3 Minutes of Awesome! Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines...

Welcome back to "3 Minutes of Awesome," my summer series on incredible music that you can enjoy in only three minutes or so, bite-sized bits of wonderful sounds from classical, jazz, pop, and world music.

Today, I'm highlighting the first true giant of jazz, Louis Armstrong. Before he became a movie star and a retro-performer, he was on the cutting edge. Here some of the reasons he is considered a groundbreaking musician:

• He was one of the first soloists to improvise in a manner that went beyond mere embellishment of a pre-existing melody.
• He popularized the trumpet when his peers were all playing the mellower and quieter cornet.
• He may have invented (but definitely popularized) scat singing.
• His sense of the swing rhythmic style was much freer and smoother than the "ricky-tick" beat of other musicians.
• He played with a bigger sound and a higher range than other trumpeters.

If you want to hear the true Louis Armstrong, check out his Hot Fives and Hot Sevens, which were recorded in the late 1920s. These are much more interesting, in my opinion, than his later work. One of my favorite recordings, however, is this duet with pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines, on "Weather Bird." Check out this insightful commentary while you listen.