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Louis Armstrong was seven when he started working.
The greatest American jazz musician, Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), was born and raised in the "birthplace of jazz," New Orleans. His neighborhood was nicknamed the "Battlefield" because of frequent fighting between gangs. Louis's father abandoned his mother, Mayann, soon after he was born. Louis spent the first years of his life in his grandmother's home. Eventually, he was returned to his mother and his little sister Beatrice. When Louis turned seven, he worked before and after school collecting used bottles and rags and delivering coal for the Karnofsky family.

How did Louis begin to learn music?
Louis loved all kinds of music. While Louis rode through the streets with the Karnofskys, he could hear the music from nearby dance halls, parties and bars. With the Karnofskys's help, he bought an old, beaten up cornet (a type of trumpet) so he could learn how to play an instrument himself.

Louis dropped out of school in third grade.
When Louis was in third grade, he dropped out of school and stopped working for the Karnofskys. He spent his days roaming the streets with other boys. He led a vocal quartet on the street to get money to help his family. In 1913, police took him to a home for troubled boys. There, Louis the talked the band director into letting him be a member of the band.

Louis became leader of the band.
After practicing on the bugle, Louis quickly learned the cornet. Everyone began to notice Louis's talent. When he was 13, Louis was released from the boy's home. He spent the next few years selling newspapers and unloading bananas from boats to earn money for his family. When Louis had free time, he went to listen to local bands and landed a few gigs playing the blues.

Louis became a professional musician.
A famous cornet player, Joe "King" Oliver, admired Louis's talent and enthusiasm. Oliver became a mentor to Louis and in return Louis ran errands and did small jobs for Oliver. When Oliver left to play in Chicago, Louis began performing on steamboats. For the next three summers, Louis played his cornet for a strict bandleader that required him to learn how to read music and play light classical pieces. This training helped Louis become a professional musician. On the steamboat, he got paid fifty dollars a week to support his family-more than he had ever been able to earn working other jobs. In 1922, four years after King Oliver left, he invited Louis to perform with his band in Chicago. Louis was delighted to play up North with such talented musicians. He played his cornet in King Oliver's Creole Band for the next two years.

Louis moved to New York.
New York City was the center of jazz. Many artists flocked there to build their careers. A famous New York bandleader, Fletcher Henderson, heard Louis in New Orleans in 1922, and asked him to join his band. Louis refused, but Henderson tried again in 1924, and this time Louis agreed, so he left Oliver's band to move to New York for the first time. His innovative and energetic playing captured the New York jazz scene. No one else could play like Louis --he could hit the highest notes effortlessly and capture audiences with his solos.

Louis made his first recording.
After spending one year in New York, playing with Fletcher Henderson's band and recording with many great artists, Louis returned to Chicago. It was there that in 1926, Louis made the first recording under his own name. His band was called The Hot Five. It was around this time that he switched from playing cornet to the trumpet.

Louis could use his voice like an instrument.
Once, during the recording session, he dropped his lyrics on the floor. The record producer encouraged Louis to keep on singing without the lyrics so he sang the chorus in nonsense syllables and improvised sound with perfect timing--otherwise known as "scat singing." He used his voice like an instrument, a practice he learned singing in his boys quartet in New Orleans. Louis's scat singing was recorded in his song, "Heebie Jeebies." The unpredictable rhythms of Louis voice inspired other artists to try scat singing. Soon it became a hot trend among jazz musicians and even non-jazz singers. Louis became the most influential singer of the 20th century.

Louis became the greatest jazz musician in the world.
His records made him very famous, and when he moved back to New York in 1929, bandleaders everywhere wanted Louis to join their orchestras. He performed on Broadway, played in movies, recorded music, and gained international fame. Louis was an all round performer. He was a singer, master of the trumpet, and even danced in musicals. Louis traveled the world, dedicating his life to bringing joy to people through his music.

Photo courtesy of Paul Hoeffer

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Jazz . Jazz Greats . Louis Armstrong | PBS KIDS GO!

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Louis Armstrong was seven when he started working. The greatest American jazz musician, Louis Armstrong (1901-1971), was born and raised in the "birthplace of jazz," New Orleans. His neighborhood was nicknamed the "Battlefield" because of frequent fighting between gangs. Louis's father abandoned his mother, Mayann, soon after he was born.

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Billie Holiday had a tough childhood.
Billie Holiday (1915-1959) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She was placed in the care of her grandparents and an older cousin while her mother left to work in New York City. Her father, a banjo and guitar player, left his family to tour with a jazz band. Billie's relatives abused and neglected her. With little help from the grown-ups around her, Billie had to start working. She ran errands and cleaned apartments for people in her neighborhood.

