【美国人物志】路易斯·阿姆斯特朗 (2/8)

英语自学网

提起爵士音乐，人们最先联想到的人，很可能是一位具有小丑般形象的，绰号叫做Uncle Satchmo（书包嘴大叔）的，活泼可爱的小人物。他是一位声音沙哑的歌手，手中常常拿着一支小号。他以新奥尔良爵士乐风格，在迪克西兰爵士乐配曲下，演奏结构简单、富有戏剧性的作品。这个人就是路易斯·阿姆斯特朗。他是爵士乐坛无人不知、无人不晓的大人物。每一本关于爵士乐的书，都会提及他的名字。他对于爵士乐的重要意义，就好像古典音乐的巴赫，摇滚乐的猫王。
Hints:
Louis
New Orleans
Joe "King" Oliver
Kid Ory Band

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Jazz was just beginning to develop when Louis was a boy. It grew out of the blues songs and ragtime music that had been popular at the turn of the century. Louis discovered music early in life. He was surrounded by it. The music of churches, bands, parades and drinking places were all a daily part of New Orleans culture. Louis sang with other boys on the streets for money. There he began to develop his musical skills.
When he was 11 years old, Louis was sent to a reform school for firing a gun outside to celebrate New Year's Eve. At the school, he learned to play the trumpet in the school's brass band. Louis spent 18 months at the reform school. Then he went back to work. He sold newspapers, unloaded boats and sold coal from a horse and cart. He also listened to bands at popular clubs in Storyville. Joe "King" Oliver played with the Kid Ory Band. He soon became young Louis's teacher. As Louis's skills developed, he began to perform professionally.