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- Duration: 3:47
- Published: 16 Oct 2009
- Uploaded: 14 Jun 2011
- Author: JasonDerulo
Name | Whatcha Say | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cover | WhatchaSay.jpg | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Artist | Jason Derülo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Album | Jason Derülo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Released | May 5, 2009 (U.S. digital)August 3, 2009 (U.S. radio)November 16, 2009 (UK) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format | Digital download | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Recorded | 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre | R&B; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Length | 3:42 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Label | Beluga Heights, Warner Bros. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Writer | Robert Romei, Jason Derülo, Kisean Anderson, J-Lex, Jonathan Rotem, Imogen Heap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Producer | J. R. Rotem, Addtl. production Fuego | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Certification | 3× Platinum (RIAA) Platinum (RIANZ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This single | "Whatcha Say"(2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Next single | "In My Head"(2009) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Misc |
"Whatcha Say" is the debut single by American recording artist Jason Derülo. It was produced by J. R. Rotem with additional production by German producer Fuego and heavily samples the song "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap. "Whatcha Say" topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The song was co written by Robert Romei, Sean Kingston and Jason Derulo. Jason Derülo recorded a new French-English version with Fanny J, a singer from French Guiana. A new music video has also been released.
Reception"Whatcha Say" received mixed reviews. Glenn Gamboa of Newsday wrote: "For fans of Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek," the new Jason DeRulo single "Whatcha Say"—which liberally samples from the song and even uses Heap's chorus as his own chorus—may be hard to swallow. But DeRulo weaves easily in and out of Heap's parts and matches his AutoTuned vocals to hers pretty well to craft a catchy, if derivative, little number." Upon its November 2009 UK release, noted R&B; writer Pete Lewis of 'Blues & Soul' described the single as "Blending pounding beats and Derulo's rich, soulful vocals with an instantly-infectious pop hook sampled from alternative/indie songstress Imogen Heap".
PromotionThe song was performed live by Derulo on Thanksgiving Day in Philadelphia for the 90th anniversary of the 6abc IKEA Thanksgiving Day Parade. The song was also featured on the popular teen show, Gossip Girl, in the episode "Treasure of Serena Madre", which premiered on November 30, 2009.
Music videoThe music video was released as the free video of the week on iTunes on October 27, 2009. In the music video, Derülo is seen cuddling on the couch inside a home penetrated by sunny lights with his love interest, and later on during the video, he is outside her door, waiting impatiently for her to forgive him, and begging her to let him in, which follows the lyrics in his song, "So let me in, give me another chance..." The music video premiered on Monday, November 16 on MTV's AMTV. A music video was also released for the acoustic version, with J.R. Rotem playing the piano.
Track listingWhatcha Say EP, an extended play was released on October 23, 2009. It features various remixes of the song along with the original and acoustic version of the song. ;Whatcha Say EP # "Whatcha Say" (Acoustic version) – 3:42 # "Whatcha Say" (Klubjumpers Remix Radio) – 4:03 # "Whatcha Say" (Johnny Vicious Remix) – 7:32 # "Whatcha Say" (Wawa Remix Radio) – 3:24
Chart performance"Whatcha Say" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at fifty four in the issue dated August 29, 2009. It reached number one in the issue dated November 14, 2009. The song also reached the number-one spot on the Canadian Nielsen SoundScan Digital Songs chart. "Whatcha Say" entered and peaked on the UK Singles Chart on November 22, 2009 at #3.{| class="wikitable sortable" !Chart (2009/2010) !Peakposition |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- | |- |- |- |}
Certifications
Year-end charts{| class="wikitable sortable" !End of year chart (2009) !Position |- |Australian Singles Chart |align="center"|78 |- |UK Singles Chart | style="text-align:center;"|70 |- | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | style="text-align:center;"|34 |- !End of year Chart (2010) !Position |- |European Hot 100 Singles |align="center"|33 |- |Germany (Media Control AG) |align="center"|72 |- |Japanese Top 100 |align="center"|38 |- | Canadian Hot 100 |style="text-align:center;"|44 |- |}
See also
References
External links
Category:2009 singles Category:Jason Derülo songs Category:Songs produced by J. R. Rotem Category:Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Category:Billboard Pop Songs number-one singles Category:Billboard Rhythmic Airplay number-one singles Category:Number-one singles in New Zealand Category:UK R&B; Singles Chart number-one singles Category:Songs written by Imogen Heap Category:Songs written by J. R. Rotem Category:Singles certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Jason Derülo
Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born , 1989), better known by his stage name Jason Derülo, is an American singer-songwriter, actor and dancer. After producing records for several artists and writing songs for Cash Money Records, co-founder of the label Birdman, Young Money Entertainment owner Lil Wayne and rapper Diddy, Derülo signed to minor recording label Beluga Heights. After Beluga Heights became part of the Warner Music Group, Derülo released his debut single, "Whatcha Say" in May 2009. The song became a huge digital hit, selling over five million digital downloads, gaining an RIAA certification of double platinum, and reaching number 1 in the US and New Zealand. Derülo released his second single, "In My Head", in December 2009. His debut album, Jason Derülo, was released in 2010.
Early lifeDerülo was born in Miami, Florida, to Haitian parents. His birth name is Desrouleaux, but he changed the spelling for his stage name to make it easier to pronounce.Derülo has been performing since the age of five. He wrote his first song, "Crush on You", at age eight and was heard singing part of the song on a Galaxy FM interview. Derülo spent his youth studying opera, theater, and ballet. He attended Dillard Center for the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. At age 12, Derülo met his future manager, Frank Harris, a law school student who was helping him improve his basketball skills. Jason was always a tall child and is currently measuring at 1 ft 2
Music career2007–2009: songwriting and musical beginningsDerülo has been writing songs for artists including Diddy, Danity Kane, Donnie Klang, Sean Kingston, Cassie, and Lil Mama since he was 16, intent on becoming a solo performer. After attending performing arts schools and honing his talents as a singer and dancer (plus acting in theatre productions like Ragtime and Smokey Joe's Cafe), Derülo won the grand prize on the 2006 season finale of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo. Derülo was discovered by music producer J. R. Rotem, who signed him to his record label Beluga Heights Records and Warner Bros. Records.In a HitQuarters interview, Rotem highlighted Derülo's dedication to his art by saying, "Jason Derülo has one of the most impressive work ethics I've ever come across – he just keeps knocking out songs in the studio. That's an amazing quality." Derülo's music career began in 2006, when he was featured on Birdman's song "Bossy", which was featured on his album, 5 * Stunna.
2009–present: Jason DerüloOn August 4, 2009, Jason released his debut single, "Whatcha Say". It was produced by J. R. Rotem with additional production by Fuego. The track samples the Imogen Heap song "Hide and Seek". In late August 2009, the song debuted at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number 1 in November 2009. The single's music video was released in September 2009; after the single became successful, Derülo began work on his debut album. He released the second single from his album, "In My Head", on , 2009. It debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number five.Derülo's debut album, Jason Derülo, was released on , 2010. He spent six weeks promoting the album in his appearances as one of the opening acts for Lady Gaga's 2009–2010 The Monster Ball Tour. The third single of the album is "Ridin' Solo," which was released worldwide on , 2010. By July, the single had reached number nine in the Billboard Hot 100. !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|AUS !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|CAN !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|GER !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|IRE !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|NL !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|NZ !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|SWE !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|SWI !style="width:3em;font-size:75%;"|UK |- |2010 |align="left"| Jason Derülo
Singles{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2" width="230"| Single !colspan="10"| Peak chart positions !rowspan="2"| Certifications !rowspan="2"| Album |- !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|US!style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|AUS !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|GER !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|IRE !style="width:3em;font-size:75%"|NZ |- |rowspan="2"|2009 |align="left"| "Whatcha Say" | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 |align="left"| US: 3× Platinum AUS: 2× Platinum NZ: Platinum CAN: 2× Platinum |align="left" rowspan="5"| Jason Derülo |- |align="left"| "In My Head" | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 13 | 20 | 1 |align="left"| US: 2× Platinum CAN: 2× Platinum |align="left"| |- |colspan="14" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes an item that failed to chart. |- |}
Music videos
Songwriter credits
References
External links
Category:1989 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:African American musicians Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:American male singers Category:American people of Haitian descent Category:American pop singers Category:People from Miami, Florida Category:Warner Bros. Records artists This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community. Imogen Heap
Early lifeHeap's mother (an art therapist) and her father (a construction rock retailer) separated when she was twelve. Heap attended the private, Quaker, Friends School in Saffron Walden. By age thirteen, she had begun writing songs. She had already played music from an early age, and is classically trained in several instruments including piano, cello and clarinet. She later taught herself to play the guitar and drums, and subsequently two percussion/idiophone instruments, the array mbira and the Hang.Heap did not get along well with the music teacher at her boarding school, so she principally taught herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production on Atari computers. She went on to study at the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, South London.
Musical and songwriting styleFor her solo work (as well as her work with Frou Frou and Acacia), Heap plays heavily produced and arranged singer-songwriter pop incorporating elements of rock, dance and electronica. As a guest player and collaborator she has played rock (Jeff Beck), hip-hop (Urban Species) and theatre/film music. A skilled multi-instrumentalist, Heap extensively uses manipulated electronic sounds as an integral part of her music. She also mixes ambient sound into her music (such as the sound of a frying pan in use cooking food, in the background of her song "Hide and Seek") and has commented that "certain sounds give the music a width and a space, and that's important." She used these to the album as well as updates on the release of the album. The album's release was pushed back multiple times. These included Heap being asked to perform at the annual event, PopTech in October 2008. During the event, she premiered one of her album's songs, "Wait it Out".Heap announced on her Twitter page that Ellipse's first single would be "First Train Home". On 17 August 2009 Heap made the entire album Ellipse available for live streaming via her webpage. Ellipse was released in the United Kingdom on 24 August, and in the United States on 25 August.
