Shaping the wonderful world of jazz
形塑爵士樂的美妙世界
Trumpet player and singer Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) influenced jazz, primarily by shifting the music’s focus from group improvisation to solo performance.
From poor to performer
Armstrong’s early life in New Orleans was anything but easy, and he worked hard to help his family survive. At 7, he earned money by hauling coal to the wealthy side of town where he would hear rhythmic music streaming from fancy establishments. He loved music and saw it as a way out of poverty. He and his friends sang on the streets to earn a few coins. But he got in trouble in 1913 and ended up in a home for troubled boys. Fortunately, the home featured its own brass band.
His road to fame
The band kindled in Armstrong a desire to play the cornet. He learned quickly, and everyone began to notice his talent. In 1922, famous cornet player Joe “King” Oliver insisted that Armstrong move to Chicago and join his new band. Later, Armstrong developed scat singing. The story goes that he dropped his lyric sheet during a performance, and he just kept singing nonsensical syllables. It wasn’t long before he became wildly famous and performed throughout the U.S. and Europe. Despite his fame, Armstrong remembered his roots and returned every year to the boys’ home where he got his start.
trumpet n.喇叭
shift v. 轉換、轉移
haul v. 拖拉、搬運
coal n. 煤
poverty n. 貧窮、貧困
feature n.特色 v. 以…為特徵
brass n. 黃銅、銅管樂器
cornet n.短號
nonsensical a.無意義的、荒謬的
syllable [tkapQex] n.音節
improvisation
rhythmic
kindle
cornet
scat singing
lyric
【Grammar on the go】
His early life in New Orleans was anything but easy…
anything but
not at all
Louis Armstrong’s early life in New Orleans was not easy.
Although the school play was a low budget production presented by a group of students, the whole show was anything but ordinary.
When Jack signed up for Dr. Cahill’s history class, he thought that it was going to be like all other history classes. He was wrong – Dr. Cahill’s class was anything but boring.
【Chat room】
講到買賣房子美國人通常會用home而不會用house
因此homeowner，指房屋持有人
為什麼用home而不是house呢？
這是因為房屋仲介業界，刻意選用溫馨的字眼
這種字叫作euphemism委婉、婉轉的說法
在美國退休人士所住的房子，為retirement home
老人院叫作nursing home
Louis Armstrong got in trouble in 1913 and ended up in a home for trouble boys.
阿姆斯壯被送到「問題少年之家」
這往往是用一個好看的字眼，來掩飾一個冰冷無情的地方。
【Key word】
improvisation 即興創作的作品
improvise即興創作、表演
The band’s improvisation became one of their most popular pieces.
這個樂團的即興作品變成他們最受歡迎的表演之一
A little improvisation turned the gym into a dance hall.
一點的臨時創作讓體育館變成了舞廳
rhythmic 節奏分明的、有節奏的
rhythm節奏
The rhythmic sound of the train made me feel sleepy.
火車有節奏感的聲音讓我昏昏欲睡
The rhythmic pattern of the painting is the trademark of this artist.
繪畫中具有節奏感的圖形是這位藝術家的標誌
kindle 激起、點燃，原帶有”點火”之意
The pop-up books kindled Bobby’s interest in dinosaurs.
這些立體書激起Bobby對恐龍的興趣
The performance of these dancers kindled Chloe’s desire to learn dancing.
這些舞者的表演激起Chloe想學舞的渴望。
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