Billie moved to New York.
Billie went to New York to live with her mother-but her mother had other plans. She moved Billie to a room in an apartment house where she was once again left to fend for herself. Billie ran into some trouble with the law and had to spend a few months in jail. When Billie was released she knew she had to earn more money to survive and she started singing in clubs. When she was fifteen, she had to sing the same songs over and over again for customers. To keep the music interesting, Billie changed her voice and timing slightly while repeating the same lyrics. She claimed that she never liked to sing a song the same way twice. She loved the styles of Louis Armstrong and the great blues singer Bessie Smith, and learned to use her voice like an instrument, a skill that helped her attract the attention of talented jazz bandleaders.

Billie tried to be a dancer.
Billie tried to be a dancer in a Harlem nightclub but was turned down by the owner. After the audition, she sang a blues tune while she was getting ready to leave. The nightclub owner heard her singing and he hired her to sing for the club. This was a step in the right direction for Billie because many musicians wanted to perform in Harlem's hot jazz scene.

Billie became a jazz singer.
Billie got a record deal with Vocalion Records. In 1935, she began making a series of recordings with Teddy Wilson, a talented jazz pianist. She made records with him and other musicians over the next six years and recorded many popular songs. Other singers may have had a wider range and stronger projection than Billie, but her combination of an instrumental approach and her special feeling made her unique. Her artistry was in her timing and soulful performances.

Billie went on the road.
After making a name for herself, Billie toured with the Count Basie orchestra for a year. Then in 1938, she went on the road with Artie Shaw's all-white band. While touring in the south, Billie would have to stay on the bus while the band went to whites-only restaurants. These times were hard on Billie and she stopped touring to begin a solo career.

Billie managed to make beautiful music despite her personal struggles.
Although her early recordings are full of life and joy, by her 30's Billie suffered from depression and mood swings. Her personal problems worsened when she became addicted to drugs and alcohol. As Billie tried to recover from her addiction, she had a comeback period during the mid-1950s. She performed at Carnegie Hall (a legendary, New York concert hall) and toured in Europe. She always made beautiful music and made many great recordings in spite of her physical and emotional problems. Sadly, Billie was never able to overcome her drug addiction. Her health began to fail and Billie died when she was 45 years old.

Photo courtesy of Frank Driggs

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Jazz . Jazz Greats . Billie Holiday | PBS KIDS GO!

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Billie Holiday had a tough childhood. Billie Holiday (1915-1959) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She was placed in the care of her grandparents and an older cousin while her mother left to work in New York City. Her father, a banjo and guitar player, left his family to tour with a jazz band.

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Who was Duke Ellington?
Duke Ellington (1899-1974) is America's greatest composer. Duke led an orchestra, played piano and composed over 2000 pieces of music.

How did Duke get his nickname?
Duke began his life as Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C.. He was nicknamed by a classmate who admired him. This royal nickname was appropriate for Duke because of his elegant and proud manner. Even as a child, Duke had fans.

As a child, Duke disliked his piano lessons.
Duke's parents enrolled him in lessons when he was in grade school. He dreaded his lessons and preferred to play baseball instead. His parents insisted that Duke practice piano basics everyday. He grew bored with practicing the same tunes and quit his lessons. Duke didn't become interested in learning piano again until he was a teenager.

Duke Ellington was attracted to girls and they were attracted to piano players.
He often joked that he learned to play the piano to attract girls. While washing dishes for his summer job, Duke met a waiter who invited him to go see ragtime pianist, Harvey Brooks. Duke loved the way Brooks expressed himself through his music. Brooks played ragtime in a way that did not follow the rules of classical piano--he had freedom to change the rules and express himself more freely. Duke discovered that he wanted to make his own music too and taught himself how to play piano like Brooks. He practiced until his fingers could fly and even arranged melodies as he played.

Duke began his career performing at his high school dances.
Soon Duke began playing for his high school dances. He even composed his own songs like "Soda Fountain Rag." When he was 19, he started playing at parties, dance halls and other venues. He liked to wear flashy clothes and slick his hair back to impress the ladies in the audience.

How did Duke become a bandleader and composer?
Duke then moved to New York where performers were in demand. There, he played in different jazz clubs, saloons and dance halls. Soon he was leading his own band, the Washingtonians at The Kentucky Club, located in Times Square. Even at this early stage, musicians and music critics were noticing that Ellington's music was different. In 1927, after getting a gig at the Cotton Club, the hottest jazz spot in Harlem, he began to produce sophisticated arrangements of his own.

Duke's music impressed audiences all over the world.
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra played at the Cotton Club for eleven years, though the band took off frequently to tour around the country, and to make movies in Hollywood. Audiences tuned in nightly to listen to live broadcasts of the band on the radio. His years at the club led to a long, successful career. Duke toured the world with his orchestra and composed thousands of songs.