Recordings for television and filmHeap has recorded several songs for films, including a cover of the Classics IV hit "Spooky" for the soundtrack to the Reese Witherspoon film, Just Like Heaven. Her song "Hide and Seek" was featured in The Last Kiss, starring Zach Braff (who used her former band Frou Frou's "Let Go" in his 2004 film Garden State), and was also used in a 2007 episode of Saturday Night Live, hosted by Shia LaBeouf. "The Moment I Said It" was also used in the episode "Seven Seconds" of the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds.In 2004, while recording her second solo album, she was commissioned to record a cover of a short nursery rhyme for the HBO television series, Six Feet Under, entitled "I'm A Lonely Little Petunia (In An Onion Patch)". In late 2005, Heap was asked to write a track for the soundtrack of entitled "Can't Take It In", when a track that fellow Brit singer Dido submitted was deemed unfitting. Heap's track is played at the end of the film in a orchestral version produced by Heap and Harry Gregson Williams, who scored the movie. In addition, she composed a track for the film , but it was deemed to be too dark in tone for the film. Instead, it was included in her album Ellipse as "2-1". In March 2006, Heap completed a track about locusts, entitled "Glittering Clouds", for a CD of music about the plagues of Egypt entitled Plague Songs, accompanying The Margate Exodus project, for musical director Brian Eno. Heap recorded an a cappella version of the Leonard Cohen track "Hallelujah", for the season three finale of The O.C., and her "Not Now But Soon" was included on the original soundtrack for the NBC show, Heroes.
Song usageImogen Heap and Frou Frou songs have been featured in various TV shows, movies, advertisements, and marching band productions. Notably including , The OC, SNL, Garden State, and So You Think You Can Dance.Also notable is the sampling of Heap's song Hide & Seek in Jason DeRulo's single "Whatcha Say", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Collaborations, in 2006]]Heap produced tracks for various other artists through her career. In 2001 she wrote the Way Out West single "Mindcircus" for their album Intensify She has also created songs for Nik Kershaw as well as supplied backing vocals on three tracks of his 2006 album You've Got To Laugh – she has also collaborated either as a guest vocalist, co-writer, or remixer for artists as diverse as IAMX, Jeff Beck, Temposhark, LHB, J.Peter Schwalm, Way Out West, Bon Jovi, Mich Gerber, Sean Lennon, Urban Species, Blue October, Matt Willis, Jon Hopkins, MIKA, and Acacia.
Innovative use of technologyHeap is an outspoken advocate of using new technology to interact and collaborate with her fans. In August, 2009 she used Vokle.com, an online auditorium, to take questions from listeners over video chat.Imogen also teamed up with Vokle to hold open cello auditions for her North American tour. She provided sheet music for “Aha” on her website and encouraged local fans to learn the part and audition live via Vokle. Imogen would then pick the cellist to accompany her for that particular city - sometimes with the help of viewers and her puppet Lion, Harold. In 2010 Imogen opened her online auditions to singers and choirs and invited them to audition via submitted YouTube videos to accompany her on stage as she performed the song “Earth” from Ellipse. The winner of each local show was also invited to do a 15 minute gig of their own. In the studio, the official album recording of “Earth” was made up entirely of numerous tracks of vocals.
CharityIn 2008 she participated in a music album called Songs for Tibet: The Art of Peace, which is an initiative to support Tibet, Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso and to underline the human rights situation in Tibet. The album was issued on 5 August via iTunes and on 19 August in music stores around the world. On 12 October 2008, Heap also Participated in "Run 10k: Cancer Research UK," placing fifth of the women in the actual run and raising over £1000 for the cause with the help of her fans.In 2008 Imogen was asked to perform at POP!Tech in Camden, Maine (USA). There she performed selections from her then forthcoming album Ellipse. After her set and an encouraging plea for another performance later in the conference by the audience and organizers, Imogen agreed. Having nothing else prepared though, she decided to improvise a song on the spot with parameters (tempo, key) suggested by the audience. After the show, Imogen was asked by a Poptech attendee if she would give the newly created piece of music to his charity. A ‘lightbulb’ moment occurred in Heap’s head and she saw the potential in doing these improvised pieces for local charities at each show during the tour she would soon begin. The first of these songs materialized at Imogen’s show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, in London on the 19th of February 2010. Using the same parameters and audience participation from POP!Tech, Imogen improvised a song titled, "The Shepherdess". After the show, Imogen made the song available worldwide as a digital download on her website asking for donations per download. All proceeds went to the Great Ormond Street Hospital where Imogen was diagnosed with osteomyelitis and underwent life-saving surgery as a little girl. Loving the concept, Imogen rolled this out for her North American Tour, donating all the proceeds for each song to a local charity from that city. During the summer of 2010 the country of Pakistan suffered extensive flooding caused by monsoon rains. Around one fifth of the country was hit, affecting over 14 million people and damaging and destroying over 900,000 homes. Imogen and her creative partner Thomas Ermacora in theBubbletank.org (a do-tank they have set up for collaborative initiatives mixing crowd-sourcing and co-creation), teamed up with Richard Branson’s Virgin Unite and Vokle.com to create an online webcast/fundraiser to raise awareness and money for the flood stricken. It was hosted by comedian, creative and internet personality Ze Frank. The webcast included a series of conversations with Cameron Sinclair, Mark Pearson, Gary Slutkin and Anders Wilhelmson (and later Richard Branson and Mary Robinson) alongside live performances from Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Kate Havnevik, KT Tunstall, Josh Groban, Kaki King, Zoe Keating and Mark Isham. Imogen was slated to perform as well as host the webcast with Ze Frank but in a turn of ironic events was kept from the show because of Hurricane Earl which at the time was progressing along the US eastern seaboard. Imogen, stranded and unable to get an internet connection later posted a video message as well as a performance of her song “Wait It Out” from Ellipse.
FilmAfter touring for nearly two years straight for her album Speak For Yourself Imogen continued her travels, this time with only a laptop and video camera on hand as she began her writing trip for her next album. Nine weeks later she returned to the UK with the beginnings of the award-winning Ellipse and footage (as requested by a fan to film the making of the album) from its quiet beginning. Back in Essex, Imogen sought the talents of long-time friend and film maker Justine Pearsall to continue documenting the creation of the album. The film documents every moment of joy, excitement, frustration, and even the renovation of the Imogen’s childhood home including turning her old playroom into her new home studio. Everything In-Between: The Story of Ellipse is scheduled to be released in November 2010.On November 5, 2010 at the Royal Albert Hall, Heap conducted an orchestra (including friends and family) as they performed an original composition by Imogen herself. It was the score to the concept film Love The Earth - in creative partnership and co-production with Thomas Ermacora again for another Bubbletank production - in which fans were invited to submit video footage highlighting all of the breathtaking qualities of nature to be selected and edited into a film. This performance was broadcasted live worldwide.
DiscographyStudio albums
Singles
Featured singles
B-sides
EPs
Frou Frou
Guest appearances
Compilation appearances
References
External links
Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:English female singers Category:Female rock singers Category:People from Havering (district) Category:English singer-songwriters Category:Former students of the BRIT School Category:Ableton Live users Category:Grammy Award winners Category:English electronic musicians This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community. Louis Armstrong
Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly recognizable deep and distinctive gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also greatly skilled at scat singing, vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics. Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross-over," whose skin-color was secondary to his amazing talent in an America that was severely racially divided. It allowed him socially-acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a person of color. While he rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, he was privately a huge supporter of the Civil Rights movement in America.
BiographyEarly lifeArmstrong often stated that he was born on July 4, 1900, a date that has been noted in many biographies. Although he died in 1971, it was not until the mid-1980s that his true birth date of August 4, 1901 was discovered through the examination of baptismal records.Armstrong was born into a very poor family in New Orleans, Louisiana, the grandson of slaves. He spent his youth in poverty, in a rough neighborhood of Uptown New Orleans, known as “Back of Town”, as his father, William Armstrong (1881–1922), abandoned the family when Louis was an infant and took up with another woman. His mother, Mary "Mayann" Albert (1886–1942), then left Louis and his younger sister Beatrice Armstrong Collins (1903–1987) in the care of his grandmother, Josephine Armstrong, and at times, his Uncle Isaac. At five, he moved back to live with his mother and her relatives, and saw his father only in parades. He attended the Fisk School for Boys. It was there that he likely had his first exposure to Creole music. He brought in some money as a paperboy and also by finding discarded food and selling it to restaurants, but it was not enough to keep his mother from prostitution. He hung out in dance halls close to home, where he observed everything from licentious dancing to the quadrille. For extra money he also hauled coal to Storyville, the famed red-light district, and listened to the bands playing in the brothels and dance halls, especially Pete Lala's where Joe "King" Oliver performed and other famous musicians would drop in to jam. After dropping out of the Fisk School at age eleven, Armstrong joined a quartet of boys that sang in the streets for money. But he also started to get into trouble. Cornet player Bunk Johnson said he taught Armstrong (then 11) to play by ear at Dago Tony's Tonk in New Orleans, although in his later years Armstrong gave the credit to Oliver. Armstrong hardly looked back at his youth as the worst of times but instead drew inspiration from it, “Every time I close my eyes blowing that trumpet of mine—I look right in the heart of good old New Orleans...It has given me something to live for.” He also worked for a Lithuanian-Jewish immigrant family, the Karnofskys, who had a junk hauling business and gave him odd jobs. They took him in and treated him as almost a family member, knowing he lived without a father, and would feed and nurture him. He later wrote a memoir of his relationship with the Karnofskys titled, Louis Armstrong + the Jewish Family in New Orleans, La., the Year of 1907. In it he describes his discovery that this family was also subject to discrimination by "other white folks' nationalities who felt that they were better than the Jewish race. I was only seven years old but I could easily see the ungodly treatment that the White Folks were handing the poor Jewish family whom I worked for." Armstrong wore a Star of David pendant for the rest of his life and wrote about what he learned from them: "how to live—real life and determination." The influence of Karnofsky is remembered in New Orleans by the Karnofsky Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to accepting donated musical instruments to "put them into the hands of an eager child who could not otherwise take part in a wonderful learning experience." Armstrong developed his cornet playing seriously in the band of the New Orleans Home for Colored Waifs, where he had been sent multiple times for general delinquency, most notably for a long term after firing his stepfather's pistol into the air at a New Year's Eve celebration, as police records confirm. Professor Peter Davis (who frequently appeared at the Home at the request of its administrator, Captain Joseph Jones) instilled discipline in and provided musical training to the otherwise self-taught Armstrong. Eventually, Davis made Armstrong the band leader. The Home band played around New Orleans and the thirteen year old Louis began to draw attention by his cornet playing, starting him on a musical career. At fourteen he was released from the Home, living again with his father and new stepmother and then back with his mother and also back to the streets and their temptations. Armstrong got his first dance hall job at Henry Ponce’s where Black Benny became his protector and guide. He hauled coal by day and played his cornet at night. He played in the city's frequent brass band parades and listened to older musicians every chance he got, learning from Bunk Johnson, Buddy Petit, Kid Ory, and above all, Joe "King" Oliver, who acted as a mentor and father figure to the young musician. Later, he played in the brass bands and riverboats of New Orleans, and began traveling with the well-regarded band of Fate Marable, which toured on a steamboat up and down the Mississippi River. He described his time with Marable as, "going to the University," since it gave him a much wider experience working with written arrangements. In 1919, Joe Oliver decided to go north and resigned his position in Kid Ory's band; Armstrong replaced him. He also became second trumpet for the Tuxedo Brass Band, a society band.
