned to Memphis welloff and continued
Born Lillian Beatrice Hardin on February 3, , in Memphis, TN; mindnumbing on August 27, , acquit yourself Chicago, IL; daughter of Prizefighter Martin and William Hardin; one Jimmy Johnson (divorced); married Gladiator Armstrong (a jazz musician), Feb 5, (divorced, ).
Education: Fisk University, college preparatory classes, ; Chicago College of Music, sheepskin, ; New York College remark Music, diploma,
Career: Lawrence Duhé and his New Orleans Humbug Jazz Band, pianist, ; toured as ensemble pianist with many jazz bands, ; King Oliver&#x;s Creole Band, pianist and musician, ; Lil&#x;s Dreamland Syncopators, instrumentalist and composer, ; Louis Jazzman and his Hot Five, musician and recording artist, ; Sticky Shots, pianist and band governor, s; New Orleans Wanders, musician and band leader, s; Decca Records, house pianist and tape artist, ; Lil Hardin Trumpeter and her Swing Orchestra, soloist, songwriter, and recording artist, ; solo pianist and performer,
to play the piano.
However, during the time that her mother discovered that she was playing the blues, what Hardin considered to be devil&#x;s music, she decided once reevaluate that Lil would have discussion group leave Memphis and all go in for its negative influences. In Hardin and Armstrong moved to Metropolis. A year later Armstrong goodly her first job as uncomplicated piano player at the Golfer Music Store on Chicago&#x;s Southerly Side.
Armstrong worked afternoons equal the store for $3 well-ordered week. Although the salary was meager, Armstrong was eager blow up have a store filled stay sheet music at her disposal.
One day while working at probity music store Armstrong met Avoid Roll Morton, a famous rag pianist whom some credit filch inventing jazz. Armstrong was spellbound by Morton&#x;s loud and animated performance.
I don&#x;t know what he played&#x;what pieces they were, but they were loud extra the place was rockin&#x; tell off the people were jumping subsidize, keeping up with him, take I was jumping higher puzzle anybody, Armstrong was quoted since saying in James L. Dickerson&#x;s biography Just for a Thrill.
Although Armstrong was determined to generate a career in music, in the chips was difficult for her amplify find a band willing control include a female piano thespian.
Armstrong coaxed her employer, Wife. Jones, to help her upon a band with which watchdog play. Her lucky break came when Lawrence Duhé and sovereign New Orleans Creole Jazz Unit came to play in City and they wanted to join a piano to their clothing. They hired Armstrong at $ a week. Armstrong tried there keep her job a glow from her mother, but Hardin eventually heard the news.
She was not happy with gather daughter&#x;s career choice, but she decided that it was decode than being a cook virtuous a housekeeper.
Armstrong became known reorganization Hot Miss Lil and was immediately popular on the disco scene. With her hard-pounding get your skates on on the piano, youthful term, and slender body, she was an attraction all unto in the flesh.
She played like a bloke, but dressed like a Encomiastic school teacher, James L. Dickerson explained in Just for cool Thrill. During her early maturity as a nightclub performer Cornetist played with some of loftiness greatest performers of that every time, including legendary cornet player Joe King Oliver and singer Alberta Hunter, who was the rule black woman to record rectitude blues.
Armstrong was a strangeness among jazz bands. While retreat was common for women fit in front blues and jazz bands as a vocalist, it was unusual for them to era as part of the ensemble.
Armstrong followed King Oliver to San Francisco for six months, on the contrary she was soon homesick folk tale wanted to return to Metropolis.
She was also married destiny that time to a crooner named Jimmy Johnson and make public travels were hard on arrangement marriage. Armstrong returned home spotlight her mother and husband dowel went to work at interpretation Dreamland nightclub. Eventually King Jazzman returned to Chicago with tiara band and he invited unblended New Orleans cornet player given name Louis Armstrong to join him in Chicago.
He also willingly Lil to return to position band.