Duke was a brilliant composer and musician.
Duke had his own series of Carnegie Hall concerts starting in 1943 and wrote some his best music for them. They were known as his "extended compositions", which means that they were much longer (sometimes 45 minutes) than most of his other music. Some people have said that his orchestra was his instrument because of the original and beautiful music he composed for it, but he always remained a great jazz piano player.

Duke earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In addition to writing jazz songs, he also composed ballets, musicals, film scores, and more. In 1969, President Nixon gave Ellington a 70th birthday party at The White House, and honored Duke by giving him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This honor was fitting for a man whose maintained a career for half a century based on self-expression, integrity and individuality.

Photo courtesy of Frank Driggs

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Jazz . Jazz Greats . Duke Ellington | PBS KIDS GO!

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Who was Duke Ellington? Duke Ellington (1899-1974) is America's greatest composer. Duke led an orchestra, played piano and composed over 2000 pieces of music. How did Duke get his nickname? Duke began his life as Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington, D.C.. He was nicknamed by a classmate who admired him.

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Look through a new lens with our collection of documentary films from Ken Burns.

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Tito Puente is the face of Latin music for many people. His showmanship, musical talent, and dedication to performing kept him in the spotlight from his early performances in the 1940s until his death in 2000. He was born in 1923 in Spanish Harlem to parents who were both Puerto Rican immigrants. The sounds of Puerto Rican and Cuban music filled his childhood and influenced his music, as did the big band sounds he loved to listen to on the radio. His early interest in drumming prompted noise complaints from his family's neighbors, who begged his mother to get Tito lessons.

Puente's talent blossomed with his drumming lessons, and in the '40s he joined the Machito Orchestra when their drummer was drafted for World War II. This was his big break, and Puente played with them until he was also drafted into the Navy. After the war, Puente went to the Julliard School of Music on the G.I. Bill to study music and orchestration, and in 1948 he formed his own band and began developing his distinctive performance style.

Tito Puente was known for his blending of Latin and jazz sounds, for placing percussion in the spotlight, and for celebrating the music with dancing and joy during his performances. His band became a regular sound at the Palladium Ballroom, where the Tito Puente Orchestra packed in the crowds and helped popularize mambo. Over the years he became known as "El Rey," the king of mambo music, and he collaborated with many other major performers, including Celia Cruz. Puente began recording with RCA Victor in the 1950s. He continued to record, collaborate, and perform for the next several decades. In the 1990s, he played himself in the movie, Mambo Kings, which helped drive a renewed awareness of his music. When he died at age 77, he was still regularly performing.

Tito Puente's legacy has been recognized in many ways. He received five Grammy Awards during his lifetime, as well as a posthumus Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; among other honors, he also received honorary degrees, presidential recognition, and the Key to New York City.

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Tito Puente is the face of Latin music for many people.... Learn more

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Bio

Teddy Wilson was one of the swing era's finest pianists, a follower of Earl Hines' distinctive "trumpetstyle" piano playing. Wilson forged his own unique approach from Hines' influence, as well as from the styles of Art Tatum and Fats Waller. He was a truly orchestral pianist who engaged the complete range of his instrument, and he did it all in a slightly restrained, wholly dignified manner at the keyboard.

Raised in Tuskegee, Alabama, Wilson studied piano at nearby Talladega College for a short time. Among his first professional experiences were Chicago stints in the bands of Jimmie Noone and Louis Armstrong. In 1933, he moved to New York to join Benny Carter's band known as the Chocolate Dandies, and made records with the Willie Bryant band during 1934-35. In 1936, he became a member of Benny Goodman's regular trio, which included drummer Gene Krupa, and remained until 1939, participating on a number of Goodman's small group recordings. Wilson was the first African- American musician to work with Goodman, one of the first bandleaders to integrate a jazz band. Wilson later appeared as himself in the cinematic treatment of The Benny Goodman Story.

During his time with Goodman, Wilson made some of his first recordings as a leader. These records featured such greats as Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald. Wilson's arrangements with Holiday in particular constitute some of the singer's finest work, mostly due to Wilson's ability to find the right sound to complement Holiday's voice and singing style.

Following his Goodman days, Wilson led his own big band for a short time, but most of his work came with his own small groups, particularly a sextet that played regularly at the famous Cafe Society in New York. In 1946, he was a staff musician at CBS Radio, and also conducted his own music school. During the early 1950s, he taught at the Juilliard School, one of the first jazz musicians to do so. Wilson's relationship with Goodman was his most noted, and was an ongoing factor in his work. He was part of Goodman's storied Soviet tour in 1962, and continued to work occasional festival gigs with the clarinetist.
Selected Discography
1934-35, Classics, 1934-35
Benny Goodman, The Complete Small Group Recordings, RCA, 1935-39
Masters of Jazz, Vol. 11, Storyville, 1968-80
With Billie in Mind, Chiaroscuro, 1972
Runnin' Wild, Black Lion, 1973

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1986 NEA Jazz Master Teddy Wilson was one of the swing era's finest pianists, a follower of Earl Hines' distinctive "trumpetstyle" piano playing.

