Fletcher Henderson
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James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black music
Henderson in 1943
Built by his father in 1888, the Fletcher Henderson House in Cuthbert, Georgia, where Henderson was born in 1897. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 17, 1982
Henderson (middle) with his orchestra in 1925. Coleman Hawkins is sitting on the floor to the extreme left with Louis Armstrong above him to the right. Don Redman is at the extreme right.
Louis Armstrong
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Louis Daniel Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American jazz and blues trumpeter and vocalist. Among the most influential figures in jazz, his career spanned five decades and
Fletcher Henderson
…for blues singers. Henderson toured with the Black Swan Troubadours featuring Ethel Waters from October 1921 to July 1922. After hearing cornetist Louis Armstrong (then around 20 years old) in New Orleans while on tour in April 1922, Henderson sent him an offer, but Armstrong refused because Henderson would not…
Armstrong in 1947
A snippet from the January 2, 1913, issue of The Times-Democrat, New Orleans
Armstrong (fourth from left) was a member of Fate Marable's New Orleans Band in 1919, shown here on board the S.S. Sidney.