Louis Armstrong

With that trumpet that seems to speak and that raspy voice that sticks in the ear, Louis Armstrong invented the sound of modern jazz. He was not just a musician playing notes: every phrase he drew from his instrument — and then from his throat — carried a different emotional weight, as if the music were breathing. His style broke away from what was being done until then: instead of staying in collective arrangements, he brought the solo to the center, turning improvisation into the heart of the genre. It is not an exaggeration to say that, without him, jazz would not be what it is today.

In the 1920s, when jazz still smelled of New Orleans bars and bands that played by ear, Armstrong took the leap that changed everything. First, he followed his mentor, King Oliver, to Chicago, where he earned fame in "cutting" contests with other musicians (duels where the most creative won). But it was in New York, with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, where his trumpet found the ideal stage: there, amid more complex arrangements, his sound shone like never before. By 1925, he was back in Chicago recording with his own group, the Hot Five, and those sessions — made with borrowed equipment and without any pretension of perfection — became the bible for early jazz musicians. The curious thing is that, at the time, Armstrong was not even trying to be a star: he just wanted to play, and in doing so, he redefined what music could be.