Career"]] "]] "]] On March 19, 1918, Louis married Daisy Parker from Gretna, Louisiana. They adopted a 3-year-old boy, Clarence Armstrong, whose mother, Louis's cousin Flora, died soon after giving birth. Clarence Armstrong was mentally disabled (the result of a head injury at an early age) and Louis would spend the rest of his life taking care of him. Louis's marriage to Parker failed quickly and they separated. She died shortly after the divorce.Through all his riverboat experience Armstrong’s musicianship began to mature and expand. At twenty, he could read music and he started to be featured in extended trumpet solos, one of the first jazzmen to do this, injecting his own personality and style into his solo turns. He had learned how to create a unique sound and also started using singing and patter in his performances. In 1922, Armstrong joined the exodus to Chicago, where he had been invited by his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to join his Creole Jazz Band and where he could make a sufficient income so that he no longer needed to supplement his music with day labor jobs. It was a boom time in Chicago and though race relations were poor, the “Windy City” was teeming with jobs for black people, who were making good wages in factories and had plenty to spend on entertainment. Oliver's band was the best and most influential hot jazz band in Chicago in the early 1920s, at a time when Chicago was the center of the jazz universe. Armstrong lived like a king in Chicago, in his own apartment with his own private bath (his first). Excited as he was to be in Chicago, he began his career-long pastime of writing nostalgic letters to friends in New Orleans. As Armstrong’s reputation grew, he was challenged to “cutting contests” by hornmen trying to displace the new phenom, who could blow two hundred high C’s in a row. Armstrong made his first recordings on the Gennett and Okeh labels (jazz records were starting to boom across the country), including taking some solos and breaks, while playing second cornet in Oliver's band in 1923. At this time, he met Hoagy Carmichael (with whom he would collaborate later) who was introduced by friend Bix Beiderbecke, who now had his own Chicago band. Armstrong enjoyed working with Oliver, but Louis's second wife, pianist Lil Hardin Armstrong, urged him to seek more prominent billing and develop his newer style away from the influence of Oliver. Armstrong took the advice of his wife and left Oliver's band. For a year Armstrong played in Fletcher Henderson's band in New York on many recordings. After playing in New York, Armstrong returned to Chicago, playing in large orchestras; there he created his most important early recordings. Lil had her husband play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skill and improve his solo play and she prodded him into wearing more stylish attire to make him look sharp and to better offset his growing girth. Lil’s influence eventually undermined Armstrong’s relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional moneys that Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Armstrong and Oliver parted amicably in 1924. Shortly afterward, Armstrong received an invitation to go to New York City to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the top African-American band of the day. Armstrong switched to the trumpet to blend in better with the other musicians in his section. His influence upon Henderson's tenor sax soloist, Coleman Hawkins, can be judged by listening to the records made by the band during this period. Armstrong quickly adapted to the more tightly controlled style of Henderson, playing trumpet and even experimenting with the trombone and the other members quickly took up Armstrong’s emotional, expressive pulse. Soon his act included singing and telling tales of New Orleans characters, especially preachers. The Henderson Orchestra was playing in the best venues for white-only patrons, including the famed Roseland Ballroom, featuring the classy arrangements of Don Redman. Duke Ellington’s orchestra would go to Roseland to catch Armstrong’s performances and young hornmen around town tried in vain to outplay him, splitting their lips in their attempts. During this time, Armstrong also made many recordings on the side, arranged by an old friend from New Orleans, pianist Clarence Williams; these included small jazz band sides with the Williams Blue Five (some of the best pairing Armstrong with one of Armstrong's few rivals in fiery technique and ideas, Sidney Bechet) and a series of accompaniments with blues singers, including Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter. Armstrong returned to Chicago in 1925 due mostly to the urging of his wife, who wanted to pump up Armstrong’s career and income. He was content in New York but later would concede that she was right and that the Henderson Orchestra was limiting his artistic growth. In publicity, much to his chagrin, she billed him as “the World’s Greatest Trumpet Player”. At first he was actually a member of the Lil Hardin Armstrong Band and working for his wife. He began recording under his own name for Okeh with his famous Hot Five and Hot Seven groups, producing hits such as "Potato Head Blues", "Muggles", (a reference to marijuana, for which Armstrong had a lifelong fondness), and "West End Blues", the music of which set the standard and the agenda for jazz for many years to come. The group included Kid Ory (trombone), Johnny Dodds (clarinet), Johnny St. Cyr (banjo), wife Lil on piano, and usually no drummer. Armstrong’s bandleading style was easygoing, as St. Cyr noted, "One felt so relaxed working with him and he was very broad-minded ... always did his best to feature each individual." His recordings soon after with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines (most famously their 1928 Weatherbird duet) and Armstrong's trumpet introduction to "West End Blues" remain some of the most famous and influential improvisations in jazz history. Armstrong was now free to develop his personal style as he wished, which included a heavy dose of effervescent jive, such as "whip that thing, Miss Lil" and "Mr. Johnny Dodds, Aw, do that clarinet, boy!" Armstrong also played with Erskine Tate’s Little Symphony, actually a quintet, which played mostly at the Vendome Theatre. They furnished music for silent movies and live shows, including jazz versions of classical music, such as “Madame Butterfly,” which gave Armstrong experience with longer forms of music and with hosting before a large audience. He began to scat sing (improvised vocal jazz using non-sensical words) and was among the first to record it, on "Heebie Jeebies" in 1926. So popular was the recording the group became the most famous jazz band in the USA even though they as yet had not performed live to any great degree. Young musicians across the country, black and white, were turned on by Armstrong’s new type of jazz. After separating from Lil, Armstrong started to play at the Sunset Café for Al Capone's associate Joe Glaser in the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra, with Earl Hines on piano, which was soon renamed Louis Armstrong and his Stompers, though Hines was the music director and Glaser managed the orchestra. Hines and Armstrong became fast friends as well as successful collaborators. Armstrong returned to New York, in 1929, where he played in the pit orchestra of the successful musical Hot Chocolate, an all-black revue written by Andy Razaf and pianist/composer Fats Waller. He also made a cameo appearance as a vocalist, regularly stealing the show with his rendition of "Ain't Misbehavin'", his version of the song becoming his biggest selling record to date. Armstrong started to work at Connie's Inn in Harlem, chief rival to the Cotton Club, a venue for elaborately staged floor shows, and a front for gangster Dutch Schultz. Armstrong also had considerable success with vocal recordings, including versions of famous songs composed by his old friend Hoagy Carmichael. His 1930s recordings took full advantage of the new RCA ribbon microphone, introduced in 1931, which imparted a characteristic warmth to vocals and immediately became an intrinsic part of the 'crooning' sound of artists like Bing Crosby. Armstrong's famous interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" became one of the most successful versions of this song ever recorded, showcasing Armstrong's unique vocal sound and style and his innovative approach to singing songs that had already become standards. Armstrong's radical re-working of Sidney Arodin and Carmichael's "Lazy River" (recorded in 1931) encapsulated many features of his groundbreaking approach to melody and phrasing. The song begins with a brief trumpet solo, then the main melody is stated by sobbing horns, memorably punctuated by Armstrong's growling interjections at the end of each bar: "Yeah! ..."Uh-huh" ..."Sure" ... "Way down, way down." In the first verse, he ignores the notated melody entirely and sings as if playing a trumpet solo, pitching most of the first line on a single note and using strongly syncopated phrasing. In the second stanza he breaks into an almost fully improvised melody, which then evolves into a classic passage of Armstrong "scat singing". As with his trumpet playing, Armstrong's vocal innovations served as a foundation stone for the art of jazz vocal interpretation. The uniquely gritty coloration of his voice became a musical archetype that was much imitated and endlessly impersonated. His scat singing style was enriched by his matchless experience as a trumpet soloist. His resonant, velvety lower-register tone and bubbling cadences on sides such as "Lazy River" exerted a huge influence on younger white singers such as Bing Crosby. The Depression of the early Thirties was especially hard on the jazz scene. The Cotton Club closed in 1936 after a long downward spiral and many musicians stopped playing altogether as club dates evaporated. Bix Beiderbecke died and Fletcher Henderson’s band broke up. King Oliver made a few records but otherwise struggled. Sidney Bechet became a tailor and Kid Ory returned to New Orleans and raised chickens. Armstrong moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to seek new opportunities. He played at the New Cotton Club in LA with Lionel Hampton on drums. The band drew the Hollywood crowd, which could still afford a lavish night life, while radio broadcasts from the club connected with younger audiences at home. Bing Crosby and many other celebrities were regulars at the club. In 1931, Armstrong appeared in his first movie, Ex-Flame. Armstrong was convicted of marijuana possession but received a suspended sentence. He returned to Chicago in late 1931 and played in bands more in the Guy Lombardo vein and he recorded more standards. When the mob insisted that he get out of town, Armstrong visited New Orleans, got a hero’s welcome and saw old friends. He sponsored a local baseball team known as “Armstrong’s Secret Nine” and got a cigar named after himself. But soon he was on the road again and after a tour across the country shadowed by the mob, Armstrong decided to go to Europe to escape. After returning to the States, he undertook several exhausting tours. His agent Johnny Collins’ erratic behavior and his own spending ways left Armstrong short of cash. Breach of contract violations plagued him. Finally, he hired Joe Glaser as his new manager, a tough mob-connected wheeler-dealer, who began to straighten out his legal mess, his mob troubles, and his debts. Armstrong also began to experience problems with his fingers and lips, which were aggravated by his unorthodox playing style. As a result he branched out, developing his vocal style and making his first theatrical appearances. He appeared in movies again, including Crosby's 1936 hit Pennies from Heaven. In 1937, Armstrong substituted for Rudy Vallee on the CBS radio network and became the first African American to host a sponsored, national broadcast. He finally divorced Lil in 1938 and married longtime girlfriend Alpha. After spending many years on the road, Armstrong settled permanently in Queens, New York in 1943 in contentment with his fourth wife, Lucille. Although subject to the vicissitudes of Tin Pan Alley and the gangster-ridden music business, as well as anti-black prejudice, he continued to develop his playing. He recorded Hoagy Carmichael's Rockin' Chair for Okeh Records. During the subsequent thirty years, Armstrong played more than three hundred gigs a year. Bookings for big bands tapered off during the 1940s due to changes in public tastes: ballrooms closed, and there was competition from television and from other types of music becoming more popular than big band music. It became impossible under such circumstances to support and finance a 16-piece touring band.