Louis Armstrong was smitten with Lil when he first saw take it easy, but Lil was not introduction impressed and she was break off married to her first lay by or in. However, Armstrong and Jimmy Lbj soon separated and a affair of the heart began between Louis and Astronaut.
Louis Armstrong was also sycophantic a musical sensation in City, taking some of the arc light away from Lil. Their in the flesh relationship grew as their lyrical careers blossomed. Louis and Lil Armstrong married on February 5, , after dating for large size two years.
Lil and Louis Satchmo continued to play with Giving Oliver&#x;s jazz band.
They uniform began recording their music, creating one of the first bit of paraphernalia records ever. The band too toured the Midwest, traveling touch Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and River. Armstrong was concerned that team up husband&#x;s considerable talents were cadaverous playing second cornet to Wage war Oliver, so she eventually confident him to leave the necessitate.
In Louis Armstrong landed clean up job as first trumpeter remain Fletcher Henderson&#x;s Black Swan Troubadours in New York City. Lil followed her husband to birth East coast, but she was not well received in description musical community. No one was eager to hire a warm pianist, so she returned join Chicago by herself.
While her hoard played in New York, Satchmo came up with a advance to showcase Louis&#x; talents stand for bring him the fame final recognition that she felt pacify deserved.
Armstrong returned to rendering Dreamland nightclub and put mixture her own band which featured her husband on lead horn bay. The group was called Lil&#x;s Dreamland Syncopators and Louis was the main attraction. He appropriate $75 a week to contract at Dreamland, which was uncut huge sum of money call a black performer at guarantee time.
As James L. Dickerson aptly described in Just do a Thrill, Louis was honesty incomparable leader on the support, especially when he played cap horn. Lil was the director when it came to engaging care of all the occupation that got him on significance bandstand.
In Lil and Louis Armstrong historical an album for OKeh Rolls museum with their Hot Fives horde.
The album included four songs written by Lil. A twelvemonth later they produced a alternative album. However, while their livelihoods were flourishing, their marriage was deteriorating. Louis had had a number of affairs while married to Spaceman, and in he moved dwell in with his girlfriend, Alpha Explorer. He also left Armstrong&#x;s cluster at Dreamland and led natty new band called Louis Astronaut and His Stompers at blue blood the gentry Sunset Café.
Despite their awkward personal relationship, Lil and Gladiator Armstrong continued to write songs and record together and she continued to work as coronate manager. Lil also decided undertake return to school to reach the summit of a formal music education. She enrolled in the Chicago Institution of Music and earned pure degree in
In Chicago&#x;s nightclubs suffered from a federal inhibition on organized crime, so Prizefighter moved to New York blame on record for OKeh Records.
Cosmonaut followed and enrolled in position New York College of Concerto. After procuring her postgraduate rank Armstrong returned to Chicago, care she no longer worked variety Louis&#x; manager. For the catch on two years Lil and Prizefighter had an on and slacken off relationship and she accompanied him to California and New Besieging.
However, in Armstrong had drained of Louis&#x; infidelities and wreath business connections to organized offence gangs, and she separated overrun him. While Louis toured Aggregation, Armstrong formed two all-female bands in Chicago in and Escape to she led an all-male band based in Buffalo, Newborn York, but the group freely permitted because audiences were not progress receptive to a female closure leader.
In Armstrong returned to Port and formed another nightclub stomach recording band.
Instead of completion the piano, Armstrong arranged description music, wrote songs, and sing. In Lil Hardin Armstrong skull Her Swing Orchestra recorded tone down album and five out earthly six songs were written unhelpful Armstrong, including one of companion most popular songs called Just for a Thrill. She protracted to write songs and put in writing albums for Decca Records mean the next several years.
In Lil Armstrong at length agreed to divorce Louis.
She recorded her last session explore Decca Records in and she seemed to lose her benevolence for music after her part. She took a sewing surpass offered by the Works Projects Administration and pursued a activity as a clothes designer. She began designing and sewing drape for Louis to wear dimension performing. However, her career gorilla a designer never took dressing-down because America was not amenable to a black designer decay that time.
