The Jazz Musician：Louis Armstrong

Like most of the great innovators1) in jazz, Louis Armstrong is a small man. But the extent of his influence across jazz, across American music and around the world has continuing stature. His life was the embodiment2) of one who moves from rags to riches, from anonymity to internationally imitated innovator. Louis Daniel Armstrong supplied revolutionary language that took on such pervasiveness that it became commonplace, like the light bulb3), the airplane, the telephone.

Armstrong was born in New Orleans on Aug. 4, 1901. He grew up at the bottom, trying to bring something home to eat, sometimes searching garbage cans for food that might still be suitable for supper. The spirit of Armstrong's world, however, was not dominated by the deprivation of poverty and the dangers of wild living. As a child, he was either dancing for pennies or singing for his supper with a strolling quartet of other kids who wandered New Orleans freshening up the subtropical4) evening with some sweetly harmonized notes. But he had his dreams. In 1915, he got first cornet and was soon known around New Orleans as formidable. The places he played and the people he knew were sweet and innocent at one end of the spectrum and rough at the other. Out of those experiences, everything from pomp to humor to grief to majesty to the profoundly gruesome5) and monumentally spiritual worked its way into his tone. He became a beacon of American feeling.

In 1922 he went to Chicago and joined his mentor Joe Oliver, and the revolution took place in full form. His improvisations set the city on its head. The stiff rhythms of the time were slashed away by his combination of the percussive and the soaring. His combination of virtuosity, strength and passion was unprecedented. No one in Western music has ever set the innovative pace on an instrument, then stood up to sing and converted the vocalists6). Armstrong traveled the world constantly. In 1932 he visited Europe and played for King of England. In 1956 he was hailed7) by crowds during African tour. In 1964 his recording of Hello, Dolly. hit No. 1. Armstrong died on July 6, 1971 in New York City. But he will always remain as one of the greatest artists who make the world a happy place.

爵士音乐家：路易斯•阿姆斯特朗

像爵士界大多数创新者一样, 路易斯•阿姆斯特朗是个小个子。但是他给爵士乐、美国音乐和全世界留下的影响却是持久的。他的生涯是一个人从贫穷到富有, 从默默无闻到成为全球效仿的创新者的具体体现。路易斯•丹尼尔•阿姆斯特朗发明了革命性的语言, 且广为传播, 家喻户晓, 如同人们生活中的灯泡、飞机和电话。

阿姆斯特朗１９０１年８月４日出生于新奥尔良。他是在社会底层长大的, 曾尽力往家里带些可吃的东西, 有时在垃圾里搜寻可用作晚餐的食品罐头。然而, 阿姆斯特朗的精神世界却没有被穷困而危难的生活所笼罩。在孩童时期, 他就通过跳舞挣点微薄收入, 或者与在新奥尔良四处卖唱的四人孩童演唱组一起演唱, 以求得一顿晚餐；演唱小组乐调甜蜜和谐, 为炎热的夜晚带来了清新。然而他有自己的梦想。１９１５年, 他担任首席短号手, 很快就享誉新奥尔良, 被人们认为无人可比。他演奏过的地方和他认识的人都有两种特性, 一方面是可爱无邪的, 另一方面则是粗蛮的。由于具有这些经历, 他的乐声五光十色, 应有尽有：华丽、幽默、悲伤、雄伟, 以及极度的可憎和永恒的圣洁。他因而成为美国情感的灯塔。

１９２２年, 他来到芝加哥, 师从乔•奥利弗。于是一场音乐界的革命全面展开了。他的即兴演奏令整个城市疯狂。当时的沉闷节奏被一扫而光, 取而代之的是他的打击乐器和引吭高歌的结合。他的技巧、力量和热情前所未有。西方音乐中还没有人在一件乐器上做出这样的创新, 然后站起来演唱, 从而改变了一代的歌唱家。阿姆斯特朗经常到世界各地演出。１９３２年他访问了欧洲, 并为英王演出。１９５６年在非洲的巡回演出中, 他受到听众的欢呼。１９６４年他的唱片《你好, 多利。》跃居排行榜第一。阿姆斯特朗１９７１年７月６日在纽约城去世。然而他将永远是使世界成为一片乐土的最伟大的艺术家之一。

NOTE 注释：

1. innovator n. 改革者, 革新者

2. embodiment n. 体现, 具体化, 化身

3. bulb n. 灯泡

4. subtropical adj. 亚热带的，炎热的

5. gruesome adj. 可怕的, 可憎的

6. vocalist n. 声乐家, 歌手

7. hail vt. 向...欢呼, 致敬
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