The All StarsFollowing a highly successful small-group jazz concert at New York Town Hall on May 17, 1947, featuring Armstrong with trombonist/singer Jack Teagarden, Armstrong's manager Joe Glaser dissolved the Armstrong big band on August 13, 1947 and established a six-piece small group featuring Armstrong with (initially) Teagarden, Earl Hines and other top swing and dixieland musicians, most of them ex-big band leaders. The new group was announced at the opening of Billy Berg's Supper Club.This group was called Louis Armstrong and his All Stars and included at various times Earl "Fatha" Hines, Barney Bigard, Edmond Hall, Jack Teagarden, Trummy Young, Arvell Shaw, Billy Kyle, Marty Napoleon, Big Sid Catlett, Cozy Cole, Tyree Glenn, Barrett Deems and the Filipino-American percussionist, Danny Barcelona. During this period, Armstrong made many recordings and appeared in over thirty films. He was the first jazz musician to appear on the cover of Time Magazine on February 21, 1949. In 1964, he recorded his biggest-selling record, "Hello, Dolly!". The song went to #1 on the pop chart, making Armstrong (age 63) the oldest person to ever accomplish that feat. In the process, Armstrong dislodged The Beatles from the #1 position they had occupied for 14 consecutive weeks with three different songs. Armstrong kept up his busy tour schedule until a few years before his death in 1971. In his later years he would sometimes play some of his numerous gigs by rote, but other times would enliven the most mundane gig with his vigorous playing, often to the astonishment of his band. He also toured Africa, Europe, and Asia under sponsorship of the US State Department with great success, earning the nickname "Ambassador Satch." While failing health restricted his schedule in his last years, within those limitations he continued playing until the day he died.
DeathArmstrong died just after a heart attack on July 6, 1971, a month before his 70th birthday, and 11 months after playing a famous show at the Waldorf-Astoria's Empire Room. He was residing in Corona, Queens, New York City, at the time of his death. He was interred in Flushing Cemetery, Flushing, in Queens, New York City.His honorary pallbearers included Governor Rockefeller, Mayor Lindsay, Bing Crosby, Scatman John, Ella Fitzgerald, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Pearl Bailey, Count Basie, Harry James, Frank Sinatra, Ed Sullivan, Earl Wilson, Alan King, Johnny Carson, David Frost, Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett and Bobby Hackett. Peggy Lee sang The Lord's Prayer at the services while Al Hibbler sang "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" and Fred Robbins, a long-time friend, gave the eulogy.
PersonalityArmstrong was a colorful character. His own biography vexes biographers and historians, because he had a habit of telling tales, particularly of his early childhood, when he was less scrutinized, and his embellishments of his history often lack consistency.He was not only an entertainer. Armstrong was a leading personality of the day who was so beloved by a white-controlled America, that gave even the greatest African-American performers little access beyond their public celebrity, that he was able to privately live a life of access and privilege accorded to few other African-Americans. He tried to remain politically neutral, which gave him a large part of that access, but often alienated him from members of the African-American community who looked to him to use his prominence with white America to become more of an outspoken figure during the Civil Rights Era of U.S. history.
NicknamesThe nicknames Satchmo and Satch are short for Satchelmouth. Like many things in Armstrong's life, which was filled with colorful stories both real and imagined, many of his own telling, the nickname has many possible origins.The most common tale that biographers tell is the story of Armstrong as a young boy dancing for pennies in the streets of New Orleans, who would scoop up the coins off of the streets and stick them into his mouth to avoid having the bigger children steal them from him. Someone dubbed him "satchel mouth" for his mouth acting as a satchel. In 1932, Melody Maker magazine editor Percy Brooks greeted Armstrong in London with, "Hello, Satchmo!", and thence the nickname took root. Early on he was also known as Dipper, short for Dippermouth, a reference to the piece Dippermouth Blues. and something of a riff on his unusual embouchure. As he became older and more of an institution than another musician, Armstrong was usually addressed by friends and fellow musicians as Pops, save in the company of Pops Foster, whom Armstrong always called "George".
Armstrong and raceArmstrong was able to pass into white society, both on stage and off, a privilege reserved for very few African-American public figures, and usually those of either exceptional talent and fair skin-tone. As his fame grew, so did his access to the finer things in life usually denied to a black man, even a famous one. His renown was such that he dined in the best restaurants and stayed in hotels usually exclusively for whites.It was a power and privilege that he enjoyed, although he was very careful not to flaunt it with fellow performers of color, and privately, he shared what access that he could with friends and fellow musicians. That still did not prevent members of the African-American community, particularly in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, from calling him an Uncle Tom, a black-on-black racial epithet for someone who kowtowed to white society at the expense of their own racial identity. He was criticized for accepting the title of "King of The Zulus" for Mardi Gras in 1949. In the New Orleans African-American community it is an honored role as the head of leading black Carnival Krewe, but bewildering or offensive to outsiders with their traditional costume of grass-skirts and blackface makeup satirizing southern white attitudes. Some musicians criticized Armstrong for playing in front of segregated audiences, and for not taking a strong enough stand in the civil rights movement. Billie Holiday countered, however, "Of course Pops toms, but he toms from the heart." Her meaning was that Armstrong was a performer who had no animosity for audiences of any color in his public life, and he would not bring the political elements of race into his performing. In spite of his perception by many in the African-American community as being weak on racial equality and social justice, Armstrong was anything but that. He was a major financial supporter of Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists, even if he preferred to work quietly behind the scenes, not mixing his politics with his work as an entertainer. The few exceptions made it more effective when he did speak out. Armstrong's criticism of President Eisenhower, calling him "two-faced" and "gutless" because of his inaction during the conflict over school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 made national news. As a protest, Armstrong canceled a planned tour of the Soviet Union on behalf of the State Department saying "The way they're treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell" and that he could not represent his government abroad when it was in conflict with its own people. The FBI kept a file on Armstrong, for his outspokenness about integration.
ReligionWhen asked about his religion, Armstrong would answer that he was raised a Baptist, always wore a Star of David, and was friends with the Pope. Armstrong wore the Star of David in honor of the Karnofsky family, who took him in as a child and lent him the money to buy his first cornet. Louis Armstrong was, in fact, baptized as a Catholic at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Orleans, The cards have sometimes been incorrectly described as ads for Swiss Kriss.In a live recording of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Velma Middleton, he changes the lyric from "Put another record on while I pour" to "Take some Swiss Kriss while I pour." The line, slightly garbled in the live recording, could just as likely be "Take some Swiss Miss while I pour"—Swiss Miss is a hot chocolate mix that would have been fairly new on the market in 1951. (The line comes at 1:04 in the song.)
Love of foodThe concern with his health and weight was balanced by his love of food, reflected in such songs as "Cheesecake," "Cornet Chop Suey," though "Struttin’ with Some Barbecue" was written about a fine-looking companion, not about food. He kept a strong connection throughout his life to the cooking of New Orleans, always signing his letters, "Red beans and ricely yours..."
WritingsArmstrong’s gregariousness extended to writing. On the road, he wrote constantly, sharing favorite themes of his life with correspondents around the world. He avidly typed or wrote on whatever stationery was at hand, recording instant takes on music, sex, food, childhood memories, his heavy “medicinal” marijuana use—and even his bowel movements, which he gleefully described. He had a fondness for lewd jokes and dirty limericks as well.
Social organizationsLouis Armstrong was not, as is often claimed, a Freemason. Although he is usually listed as being a member of Montgomery Lodge No. 18 (Prince Hall) in New York, no such lodge has ever existed. Armstrong states in his autobiography, however, that he was a member of the Knights of Pythias, which is not a Masonic group.
MusicHorn playing and early jazzIn his early years, Armstrong was best known for his virtuosity with the cornet and trumpet. The greatest trumpet playing of his early years can be heard on his Hot Five and Hot Seven records, as well as the Red Onion Jazz Babies. The improvisations he made on these records of New Orleans jazz standards and popular songs of the day are unsurpassed by later jazz performers. The older generation of New Orleans jazz musicians often referred to their improvisations as "variating the melody." Armstrong's improvisations were daring and sophisticated for the time, while often subtle and melodic.He often essentially re-composed pop-tunes he played, making them more interesting. Armstrong's playing is filled with joyous, inspired original melodies, creative leaps, and subtle relaxed or driving rhythms. The genius of these creative passages is matched by Armstrong's playing technique, honed by constant practice, which extended the range, tone and capabilities of the trumpet. In these records, Armstrong almost single-handedly created the role of the jazz soloist, taking what was essentially a collective folk music and turning it into an art form with tremendous possibilities for individual expression. Armstrong's work in the 1920s shows him playing at the outer limits of his abilities. The Hot Five records, especially, often have minor flubs and missed notes, which do little to detract from listening enjoyment since the energy of the spontaneous performance comes through. By the mid 1930s, Armstrong achieved a smooth assurance, knowing exactly what he could do and carrying out his ideas to perfection. He was one of the first artists to use recordings of his performances to improve himself. Armstrong was an avid audiophile. He had a large collection of recordings, including reel-to-reel tapes, which he took on the road with him in a trunk during his later career. He enjoyed listening to his own recordings, and comparing his performances musically. In the den of his home, he had the latest audio equipment and would sometimes rehearse and record along with his older recordings or the radio.
Vocal popularityAs his music progressed and popularity grew, his singing also became very important. Armstrong was not the first to record scat singing, but he was masterful at it and helped popularize it. He had a hit with his playing and scat singing on "Heebie Jeebies" when, according to some legends, the sheet music fell on the floor and he simply started singing nonsense syllables. Armstrong stated in his memoirs that this actually occurred. He also sang out "I done forgot the words" in the middle of recording "I'm A Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas."Such records were hits and scat singing became a major part of his performances. Long before this, however, Armstrong was playing around with his vocals, shortening and lengthening phrases, interjecting improvisations, using his voice as creatively as his trumpet.
