Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901- July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an innovative cornet and trumpet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence on jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performers. With his 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, or vocalizing, using syllables instead of actual lyrics.

Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and deep, instantly recognizable voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extended well beyond jazz, and by the end of his career in the '60s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general: critic Steve Leggett describes Armstrong as "perhaps the most important American musician of the 20th century." Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers once proclaimed that "Louis Armstrong was probably the greatest musician that ever lived...one note implies that if he wanted to he could play ten billion notes, but just one simple note is a beautiful thing."

Sources for videoclip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnRqYMTpXHc
Sources for this text: About.com http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/louisarmstrong/p/bio_armstrong_l.htm
Louis Armstrong. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, September 28, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong