(1901 - 1971)

Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana

Nickname: Battlefield

Dropped out of School: 3rd Grade

Instruments Played: Bugle, Cornet, Trumpet

Band Name: The Hot Five

When Louis was 12, he was taken to live at a home for troubled boys.

He talked the band leader into letting him play in the band, which he

eventually became the leader of. He was released the following year.

When he was 13, Armstrong moved to Chicago with his mentor,

Joe "King" Oliver, for two years. Louis then moved to New York City,

which at that time, was the center of Jazz culture. There he

played with a famous bandleader named Fletcher Henderson.

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