Colleagues and followersDuring his long career he played and sang with some of the most important instrumentalists and vocalists of the time; among them were Bing Crosby, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Earl Hines, the singing brakeman Jimmie Rodgers, Bessie Smith and perhaps most famously Ella Fitzgerald.His influence upon Bing Crosby is particularly important with regard to the subsequent development of popular music: Crosby admired and copied Armstrong, as is evident on many of his early recordings, notably "Just One More Chance" (1931). The New Grove Dictionary Of Jazz describes Crosby's debt to Armstrong in precise detail, although it does not acknowledge Armstrong by name:
Armstrong recorded three albums with Ella Fitzgerald: Ella and Louis, Ella and Louis Again, and Porgy and Bess for Verve Records, with the sessions featuring the backing musicianship of the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummer Buddy Rich. His recordings Satch Plays Fats, all Fats Waller tunes, and Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy in the 1950s were perhaps among the last of his great creative recordings, but even oddities like Disney Songs the Satchmo Way are seen to have their musical moments. And, his participation in Dave Brubeck's high-concept jazz musical The Real Ambassadors was critically acclaimed. For the most part, however, his later output was criticized as being overly simplistic or repetitive.
Hits and later careerArmstrong had many hit records including "Stardust", "What a Wonderful World", "When The Saints Go Marching In", "Dream a Little Dream of Me", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "You Rascal You,"and "Stompin' at the Savoy." "We Have All the Time in the World" was featured on the soundtrack of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and enjoyed renewed popularity in the UK in 1994 when it featured on a Guinness advert. It reached number 3 in the charts on being re-released.In 1964, Armstrong knocked the Beatles off the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Hello, Dolly!", which gave the 63-year-old performer a U.S. record as the oldest artist to have a number one song. His 1964 song, "Bout Time" was later featured in the film "Bewitched" (2005). Armstrong performed in Italy at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival where he sang "Mi Va di Cantare" alongside his friend, the Eritrean-born Italian singer Lara Saint Paul. In February 1968, he also appeared with Lara Saint Paul on the Italian RAI television channel where he performed "Grassa e Bella," a track he sang in Italian for the Italian market and C.D.I. label. In 1968, Armstrong scored one last popular hit in the United Kingdom with the highly sentimental pop song "What a Wonderful World", which topped the British charts for a month; however, the single did not chart at all in America. The song gained greater currency in the popular consciousness when it was used in the 1987 movie Good Morning, Vietnam, its subsequent rerelease topping many charts around the world. Armstrong even appeared on the October 28, 1970 Johnny Cash Show, where he sang Nat "King" Cole's hit "Rambling Rose" and joined Cash to re-create his performance backing Jimmie Rodgers on "Blue Yodel #9".
Stylistic rangeArmstrong enjoyed many types of music, from blues to the arrangements of Guy Lombardo, to Latin American folksongs, to classical symphonies and opera. Armstrong incorporated influences from all these sources into his performances, sometimes to the bewilderment of fans who wanted Armstrong to stay in convenient narrow categories. Armstrong was inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an early influence. Some of his solos from the 1950s, such as the hard rocking version of "St. Louis Blues" from the WC Handy album, show that the influence went in both directions.
Literature, radio, films and TVArmstrong appeared in more than a dozen Hollywood films, usually playing a band leader or musician. His most familiar role was as the bandleader cum narrator in the 1956 musical, High Society, in which he sang the title song and performed a duet with Bing Crosby on "Now You Has Jazz". In 1947, he played himself in the movie New Orleans opposite Billie Holiday, which chronicled the demise of the Storyville district and the ensuing exodus of musicians from New Orleans to Chicago. In the 1959 film, The Five Pennies (the story of the cornetist Red Nichols, he played himself as well as singing and playing several classic numbers, including a remarkable duet with Danny Kaye of When the Saints Go Marching In during which Kaye does a brilliant impersonation of Armstrong. He also had a part in the film alongside James Stewart in "The Glenn Miller Story" in which Glenn (played by Stewart) went along to Connies Inn and had a jam session with him and a few other noted musicians of the time, Louis sang "Basin St. Blues"..He was the first African American to host a nationally broadcast radio show in the 1930s. In 1969, Armstrong had a cameo role in the film version of Hello, Dolly! as the bandleader, Louis, to which he sang the title song with actress Barbra Streisand. His solo recording of "Hello, Dolly!" is one of his most recognizable performances. He was heard on such radio programs as The Story of Swing (1937) and This Is Jazz (1947), and he also made countless television appearances, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, including appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Armstrong has a record star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 7601 Hollywood Boulevard. Many of Armstrong's recordings remain popular. Almost four decades since his passing, a larger number of his recordings from all periods of his career are more widely available than at any time during his lifetime. His songs are broadcast and listened to every day throughout the world, and are honored in various movies, TV series, commercials, and even anime and computer games. "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" was included in the computer game Fallout 2, accompanying the intro cinematic. It was also used in the 1993 film Sleepless in Seattle and the 2005 film Lord of War. His 1923 recordings, with Joe Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band, continue to be listened to as documents of ensemble style New Orleans jazz, but more particularly as ripper jazz records in their own right. All too often, however, Armstrong recorded with stiff, standard orchestras leaving only his sublime trumpet playing as of interest. "Melancholy Blues," performed by Armstrong and his Hot Seven was included on the Voyager Golden Record sent into outer space to represent one of the greatest achievements of humanity. Most familiar to modern listeners is his ubiquitous rendition of "What a Wonderful World". In 2008, Armstrong's recording of Edith Piaf's famous "La Vie En Rose" was used in a scene of the popular Disney/Pixar film WALL-E. The song was also used in parts, especially the opening trumpets, in the French Film Jeux d'enfants (English: Love Me If You Dare) Argentine writer Julio Cortázar, a self-described Armstrong admirer, asserted that a 1952 Louis Armstrong concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris played a significant role in inspiring him to create the fictional creatures called Cronopios that are the subject of a number of Cortázar's short stories. Cortázar once called Armstrong himself "Grandísimo Cronopio" (Most Enormous Cronopio). Armstrong appears as a minor character in Harry Turtledove's Timeline-191 series. When he and his band escape from a Nazi-like Confederacy, they enhance the insipid mainstream music of the North. There is a pivotal scene in 1980's Stardust Memories in which Woody Allen is overwhelmed by a recording of Armstrong's Stardust and experiences a nostalgic epiphany. The combination of the music and the perfect moment is the catalyst for much of the film's action, prompting the protagonist to fall in love with an ill-advised woman. Armstrong is referred to in The Trumpet of the Swan along with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. Three siblings in the film are named Louis, Billie, and Ella. The main character, Louis, plays a trumpet, an obvious nod to Armstrong. In the original E. B. White book, he is referred to by name, by a child who hears Louis playing and comments, "He sounds just like Louis Armstrong, the famous trumpet player." In the 2009 Disney Film The Princess and the Frog, one of the supporting characters is a trumpet-playing alligator named Louis. During the song "When I'm Human", Louis sings a line and it says "Y'all heard of Louis Armstrong".
Awards and honorsGrammy AwardsArmstrong was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972 by the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. This Special Merit Award is presented by vote of the Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording.{| class=wikitable |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;" | Grammy Award |- ! Year ! Category ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Result |- align=center | 1964 | Male Vocal Performance | "Hello, Dolly!" | Pop | Kapp | Winner |}
Grammy Hall of FameRecordings of Armstrong were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, which is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have "qualitative or historical significance."{| class=wikitable |- | colspan="6" style="text-align:center;" | Grammy Hall of Fame |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Genre ! Label ! Year Inducted ! Notes |- align=center | 1929 | "St. Louis Blues" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 2008 |with Bessie Smith |- align=center | 1928 | "Weather Bird" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 2008 | with Earl Hines |- align=center | 1930 | "Blue Yodel #9(Standing on the Corner)" | Country (Single) | Victor | 2007 | Jimmie Rodgers (Featuring Louis Armstrong) |- align=center | 1932 | "All of Me" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 2005 | |- align=center | 1958 | Porgy and Bess | Jazz (Album) | Verve | 2001 | with Ella Fitzgerald |- align=center | 1964 | "Hello Dolly!" | Pop (Single) | Kapp | 2001 | |- align=center | 1926 | "Heebie Jeebies" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 1999 | |- align=center | 1968 | "What a Wonderful World" | Jazz (Single) | ABC | 1999 | |- align=center | 1955 | "Mack the Knife" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 1997 | |- align=center | 1925 | "St. Louis Blues" | Jazz (Single) | Columbia | 1993 | Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong, cornet |- align=center | 1928 | "West End Blues" | Jazz (Single) | OKeh | 1974 | |}
Rock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed a song by Armstrong on the list of 500 songs that shaped Rock and Roll.{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Recorded ! Title ! Label ! Group |- align=center | 1928 | West End Blues | Okeh | Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five |}
Inductions and honorsIn 1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a Louis Armstrong 32 cents commemorative postage stamp.{| class=wikitable |- ! Year Inducted ! Title ! Results ! Notes |- align=center | 2007 | Louisiana Music Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 2007 | Gennett Records Walk of Fame, Richmond, Indiana | | |- align=center | 2007 | Long Island Music Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 2004 | Nesuhi Ertegün Jazz Hall of Fameat Jazz at Lincoln Center | | |- align=center | 1990 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | | Early influence |- align=center | 1978 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 1952 | Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame | | |- align=center | 1960 | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Star | at 7601 Hollywood Blvd. |}
LegacyThe house where Louis Armstrong lived for close to 28 years was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977 and is now a museum. The Louis Armstrong House Museum, at 34-56 107th Street (between 34th and 37th Avenues) in Corona, Queens, presents concerts and educational programs, operates as a historic house museum and makes materials in its archives of writings, books, recordings and memorabilia available to the public for research. The museum is operated by the City University of New York's Queens College, following the dictates of Lucille Armstrong's will.The museum opened to the public on October 15, 2003. A visitors center is currently being planned, and estimated to open in 2011. The influence of Armstrong on the development of jazz is virtually immeasurable. Yet, his irrepressible personality both as a performer, and as a public figure later in his career, was so strong that to some it sometimes overshadowed his contributions as a musician and singer. As a virtuoso trumpet player, Armstrong had a unique tone and an extraordinary talent for melodic improvisation. Through his playing, the trumpet emerged as a solo instrument in jazz and is used widely today. He was a masterful accompanist and ensemble player in addition to his extraordinary skills as a soloist. With his innovations, he raised the bar musically for all who came after him. Though Armstrong is widely recognized as a pioneer of scat singing, Ethel Waters precedes his scatting on record in the 1930s according to Gary Giddins and others. Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra are just two singers who were greatly indebted to him. Holiday said that she always wanted Bessie Smith's 'big' sound and Armstrong's feeling in her singing. On August 4, 2001, the centennial of Armstrong's birth, New Orleans's airport was renamed Louis Armstrong International Airport in his honor. In 2002, the Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings (1925–1928) are preserved in the United States National Recording Registry, a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress. The US Open tennis tournament's former main stadium was named Louis Armstrong Stadium in honor of Armstrong who had lived a few blocks from the site. Today, there are many bands worldwide dedicated to preserving and honoring the music and style of Satchmo, including the Louis Armstrong Society located in New Orleans, LA.