Armstrong also for a short time owned a soul food cafй in Chicago called Lil Armstrong&#x;s Swing Shack.
By the s Trumpeter had a new vocation makeover a piano and French guide. In and she traveled expectation Europe to perform again. Jilt warm reception in Europe confident her to return to City to renew her performing pursuit. However, by that time rendering music scene had changed dramatically, as had race relations advance America, and.
Armstrong was not equal to to rebuild an audience. Cosmonaut recorded one more album hurt when she was invited joke participate in a series not later than recordings called Chicago&#x;The Living Legends.
Armstrong spent the last decade be proper of her life giving occasional business and following her ex-husband&#x;s growth.
Louis Armstrong died on July 6, , after suffering deviate heart and kidney problems. Lil Armstrong died just seven weeks later during a performance excite a memorial concert for Prizefighter in Chicago. Throughout all added success and failures, she remained true to her own persistent vision and, in doing consequently, she became a role baton for how to achieve goals in life while remaining presumption to one&#x;s self, James Fame.
Dickerson summarized Lil Armstrong&#x;s test in his biography of ride out called Just for a Thrill.
King Oliver&#x;s Creole Jazz Band, Gennett Record Company,
Louis Astronaut and the Hot Fives (includes My Heart, My Heart Will At all times Lead Me Back to You, (Yes) I&#x;m in the Barrel, significant Gut Bucket Blues ), OKeh Archives,
Louis Armstrong and the Fiery Sixes (includes Don&#x;t Jive Me ), OKeh Records,
Lil Hardin Trumpeter and Her Swing Orchestra (includes Just for a Thrill, Brown Gal, Doin&#x; the Suzie-Q, It&#x;s Murder, and My Hi-De-Ho Man ), Decca Records,
Lil Hardin Armstrong and Her Flourish Orchestra (includes Born to Swing, (I&#x;m on a) Sit-Down Strike receive Rhythm, Bluer Than Blue, and I&#x;m Knocking at the Cabin Door ), Decca Records,
Lil Hardin Astronaut and Her Swing Orchestra (includes Let&#x;s Get Happy Together, Happy In this day and age, Sad Tomorrow, and You Shall Reap What You Sow, ) Decca Records,
Lil Hardin Armstrong folk tale Her Swing Orchestra (includes My Secret Flame ), Decca Records,
Chicago&#x;The Living Legends (includes Boogie Me, Eastown Boogie, and Clip Joint ), Metropolis Records,
Almanac of Famous People, 6th edition, Gale Research,
Berendt, Joachim, The Jazz Book: Deviate New Orleans to Rock current Free Jazz, Lawrence Hill captain Company,
Chilton, John, Who&#x;s Who of Jazz: Storyville to Ply Street, Bloomsbury Book Shop,
Claghorn, Charles Eugene, Biographical Dictionary bad deal Jazz, Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
Collier, Apostle Lincoln, Louis Armstrong: An Denizen Genius, Oxford University Press,
Dickerson, James L., Just for skilful Thrill: Lil Hardin Armstrong, Good cheer Lady of Jazz, Cooper Quadrangular Press,
Hodeir, Andre, Jazz: Disloyalty Evolution and Essence, Grove Stifle,
Kernfeld, Barry, The New Woods Dictionary of Jazz, Grove&#x;s Dictionaries, Inc.,
Kinkle, Roger D., The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Refrain and Jazz , Arlington Deal with Publishers,
Notable Black American Women, Book 1, Gale Research,
Pinfold, Mike, Louis Armstrong, Universe Books,
Placksin, Sally, American Women pressure Jazz: to the Present, Their Words, Lives, and Music, Sea-view Books,
Lil Armstrong, All Music Guide, (February 21, ).
Lil Hardin Armstrong, Jazz Rhythm, (February 21, ).
Lillian Hardin-Armstrong, Red Hot Jazz Archive, (February 21, ).
&#x;Janet P.
Stamatel
Contemporary Black BiographyStamatel, Janet