The Influence of Louis Armstrong on the Harlem Renaissance 1923-1930

• Main Author: Decuir, Michael
• Format: Others
• Published: DigitalCommons@Robert W. Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center 2017
• Subjects: Harlem Renaissance; Blues Music; Jazz Music; The New Negro; Arts and Humanities; History
• Online Access: http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cauetds/101; http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=cauetds

This research explores Louis Armstrong’s artistic choices and their impact directly and indirectly on the African-American literary, visual and performing arts between 1923 and 1930 during the period known as the Harlem Renaissance. This research uses analyses of musical transcriptions and examples of the period’s literary and visual arts to verify the significance of Armstrong’s influence(s). This research also analyzes the early nineteenth century West-African musical practices evident in Congo Square that were present in the traditional jazz and cultural behaviors that Armstrong heard and experienced growing up in New Orleans. Additionally, through a discourse analysis approach, this research examines the impact of Armstrong’s art on the philosophical debate regarding the purpose of the period’s art. Specifically, W.E.B. Du Bois’s desire for the period’s art to be used as propaganda and Alain Locke’s admonitions that period African-American artists not produce works with the plight of Blacks in America as the sole theme.