"There are two kinds of music, good and bad, I play the good." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay ~ Louis Armstrong One of the arts that transcends culture is the art of music. Louis Armstrong was an individual who took the art of music, particularly jazz, and transformed it. Louis Armstrong was born in August 1901 to Maryann and Willie Armstrong. Louis' father left his mother a few days after his birth, leaving the family with no means of income and in extreme poverty. Due to the lack of employment opportunities for poor black women, Maryann Armstrong had no choice but to become a prostitute to provide some sort of income for her family. In doing so he developed many carefree habits, leaving Louis and his sister Beatrice, born two years after his brother, in the care of their grandmother Josephine Armstrong. Louis' grandmother was a strong disciplinarian, sending her grandchildren to school and instilling the right morals in them. Louis grew up in Black Storyville, New Orleans, well known for its nightlife and violence. Right in the center of it all was Jane Alley Street, where the Armstrongs resided. To make the situation stop, Louis began to work many different types of jobs, such as running errands for prostitutes and selling newspapers. Although he worked tirelessly to earn a living, Armstrong's family was still very poor and lacked the essentials needed to live. His childhood was so unbearably difficult and filled with so many struggles that he soon found an escape in music. He often walked the streets at night and listened to jazz bands play and lost himself in the music. When Louis was ten he joined a quartet, which sang for pennies. This lasted about three years but did not provide the income his family needed, so he began hustling adults for money and pickpocketing. These acts began to put Louis on a path that led to no good. Louis was soon arrested on New Year's Eve for attempting to fire a gun. He was taken to a youth center where he spent a year and a half of his life. The Colored Orphan's home is where it all began for Armstrong. There he learned to play his beloved cornet. Louis spent hours perfecting his skills and learning new ones. When he left home he began playing in bars and honky-tonks and his name quickly became famous. In 1922, King Oliver, a prominent musician, asked Armstrong to move to Chicago and play second cornet in his band. He accepted the offer and was paid $52 a week. He played in Oliver's Creole Jazz Band for many months but began to tire of the same old styles of jazz and Dixieland. While playing in the band Louis fell in love with pianist Lilan Hardin and they married in 1924. Soon after the wedding Armstrong's wife encouraged him to leave the band, seek further fame and develop more as a musician. So he did just that. He left for New York, where he played in many bands and then returned to Chicago where most of his great works were created. These musical masterpieces included hits such as "Wild Man Blues", "Struttin with some Barbeque", "Hot than That" and the famous "West End Blues". At this point in his musical career Louis switched from cornet to trumpet. His technique was as unique as unique could be and his talent was beyond anything people had seen before. He was a musical genius who had a passion for what he played. Louis' stardom exploded in 1929, when he returned to New York City and acted in the theater. Then he continued to, 1989.