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External linksCategory:1901 births Category:1971 deaths Category:ABC Records artists Category:African American brass musicians Category:African American singers Category:American buskers Category:American jazz cornetists Category:American jazz singers Category:American jazz trumpeters Category:American male singers Category:Burials at Flushing Cemetery Category:Cardiovascular disease deaths in New York Category:Columbia Records artists Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Decca Records artists Category:Dixieland bandleaders Category:Dixieland singers Category:Dixieland trumpeters Category:Gennett recording artists Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Jazz bandleaders Category:Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:MGM Records artists Category:Musicians from Louisiana Category:Okeh Records artists Category:People from Corona, Queens Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Category:Swing bandleaders Category:Swing singers Category:Swing trumpeters Category:Vocal jazz musicians Category:Vocalion Records artists This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community. Lisa Lavie
Lisa Lavie (May 6, 1983) is a Canadian singer and songwriter originally from LaSalle, Québec, Canada. Lavie is known for using the Internet to independently promote her own music and concerts. Lavie's vocals have appeared on soundtracks of major motion pictures, and her independently produced debut album Everything or Nothing was released on iTunes in 2008. Lavie has received national television coverage for her vocals, and for her production of the charity collaboration video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)." She was chosen as a vocalist for Yanni's September 2010 South American tour.
Life and music careerChildhood and discoveryLavie won a singing part in a school variety show at age 10. Lavie's older brothers Michael, a hip hop dancer, and Danny, a disk jockey known around Montréal as DJ Devious, were her family musical inspirations. She said she listened devotedly to Mariah Carey.By age 16 she toured Canada as a backup singer with the French-Canadian hip hop group Dubmatique, performing before thousands. For years the demo CD passed from hand to hand in the music industry. Meanwhile, Lavie worked on the fringes of the music industry, including co-owning and managing Harmony Karaoke in Montréal in 2002. In 2004 her demo CD reached songwriter-producer Ben Margulies, a co-producer of Mariah Carey's first album. Margulies was struck by what he called Lavie initially thought "I heard something really special in her voice... I said, fly out here right away." Lavie later wrote Lavie developed her songwriting ability, her lyrics said to be based on her own life experiences. Lavie is listed as songwriter/composer on all songs of what was to become her first album, including solo songwriter/composer on three tracks. Lavie placed songs on the soundtracks of the 2006 motion pictures Stick It starring Jeff Bridges (Lavie's original song "If I Only Knew") and The Guardian starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher (Lavie's version of "Mockingbird"). In August, 2006, Lavie signed as a songwriter/publisher with the performing rights organization Broadcast Music, Incorporated (BMI), formalizing her entry into the profession. She was featured in the "Hitmakers" section of BMI MusicWorld Magazine in spring of 2007. Lavie "attend(ed) the 56th annual BMI Pop Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on May 20, 2008 in Beverly Hills, California," and "attend(ed) the 2008 Spirit of Life Award dinner honoring Doug Morris on October 15, 2008 in Santa Monica, California." Even after the movie soundtrack vocals, a career breakthrough remained elusive, relying on personal contacts and networking in media and record labels. Lavie later characterized praises from industry executives as enthusiastic but non-committal, leading Lavie and Margulies to pursue independent production of a first album.
Creating her own buzzIn March, 2007, Lavie opened an account on the video sharing website YouTube, loosely mirrored by her MySpace page. She said She initially posted non-studio videos Lavie said she responded personally to so many viewer comments that she said she developed carpal tunnel syndrome requiring the wrist brace visible in her ET Canada interview.Lavie's responses to viewers backfired on September 11, 2007. YouTube software interpreted her many replies to viewer comments as computer bot-generated spam, and automatically suspended her account. Her YouTube fans initiated an online petition campaign, Four years in the making, Lavie's "Everything or Nothing" video received over 500,000 views in its first half-week. The album reached as high as #20 on the iTunes pop chart, and #70 on the iTunes overall music chart, at a time when Lavie had no backing or promotion by a record label but about 20,000 YouTube subscribers. Two summers after the May 2008 release of Everything or Nothing, subscribers to Lavie's YouTube channel exceeded 183,000 (August 2010). Lavie is credited and a role impersonating television personality Kendra Wilkinson in a series of spoofs of the "Kendra" reality television series, both with YouTube personality and impressionist Iman Crosson. In February 2010, Lavie conceived, organized, performed in, and with Iman Crosson, co-edited, the musical collaboration video "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)" for charity relief of victims of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake. Lavie's video, a collaboration of 57 unsigned or independent YouTube musicians, was a cover of We Are the World, produced in 1985 for African famine relief. Lavie's video was posted as a video response to the celebrity remake, We Are the World 25 for Haiti, which had been released eight days before. Receiving its first half-million views on YouTube in two days, Lavie's video became the subject of worldwide media attention, including multiple features on CNN, and a primetime news feature on ABC World News with Diane Sawyer in which the video's contributors were named ABC News' "Persons of the Week" for the week ending March 19, 2010. Before the television feature, Lavie had explained In July 2010, three days after performing at the Festival du Bonheur (Happiness Festival) charity event in Québec province,
On tourOn September 13, 2010, Yanni's official website introduced Lavie as one of two vocalists to accompany Yanni and his orchestra, days before the opening of a South American tour to Santiago (Chile), Buenos Aires (Argentina), São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (both in Brazil).Auditions were said to be "the deciding factor" in Yanni's choosing the two vocalists, who together performed "Aria" and "Niki Nana" (translation: "We Are One"). that her Everything or Nothing album was named in part based on her refusal to compromise her artistic standards, that if a label wanted to sign her it would have to accept her, everything or nothing. Still later, Lavie reaffirmed "Labels have been showing interest but until the right deal comes along and it's the perfect fit, I'm going to keep on doing my thing and creating my own destiny." Lavie said she has been courted by record companies, but that "It's a very tricky position to be in. If you go with a major label, (at) any time you could be shelved if the president or A&R; person who signed you, leaves (the company)." Everything or Nothing was classified in the iTunes pop genre. In 2007 Lavie mentioned Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men & Brian McKnight, to whom she listened while growing up, as being "definite influences on (her) music and vocal style," She also said she considers Alicia Keys "brilliant" and "feel(s) that our song-writing styles would mesh really well." The "We Are the World 25 for Haiti (YouTube Edition)" collaboration followed her January 16, 2010 "Altar Call (Haiti)" solo singing video for Haiti relief. Lavie performed at the Festival du Bonheur (Happiness Festival) in her native province Québec for the "Happy Well-Being Foundation" that "gives grants to encourage athletic projects, literature, organic agriculture and artists."
DiscographyStick It (Original Soundtrack) (p) Touchstone Pictures (on iTunes April 4, 2006)7. If I Only Knew The Guardian (Original Soundtrack) (p) Hollywood Records (on iTunes September 12, 2006) 5. The Mockingbird Everything or Nothing (p) Boundary Entertainment (on iTunes May 13, 2008) # Save Your Breath # Maple Leafs # You Walked Away # Everything Or Nothing # I Remember When # Angel # Interlude # Falling For You # I See You Staring # If I Only Knew # Find Me An Angel # Can't Sleep At Night # Only Heaven Will Know
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External links(mainly music videos) (for blog videos, video responses, etc.) (shared with actor-impressionist Iman Crosson).
Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian female singers Category:Canadian singer-songwriters Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Canadian mezzo-sopranos Category:Musicians from Quebec Category:People from LaSalle, Montreal Category:Rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Category:YouTube video producers Category:Canadian expatriates in the United States Category:Canadian Internet personalities This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community. Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress and popular singer, and was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She performed as a vocalist in venues such as the Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater. In 1954, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Carmen Jones, and, in 1959, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Porgy and Bess. In 1999, she was the subject of the HBO biopic Introducing Dorothy Dandridge. She has been recognized on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Dandridge was married and divorced twice, first to dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas (the father of her daughter, Harolyn Suzanne) and then to Jack Denison. Dandridge died of an accidental drug overdose, at the age of 42.
Early life and CareerDorothy Jean Dandridge was born in Cleveland Ohio's City Hospital on November 9, 1922. Her mother was an aspiring actress named Ruby Dandridge. Ruby had walked out on Dorothy's father, Cyrus, five months previous to Dorothy's birth taking her first child, Vivian, with her. Cyrus still lived with his mother and Ruby had come to the conclusion that he would never amount to anything and she resented the fact that they did not have their own home.Ruby was pleased to see that both of her daughters displayed a great talent for memorizing poetry and singing. A friend of Ruby named Geneva Williams soon moved in with them and Geneva became instrumental in teaching the girls singing, dancing and piano.As the talents of Dorothy and Vivian improved, Ruby and Geneva began to plan a future for themselves that they hoped would bring them fame and security. The girls would now be called The Wonder Children and they would be their ticket. They moved to Nashville and The Wonder Children were signed with the National Baptist Convention to tour churches throughout the southern states The Wonder Children proved successful and they spent three years on the road. To Dorothy and Vivian, their act became tiring and tedious. Long hours were spent rehearsing as Geneva demanded perfection. The sisters had little time for fun and games and the usual activities that girls their age enjoyed. As for education, they were tutored, but education took a back seat to their work. The girls also learned about the harsh realities of racism that was at its worst in the south. The Great Depression put a halt to The Wonder Children tour and Ruby planned what they would do next. She had wisely studied films and intuitively felt that their future would be in Hollywood. They settled into a house on Fortura Street and Dorothy and Vivian were enrolled in Hooper Street School and a dancing school for afternoon classes. In the meantime, Ruby was using her vivacious personality to gain a foothold in the Hollywood community. Dorothy and Vivian made friends at the dancing school with a girl named Etta Jones. They would sing together with Geneva at the piano and Ruby decided that the three girls would make a terrific singing trio. With the help of black agent Ben Carter, the girls found work at various theaters in southern California. Their reputation grew and The Dandridge Sisters, as they were known known, landed their first big break when they received an uncredited cameo in the film The Big Broadcast of 1936. Subsequent small film roles followed until the summer of 1938 when their manager informed them that he had booked them in the prestigious Cotton Clu Wonder Children ty.
