“The extent of his influence across jazz, across American music, and around the world has such continuing stature that he is one of the few who can easily be mentioned with Stravinsky, Picasso and Joyce. His life was the embodiment of one who moves from rags to riches, from anonymity to internationally imitated innovator. Louis Daniel Armstrong supplied revolutionary language that took on such pervasiveness that it became commonplace, like the light bulb, the airplane, the telephone.”
![“[Louis Armstrong is] the father of us all, regardless of style or how modern we get. His influence is inescapable. Some of the things he was doing in the 20's and 30's, people still haven't dealt with.” quote by Nicholas Payton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/62b/nicholas-payton-73299_armstrong_louis-armstrong-is-the-father-of-us-all_3028164.jpg)
![“It may sound cruel...but...what makes a criminal is a disposition toward cruelty, a laziness and impatience that lead to taking from others, and cynicism that pretends there is a war going on, and that the victims are the result of a conflict that somebody else started. "[Caligula and DeSade] were…” quote by Stanley Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/932/stanley-crouch-16415_crime_it-may-sound-cruel-but-what-makes-a-crim_372424.jpg)
![“Above all else, [Benny Goodman] was a great player, one of the greatest American music has produced. He brought his absolute talent and his invincible love of music to the fore every time he played. There are many other things connected to society and ethnicity that are often mentioned in a…” quote by Stanley Crouch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9b0/stanley-crouch-16415_absolutes_above-all-else-benny-goodman-was-a-great_523097.jpg)