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Benny Goodman (1909-1986) was born in Chicago's toughest neighborhood, The Maxwell Street Ghetto.
His Jewish parents, David and Dora Goodman, left Russia to escape the pogroms (attacks on people of Jewish heritage). They immigrated to America to find a better life. David Goodman had a career as a tailor in Russia but had to do hard labor in Chicago's stockyards and slaughterhouses. Benny was the 9th of the Goodman's 12 children. They were an extremely poor family with hardly enough money to afford rent.

Life in the ghetto was tough.
In the ghetto, the streets were dirty and overcrowded. Street gangs battled each other and there was crime everywhere. His family moved from one apartment to another when rent got too high. Sometimes there was no heat, and food was hard to buy. Benny and his eleven brothers and sisters were often hungry and cold.

Playing music was a way to earn extra money for Benny's family.
David Goodman wanted his sons to help earn extra money for the family by playing music like some other neighborhood kids. He took Benny and his two brothers to join the local synagogue's band. Benny received his first training there. Soon he was able to outplay his brothers and the other students in the band. When the synagogue could no longer afford to sponsor the band, David Goodman took his children to the Hull House, a charity organization, to continue their musical training. His father saw Benny's unstoppable talent and he struggled to pay fifty cents a week so Benny could have private lessons with classical musician, Franz Schoepp. He also played duets with another of Schoepp's students, the black clarinetist Buster Bailey, who later played with Louis Armstrong. David Goodman wanted Benny to have a well-paid future as a musician. Music was a way for Benny to avoid a life of hard labor and poverty.

Benny practiced, practiced, practiced...
Benny practiced his clarinet three to four hours everyday. Self-improvement was a way for him to get out of the ghetto. Throughout his career, he maintained a strict practice schedule. Benny was a perfectionist - - he wanted his music to be flawless.

Then came jazz.
Chicago in the 1920s had an exciting jazz scene. Louis Armstrong performed there with other influential musicians. Their performances inspired Benny to play jazz. During the roaring twenties, if a musician could play jazz and improvise (make up music as he played along) it was easier to get jobs playing at parties and dance halls. Benny knew his instrument so well -- he was able to start playing jazz to earn money.

At 14, Benny began to play as a professional musician.
Benny used to imitate a comedian named Ted Lewis, who also played clarinet and had a very popular band. This led to jobs playing in dance bands. He started earning fifteen dollars a night -- more than his father earned in a week. The money helped Benny support his family. Tragically, Benny's father died just as Benny started to make a name for himself, and never knew of his son's great success.

Benny becomes the King of Swing.
At the age of sixteen, Benny joined Ben Pollack's orchestra and traveled with them to California. Later, he went with them to New York, where Benny eventually settled. He moved his whole family from Chicago and supported them during the Depression. After four years, he left Pollack to play on the radio and in recording studios with many different bands. Meanwhile, a new jazz style began to emerge as mainly African American bandleaders transformed the big band style of the 1920s into swing, a lively, uptempo jazz style. He formed his own swing band and went on tour.

Benny captures the attention of the nation.
In August of 1935, Benny and his orchestra began a series of performances at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. This was the turning point in Benny's career. Thousands of enthusiastic, teenage fans flocked to hear Benny and his orchestra perform. Never before had Benny or swing music received that kind of attention from audiences. The media nicknamed him "the King of Swing." In 1937, Benny went on to perform at the Paramount Theatre in New York where an audience of thousands of frenzied teenagers danced in the aisles and screamed wildly for the band. With Benny's influence, swing music had become a national obsession.

As a bandleader Benny wanted the best musicians, race didn't matter.
He did something very important when he hired pianist Teddy Wilson and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton (both of whom had played with Louis Armstrong) to join his band. It was the first time black and white musicians played together in a famous group. In 1938, Benny's band played at Carnegie Hall with many great black musicians, and he continued to play music until his death in 1986.

Photo courtesy of Frank Driggs

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Jazz . Jazz Greats . Benny Goodman | PBS KIDS GO!

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Benny Goodman (1909-1986) was born in Chicago's toughest neighborhood, The Maxwell Street Ghetto. His Jewish parents, David and Dora Goodman, left Russia to escape the pogroms (attacks on people of Jewish heritage). They immigrated to America to find a better life.

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The Girls in the Band--The Official Site of the Music Documentary

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Melba Liston - The Girls in the Band-The Official Site of the Music Documentary

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Melba Liston was a trombone player who was nothing less than a force of nature. In addition to being sought after for her second-to-none slide playing, she became widely revered for her jazz arrangements and compositions. She is, without question, one of the unsung heroes of the jazz genre.Read more ›

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