Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance. With his instantly-recognizable 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 skilled at scat singing (vocalizing using sounds and syllables instead of actual lyrics).
Renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet-playing, Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz music, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-American entertainers to "cross over", whose skin-color was secondary to his music in an America that was severely racially divided. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African-Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation during the Little Rock Crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him socially acceptable access to the upper echelons of American society that were highly restricted for a black man.
Armstrong was born and brought up in New Orleans, a culturally diverse town with a unique musical mix of creole, ragtime, marching bands, and blues. Although from an early age he was able to play music professionally, he didn't travel far from New Orleans until 1922, when he went to Chicago to join his mentor, King Oliver. Oliver's band played primitive jazz, a hotter style of ragtime, with looser rhythms and more improvisation, and Armstrong's role was mostly backing. Slow to promote himself, he was eventually persuaded by his wife Lil Hardin to leave Oliver, and In 1924 he went to New York to join the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. At the time, there were a few other artists using the rhythmic innovations of the New Orleans style, but none did it with the energy and brilliance of Armstrong, and he quickly became a sensation among New York musicians. Back in Chicago in 1925, he made his first recordings with his own group, Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five, and these became not only popular hits but also models for the first generation of jazz musicians, trumpeters or otherwise.
Other hits followed through the twenties and thirties, as well as troubles: crooked managers, lip injuries, mob entanglements, failed big-band ventures. As jazz styles changed, though, musical purists never lost any respect for him -- although they were sometimes irritated by his hammy onstage persona. Around the late forties, with the help of a good manager, Armstrong's business affairs finally stablilized, and he began to be seen as an elder statesman of American popular entertainment, appearing in Hollywood films, touring Asia and Europe, and dislodging The Beatles from the number-one position with Hello Dolly". Today many people may know him as a singer (a good one), but as Miles Davis said: “You can’t play nothing on modern trumpet that doesn’t come from him."
The 62-year-old Armstrong became the oldest act to top the US charts when "Hello Dolly" reached #1 in 1964. Four years later Satchmo also became the oldest artist to record a UK #1, when "What a Wonderful World" hit the top spot.
April In Portugal
Louis Armstrong Lyrics
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Holiday tables under the trees
April in Paris, this is a feeling
No one can ever reprise
I never knew the charm of spring
Never met it face to face
I never new my heart could sing
Till April in Paris
Whom can I run to
What have you done to my heart
Yes, April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom
Holiday tables under the trees
April in Paris, this is a feeling
No one can ever reprise
I never knew the charm of spring
Never met it face to face
I never new my heart could sing
Never missed a warm embrace
Till April in Paris
Now whom can I run to
Oh, what have you done to my heart
I never knew the charm of spring
Never met it face to face
I never new my heart could sing
Never missed a warm embrace
Till April in Paris
Whom can I run to
What have you done to my heart
Louis Armstrong's "April in Paris" is a classic love song that captures the essence of spring in Paris. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of the beauty of Paris in April, with blossoming chestnuts and holiday tables set under trees. The song speaks about the magical feeling that the month of April in Paris brings, a feeling that is impossible to recreate.
The song's narrator speaks about his awakening to the beauty of spring in Paris, a feeling that he had never experienced before. He had never known the charm of spring or felt the warmth of a loving embrace until he experienced it in Paris in April. However, now that he has felt this feeling, he is left wondering who he can turn to and what has been done to his heart.
Overall, "April in Paris" is a beautiful love song that captures the essence of spring in Paris perfectly. The song's gentle melody and haunting lyrics make it a timeless classic that will forever be associated with the magic of Paris in April.
Line by Line Meaning
April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom
The beautiful image of chestnut trees blooming in Paris during springtime creates an ambience of joy and new beginnings.
Holiday tables under the trees
The renewal of Spring reinvigorates people enough to organize themselves and spend quality time with others, enjoying food and revelry.
April in Paris, this is a feeling
There's an intangible connection one experiences with the sight of the Spring season in Paris. It's hard to describe but rather a general feeling of happiness and elation.
No one can ever reprise
The uniqueness of the feeling evoked in Paris in April is something that cannot be replicated and is a memory that will last a lifetime.
I never knew the charm of spring
The singer never fully appreciated the magic of springtime and had never witnessed the beauty of Paris in April firsthand.
Never met it face to face
Up until now, the singer had never personally experienced the enchantment of springtime and all its glory.
I never new my heart could sing
The joy and sensation that the song's setting evokes is so uplifting that the singer is surprised they had never felt the way they do now.
Never missed a warm embrace
The singer never realized the importance of human touch and missed it until being in this moment.
Till April in Paris
Until experiencing the sights and vibes of springtime in Paris.
Whom can I run to
The singer is in such awe and taken back by it all that they don't know who they could turn to to express their emotions and what they are feeling.
What have you done to my heart
The singer is trying to sort through their emotions when confronted with the beauty of April in Paris and the way it has enchanted and affected them.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Tratore, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: E. Y. Harburg, Vernon Duke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jorge Ramírez
Excelente versión ésta de Louis Armstrong. Qué gran músico era él..
Paula Francisco
Love my Portugal ❤️ 2023