After the Wonder Children and The Cotton ClubGeneva and the girls moved to New York. Ruby was forming a successful career for herself as a character actress so she remained in Hollywood. On the first day of rehearsals at the Cotton Club, Dorothy met Harold Nicholas, who with his brother, Fayard Nicholas made up the famous Nicholas Brothers dancing team. Dorothy was almost 16 at the time, and she caught the eye of Harold Nicholas- much to Geneva's dismay.The Dandridge Sisters were a hit in The Cotton Club and the critics gave them glowing reviews. Their success earned them another exciting engagement - they would tour in Europe. Again, the girls received good reviews but their tour was cut short by the advent of World War II. The girls returned to Hollywood, where ironically The Nicholas Brothers were filming Down Argentine Way. Dorothy and Harold resumed dating. The Dandridge Sisters played a few more engagements but they eventually split up due in part to Dorothy's increasing desire to have a solo career.
Budding Film Career, Marriage to Harold Nicholas and Birth of HarolynDorothy had aspirations to succeed on her own and in the fall of 1940, her prospects looked promising. She landed a small but significant role in a low budget film called Four Shall Die. She then went on to small parts in Lady From Louisiana and Sundown. She was teamed with the Nicholas Brothers for a lively rendition of "Chattanooga Choo Choo" in the film Sun Valley Serenade. Dorothy wanted desperately to be a film actress but she adamantly refused to portray stereotypical black roles such as maids.Both Dorothy and Vivian worked steadily on their own but they longed to break free from Ruby and Geneva. In 1942, both sisters married. It would be Vivian's first of many marriages but Dorothy dreamed of having a fairytale marriage that would last. On September 6, 1942, she married Harold Nicholas at the home of Harold's mother. The couple bought a beautiful house not far from Harold's mother. After a lifetime of non-stop hard work and striving to please others, Dorothy decided that she could be perfectly happy leading a quiet home life. She proved to be the 1940's image of the ideal wife - she was an excellent cook and their home was beautifully decorated and always immaculate. She was also a wonderful hostess and they often had small parties and dinners. Dorothy became very good friends with her sister-in-law, Geri Branton. Harold Nicholas, on the other hand, did not prove to be the ideal husband. He spend most of his free time on the golf course and eventually he started seeing other women. Dorothy blamed her lack of sexual experience for Harold's wanderings. When she became pregnant, she hoped that their child was keep Harold at home. A daughter, Lynn (short for Harolyn), was born on September 2, 1943. Dorothy appeared in a brief scene in David O. Selznick's Since You Went Away and as a singer in Pillow to Post in 1944 but she mostly devoted her time to her daughter Lynn. By the time Lynn was two, however, Dorothy could not help but notice that Lynn was not acting normally. She was a very hyper child who cried incessantly. She was not learning to talk and worse, she acted as though she did not recognize those around her. Dorothy was determined to find out what was wrong with Lynn and took her to every doctor she could find. All of them could give her no answer except to say that Lynn was retarded. Harold was often on the road touring and he did not offer much solace. Dorothy, with her marriage a shambles and a daughter who was getting out of control, began to see a therapist. In 1949, Dorothy informed Harold that their marriage was over. Ruby and Geneva agreed to look after Lynn while Dorothy tried to re-establish her career. She still wanted to act in films but she realized that that possibility was slim. She did not relish the thought of returning to nightclubs, but felt that she had little other choice. She met with Phil Moore, an arranger she had worked with while in The Dandridge Sisters, and he was optimistic about working with her again. Phil Moore helped Dorothy with her songs and image. The result was a smoldering and sexy Dorothy that left audiences mesmerized. Their act was booked in clubs throughout southern California and in Las Vegas. Dorothy hated doing the nightclubs, especially in Las Vegas where racism was almost as bad as in the south. She was only allowed to do her act and was forbidden to talk with patrons or use any of the hotel facilities such as the elevator, lobby, swimming pool or bath rooms. Her dressing room was often an office or a storage room. The nightclub reviews were very good and gave her the much needed publicity that would help her get film work in Hollywood. She was offered the role of Melmendi in Tarzan's Peril in 1951. Dorothy first balked at playing a jungle queen but after reading the script she didn't think it was that bad. Next up, she played an athlete's girlfriend in the low budget but successful The Harlem Globetrotters. She returned to the nightclub scene in May of 1951 and opened in Hollywood's top club, The Mocambo. This very successful appearance led to offers to appear in Paris (Cafe de Paris), New York (La Vie en Rose) as well as numerous guest television appearances. She was the first black woman to perform at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. MGM planned to make an all black drama called Bright Road, which was based on a short story by Mary Elizabeth Vronam and dealt with a young schoolteacher's experiences in Alabama. Dorothy enthusiastically accepted the role and filming began in August of 1952. Her co-star was another up and coming actor named Harry Belafonte. They become very close friends. The filming of Bright Road was very rewarding to Dorothy but heartbreaking as well. She was constantly reminded of Lynn, who was now being kept by a family friend named Helen Calhoun. Dorothy resumed her nightclub act and she also began to date again. She had brief affairs with Gerald Mayer (director of Bright Road), the actor Peter Lawford, and a millionaire from Rio de Janeiro whom she met while playing there. Bright Road opened in April of 1953 to good reviews. Dorothy, especially, got good notices. There was a role just over the horizon that Dorothy had been dreaming of for many years, and Dorothy was determined to get it.
Stardom and Carmen JonesLeading roles for black actors in Hollywood were very scarce so when Dorothy heard that an all black production of Carmen Jones was being planned, she knew this was the role she had dreamed of. Carmen Jones was an Americanized version of the Bizet opera with new lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein. The lead character, Carmen, is a sultry vixen whose independent inclinations to love her men and then leave them lead to her violent demise.The project was the mastermind of Austrian director Otto Preminger. Preminger was a director who liked to take risks and he was not afraid of controversy. The previous year, he had openly defied the Production Code by filming the controversial play The Moon Is Blue and he left the racy dialog intact. When the Production Board refused to give him a rating of approval, Preminger released the film without it. Preminger also could see that black actors were underused and not given the chance to show their full potential and he wanted to do something about it. Preminger also had a reputation of being a tyrant on the set and he was often brutal with his actors. Dorothy arranged a meeting with Preminger to discuss Carmen Jones. He knew her from her work in Bright Road and when she came to his office, he was under the impression that she was interested in the part of Cindy Lou, the sweet demure girlfriend of Harry Belafonte at the start of the film. When Dorothy informed him that she was only interested in the role of Carmen, Preminger told her that she was not right for the part. Dorothy was furious but determined to change his mind. She bought a wig, a skirt and a low cut blouse that she wore off the shoulder. She met with Preminger again and he could not believe the transformation. He had found his Carmen. Almost immediately, however, Dorothy had doubts about her own ability to play the part. This time it was Preminger's turn to convince her that she could do it. Dorothy cooked him his favorite dinner of cold steak and cucumbers and after dinner one thing lead to another. It would be the start of a long and troubled relationship. The filming of Carmen Jones progressed smoothly. Both Dorothy and Belafonte were disappointed to learn that their voices would be dubbed for the singing sequences. Carmen Jones was released in November of 1954 and it was a resounding success. Dorothy was all over the media. She appeared on the cover of the November 1, 1954 issue of Life, photographed as Carmen by Philippe Halsman. The next few months would be a whirlwind round of premieres, promotions and photo shoots. It was heavily rumored that she would receive an Academy Award nomination. She refused to listen to the gossip but when the nominations were announced in February of 1955, she read her name along with Audrey Hepburn, Jane Wyman, Judy Garland and Grace Kelly. Dorothy Dandridge was the first black woman to be nominated in the category of Best Actress. The buzz in Hollywood for the next month was that the winner would be either Dorothy or Judy Garland. But when the winner was announced in late March, the surprize winner was Grace Kelly for her role in The Country Girl. Dorothy next attended the Cannes Film Festival with Preminger and then returned to the U.S. for more nightclub work as she awaited her next film offer. She did not have to wait long. She was wanted for the role of Tuptim in The King and I. Dorothy did not like the part which she considered nothing more than a slave and was further disappointed to see that it was not the leading role. Preminger advised her not to do it. She turned down the role but her decision would haunt her for the rest of her life. She later felt that her refusal to play Tuptim was the beginning of her downfall in Hollywood. The role was given to Rita Moreno and the film was a huge success. Dorothy's success and fame changed her life tremendously. She bought a beautiful home overlooking Los Angeles and she continued to get lots of publicity. Not all of it was good. In 1957, the infamous tabloid Hollywood Confidential ran a story about an alleged one night stand between Dorothy and a bartender in Lake Tahoe. Dorothy sued them. Fame also affected Dorothy's personal life. She had not heard from her sister Vivian in over two years and she did not know where Vivan was living. She spoke to her mother every day. Ruby Dandridge was a successful character actress and was now living with another woman. Geneva had been shown the door a few years previously and when she came to Dorothy for financial help, she was refused. Dorothy would never forget her beatings from Geneva. It seemed that Dorothy now moved in mostly white circles. Her relationship with Preminger would increasingly become strained due to the fact that he was married and they could not be seen in public together. Dorothy found that white men were especially attracted to her and would go out with her but to most of them, marriage would be out of the question. Most all men, black or white, found Dorothy to be a fascinating woman. In addition to her beauty, she was very intelligent and a wonderful conversationist. She was particularly fascinated by psychology and was constantly reading books about the subject. It would be almost two years following the making of Carmen Jones before Dorothy set foot in front of a movie camera again. Darryl Zanuck wanted her for the role of Margot Seaton in Island In The Sun. Based on the bestselling book, the story dealt with two interracial relationships and was of course highly controversial. The two relationships would involve Dorothy's character and John Justin and between Joan Fontaine and Harry Belafonte. The producers were afraid to go far with the relationships, however, and the film suffered as a result. Dorothy herself protested that her key scene with Justin displayed no intimacy whatsoever despite that it was a love scene. The film was successful upon release due to the controversial theme, but critics dismissed it as being simply boring. Dorothy's next project was an Italian/French production called Tamango which was more daring (Dandridge and Curt Jurgens have some steamy scenes together, on screen and off) but the film was not released in the U.S. until four years later. Today, it is considered a cult classic. In 1959, Samuel Goldwyn announced that he would film George Gershwin's musical Porgy and Bess. The story was highly unpopular with blacks and when Harry Belafonte and Dorothy were approached to star in the lead roles, Belafonte flatly turned it down. He urged Dorothy to do the same. Dorothy did not want to do it but all she could think about was The King and I and the role that she had turned down. She was in a turmoil because here was a big budget Hollywood production. Her past two films (Tamango and The Decks Ran Red) had been low budget foreign productions and it looked as if Hollywood work was slowly eluding her. She reluctantly accepted but the entire shoot was to be an unhappy one. Director Reuben Mamoulain was replaced with none other than Otto Preminger. Their relationship was now over and Preminger was particularly harsh with Dorothy during the filming. His reprimands were often so cruel and embarrassing that she would rush from the set in tears. Sidney Poitier and Sammy Davis, Jr. were her co-stars in the film. Porgy and Bess was not as successful as Carmen Jones and the reviews were mediocre. Dorothy managed to rise above it all, however and won a Golden Globe Award for her performance.
