Louis Armstrong
Date/Time:1901-08-04 at 10:00 PM
Place:
New Orleans, La
Aspects:
Natal Sun in Leo trine Uranus in Sagittarius and Moon in Aries
Description:
Trumpet player, singer, actor, jazz pioneer
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Story: Jazz legend Louis Armstrong, whose bluesy trumpet playing and raspy vocals made him one of the premiere figures in American music, came from humble roots. He developed his musical skills while committed to a so-called waif’s home, where he’d been sent at the age of eleven for firing his stepfather’s pistol in the air on New Year’s Eve. Upon his release, he occasionally earned his living as a working musician in his native New Orleans, until the U.S. Navy closed the much-fabled Storyville district, putting him and many of his peers out of work overnight. Armstrong eventually moved north to Chicago, where he established himself first with the King Oliver group, before establishing his own Hot Five quintet, which set the world on fire with a slew of dazzling new recordings throughout the 1920s. Armstrong went on to become a big-band leader and occasional movie actor, emerging as one of the most famous black men in America. However, with the decline of big bands following the end of the Second World War, Armstrong scaled down his band to a Septet, which re-established him as a potent commercial and artistic force. Long considered to be an appeaser to racist white values by some in the black community, Armstrong surprised many when he took a political stand against President Eisenhower, for his slow response to the Little Rock Nine crisis in September 1957. Stars: Armstrong had a grand trine configuration in his natal chart, involving the Sun in Leo, Uranus in Sagittarius, and Moon in Aries, signifying his gift as a musical innovator and uplifting presence as an entertainer. Astrology demonstrates how planetary transits to his natal Sun in Leo often coincided with major turns in his life and music. |
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