 Louis Armstrong is thought of as the most important and influential musician in jazz history. Armstrong is remembered as a lovable, clowning personality, and a gravel-voiced singer who played simple but dramatic trumpet in a New Orleans-styled Dixieland setting. Armstrong was also one of the first soloists on record. He was more responsible than anyone else for jazz changing from an ensemble-oriented folk music into an art form that emphasized inventive solo improvisations. His relaxed phrasing was a major change from the staccato style of the early '20s (helping set the stage for the swing era) and Armstrong demonstrated that it was possible to have both impressive technique and a strong feeling for the blues. One of jazz's first true virtuosos, his influence over his contemporaries was so powerful that nearly every trumpeter to record between 1927 and 1940 sounded to an extent like one of his followers! Louis Armstrong's unique singing voice was imitated by a countless number of listeners through the years, he popularized scat singing and his phrasing, which carried over from his horn playing, affected virtually every singer to emerge after 1930, including Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra.
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