Louis "Satchmo (Satchelmouth)" Armstrong was born August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana (the birthplace of jazz). Putting together the facts around his birth and childhood is difficult because what is known depends mostly on what he later told people. He was raised by his grandmother...

"It is America's music – born out of a million American negotiations: between having and not having; between happy and sad, country and city; between black and white and men and women; between the Old Africa and the Old Europe – which could only have happened in an entirely new...

Joe Oliver was born on December 19, 1885, in Abend, Louisiana. He moved to New Orleans in his youth and is often credited with being born in that city. During his childhood, he lost the use of one of his eyes in an accident. This medical condition did not diminish his musical ability in the le...