Louis Armstrong
Tiffany Townsend
History and Sociology of Rock Music
August 25, 2014
Topic No. 2 Louis Armstrong was one of the many people who have influence jazz music over the years. Although we may not realize it, he had the most influence in the jazz world during his time and is well known today for the changes that he made to the jazz world many years ago. First is the impact that he had on the way jazz music was played. Louis Armstrong began revolutionizing the sound of jazz music in the 1920s when he introduced the “extended solo” to jazz music. Before Armstrong introduced this idea to the jazz world, most jazz music was only played in two different styles. These two styles were the highly orchestrated arrangements and the loosely structured Dixieland-type ensemble. In both of these styles, musicians did not solo for an extended period of time. By introducing the extended solo, Armstrong created a new style of jazz that allowed a single soloist to create long elaborate solos that allowed for the soloist to show off their talent. This style of jazz became popular among jazz musicians and caused an increased Armstrong’s popularity. Everyone wanted to play like him and tried to imitate him and his creative way. This caused solos to become more prominent and popular within the jazz world. He also caused the rhythmic and melodic vocabulary of jazz music to become more complex and varied. This change most likely developed from the increased popularity of the extended solo which allowed soloists to add different sounds to the music. The soloists could add their own flare and emotion to the music during their solos which could change the melodic feel of the music and set a stage for a new rhythmic feel. Solos were often improved, though the soloist usually practiced, the output could vary each time a song was played. Armstrong’s introduction of the extended solo also changed the ethos of jazz music. The ethos of jazz music originally emphasized the jazz ensemble as a
History and Sociology of Rock Music
August 25, 2014
Topic No. 2 Louis Armstrong was one of the many people who have influence jazz music over the years. Although we may not realize it, he had the most influence in the jazz world during his time and is well known today for the changes that he made to the jazz world many years ago. First is the impact that he had on the way jazz music was played. Louis Armstrong began revolutionizing the sound of jazz music in the 1920s when he introduced the “extended solo” to jazz music. Before Armstrong introduced this idea to the jazz world, most jazz music was only played in two different styles. These two styles were the highly orchestrated arrangements and the loosely structured Dixieland-type ensemble. In both of these styles, musicians did not solo for an extended period of time. By introducing the extended solo, Armstrong created a new style of jazz that allowed a single soloist to create long elaborate solos that allowed for the soloist to show off their talent. This style of jazz became popular among jazz musicians and caused an increased Armstrong’s popularity. Everyone wanted to play like him and tried to imitate him and his creative way. This caused solos to become more prominent and popular within the jazz world. He also caused the rhythmic and melodic vocabulary of jazz music to become more complex and varied. This change most likely developed from the increased popularity of the extended solo which allowed soloists to add different sounds to the music. The soloists could add their own flare and emotion to the music during their solos which could change the melodic feel of the music and set a stage for a new rhythmic feel. Solos were often improved, though the soloist usually practiced, the output could vary each time a song was played. Armstrong’s introduction of the extended solo also changed the ethos of jazz music. The ethos of jazz music originally emphasized the jazz ensemble as a