No one knows exactly when jazz was invented, or by whom. But it is said that it began in the early 1900s. Jazz was a new kind of music, for America and the world, and New Orleans was (它的) birthplace.
Who were the jazz pioneers? (大多数) were blacks. This music was not written down, and at first only blacks played it. It was hard for white musical persons to learn the new style. But soon they, too, were playing jazz.
The popularity of this music (传播). From New Orleans, it traveled up the Misissippi to Chicago, then to Kansas City and New York. By the 1920s, there were many jazz musicians, both black and white. Many of them were famous. One man was (更好) than the rest. His name was Louis Armstrong.
Louis Armstrong was not only a born musician but also hard-working. He had a good sense of humor and a big smile and he always smiled (高兴). These personal qualities were valuable in his rise to fame. (在…以后) he became famous, he traveled around the world. It seemed that everyone wanted to hear Louis play. But life was not always easy, especially at the (开端).
Louis Armstrong was born in 1900 in New Orleans. His father never went to school and his mother could hardly read. When Louis was still a kid, his parents (分离), and Louis lived with his mother. How hard their life was can be readily imagined! And yet Louis smiled through (一切). He later wrote, "My whole life has been filled with happiness. Life was there for me and I accepted it. Whatever happened has been valuable to me. That's the (美) of it. I love everybody. "