After Carmen and Jack DenisonDorothy's life seemed to unravel in late 1959. First, she met a handsome white restaurant owner named Jack Denison who pursued her relentlessly. Not many people had kind words to describe Denison and most considered him a gold digger. Dorothy, however, basked in his attentions and when he proposed, she accepted. They were married on June 22, 1959.Dorothy was a kind and extremely giving individual and she always wanted to please everyone. When Denison asked her to perform at his restaurant, she agreed. Everyone, including her close friend and former manager, Earl Mills and her friend Geri Branton, felt that this was a terrible mistake. Mills told her that a person of her magnitude should not be performing at a small restaurant. Dorothy would only listen to her husband but unfortunately her friends were right. Denison not only took over Dorothy's career but he attempted to shut out her friends. He was also very abusive and it is known that he beat her. He was only interested in her money and he took it whenever he could. On top of this, an oil investment that Dorothy had entered into with other Hollywood stars turned out to be a scam and Dorothy lost a large amount of money. She had never handled her money very well and she always relied on other people to handle it for her. To alleviate her troubles, she began to drink heavily. After almost two years of abuse, Dorothy finally threw Denison out of her house and filed for a divorce. She hoped that things would begin to get better but they only seemed to escalate. Helen Calhoun, whom Dorothy had been paying handsomely through the years to look after Lynn, returned Lynn when Dorothy could not longer pay her. She agonized over what to do and finally she had to have Lynn committed to a state hospital. On April 26, 1963, she declared bankruptcy. She lost her beautiful home and found a smaller house near her friend Geri Branton. She contacted Earl Mills, who agreed to help her find work again. Dorothy had made one film after Porgy and Bess called Malaga, but it was another low budget feature which came and vanished quickly. She was later cast in a film version of Marco Polo and even shot some scenes before the project went bankrupt. She was then offered the role of a down and out jazz singer for a television series called "Cain's Hundred". The episode, Blue For A Junk Man, concerned a down and out jazz singer who is trying to restore her life after serving time in jail on drug charges. The role had many fine dramatic moments. Other scenes were shot so that a feature length version could be shown in Europe. The film version was titled The Murder Men.
Health and Later LifeDorothy continued to drink heavily and she would call various friends at night and talk for hours about everything that was going on in her life. She was a very lonely woman and she often sounded disoriented. She was given a prescription antidepressant drug which seemed to lift her spirits. She did get nightclub work again but many critics noticed that her performances did not contain the magic that they once held.Earl Mills worked with Dorothy to help her regain her health and put together another nightclub act. She attended a health spa in Mexico and then began a series of nightclub engagements in Mexico and Japan. She was scheduled to play again in New York but she sprained her ankle which resulted in a fracture in her foot.
Tragic DeathOn the morning of September 8, 1965, Dorothy had an appointment to have a cast put on her foot. Earl Mills called her early but she asked that he reschedule the appointment for later so that she could sleep a few more hours. Mills tried calling again later in the morning but he could get no answer. He went to Dorothy's apartment but he could not get in. He returned around 2 pm and finally forced his way in. He found Dorothy lying dead on the bathroom floor. She was nude except for a blue scarf around her head.A few months earlier, Dorothy had given Earl a note which read "In case of my death - to whomever discovers it - don't remove anything I have on - scarf, gown or underwear. Cremate me right away. If I have anything, money, furniture, give it to my mother Ruby Dandridge. She will know what to do. Dorothy Dandridge." Her death was first attributed to a blood clot caused by the fracture in her foot but an autopsy revealed that she had died of an overdose of Tofranil, the antidepressant that she was taking. Whether the overdose was accidental or intentional remains a mystery to this day. Dorothy was cremated and buried at the Little Church of the Flowers at Forest Lawn.
Personal lifeDandridge married dancer and entertainer Harold Nicholas on September 6, 1942, and gave birth to her only child, Harolyn Suzanne Nicholas, on September 2, 1943. Harolyn was born brain-damaged, and the couple divorced in October 1951.Dandridge married Jack Denison on June 22, 1959, although the pair divorced amid allegations of domestic violence and financial setbacks. At this time, Dandridge discovered that the people who were handling her finances had swindled her out of $150,000, and that she was $139,000 in debt for back taxes. Forced to sell her Hollywood home and to place her daughter in a state mental institution in Camarillo, California, Dandridge moved into a small apartment at 8495 Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood, California. Alone and without any acting roles or singing engagements on the horizon, Dandridge suffered a nervous breakdown. Shortly thereafter, Earl Mills started arranging her comeback. Her mother, Ruby Dandridge died in 1987. Cyril Dandridge died in 1989. Vivian Dandridge died in 1991. Dorothy's daughter, Harolyn, still lives in a California institution. LegacyMany years passed before the entertainment industry acknowledged Dandridge's legacy. Starting in the 1980s, stars such as Cicely Tyson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Halle Berry, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Angela Bassett (who are all African-American women) acknowledged Dandridge's contributions to the role of blacks in film.In 1999, Halle Berry took the lead role of Dandridge in the HBO Movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, for which she won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. When Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster's Ball, she dedicated the "moment [to] Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll." For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Dorothy Dandridge has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 671 Hollywood Boulevard.
Selected filmography{|class "wikitable" |- ! Movie title ! Role ! Motes |- | The Big Broadcast of 1936 | Member of the Dandridge Sisters | |- | 1936 | Easy to Take | Member of the Dandridge Sisters | Uncredited |- | 1937 | It Can't Last Forever | Dandridge Sisters Act | Uncredited |- | 1937 | A Day at the Races | Black singer | Uncredited |- | 1938 | Going Places | Member of The Dandridge Sisters | Uncredited |- | 1938 | Snow Gets in Your Eyes | Member of The Dandridge Sisters | Uncredited |- | 1940 | Irene | Member of the Dandridge Sisters | Uncredited |- | 1940 | Four Shall Die | Helen Fielding | Alternative title: Condemned Men |- | 1941 | Bahama Passage | Thalia | |- | 1941 | Sundown | Kipsang's bride | Uncredited |- | 1941 | Sun Valley Serenade | Specialty act | |- | 1941 | Lady from Louisiana | Felice | Alternative title: Lady from New Orleans |- | 1942 | Lucky Jordan | Hollyhock school maid | Uncredited |- | 1942 | Night in New Orleans | Sal, Shadrach's girl | Uncredited |- | 1942 | The Night Before the Divorce | Maid | Uncredited |- | 1942 | Ride 'Em Cowboy | Congoroo | Uncredited |- | 1942 | Drums of the Congo | Princess Malimi | |- | 1943 | Hit Parade of 1943 | Count Basie Band Singer | Alternative title: Change of Heart |- | 1943 | Happy Go Lucky | Chorine | Uncredited |- | 1944 | Since You Went Away | Black Officer's wife in train station | Uncredited |- | 1944 | Atlantic City | Singer | Alternative title: Atlantic City Honeymoon |- | 1951 | The Harlem Globetrotters | Ann Carpenter | |- | 1951 | Tarzan's Peril | Melmendi, Queen of the Ashuba | |- | 1952 | Cavalcade of Stars | Guest Vocalist | 1 episode |- | 1953 | Bright Road | Jane Richards | |- | 1954 | Carmen Jones | Carmen Jones | Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActressNomination — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role |- | 1957 | Island in the Sun | Margot Seaton | |- | 1958 | The Decks Ran Red | Mahia | Alternative title: La Rivolta dell'esperanza |- | 1958 | Tamango | Aiché, Reiker's mistress | |- | 1959 | Porgy and Bess | Bess | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- | 1960 | Moment of Danger | Gianna | Alternative title: Malaga |- | 1961 | The Murder Men | Norma Sherman | Archive footage |- | 1962 | Cain's Hundred | Norma Sherman | 1 episode |}
Stage Work
RecordingsDandridge first gained fame as a solo artist from her performances in nightclubs, usually accompanied by Phil Moore on piano. As well-known as she became from renditions of songs such as "Blow Out the Candle", "You Do Something To Me", and "Talk Sweet Talk To Me", she recorded very little on vinyl. Whether it was because of personal choice or lack of opportunity is unknown.In 1940, as part of the Dandridge Sisters singing group, Dandridge recorded four songs with the Jimmy Lunceford band:
Footnotes
References
External linksCategory:Accidental deaths in California Category:Actors from Ohio Category:African American actors Category:African American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American female singers Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Drug-related deaths in California Category:English-language singers Category:People from Cleveland, Ohio Category:Traditional pop music singers Category:1922 births Category:1965 deaths Category:Our Gang This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community. |