世界名人故事之演员明星 第14期:路易斯·阿姆斯特朗

 17 Louis Armstrong 17 路易斯·阿姆斯特朗

Like most of the great innovators in jazz, Louis Armstrong is a small man.  像爵士界大多数创新者一样，路易斯·阿姆斯特朗是个小个子。

But the extent of his influence across jazz, across American history and around the world has continuing stature².  但是他给爵士乐、美国历史和全世界留下的影响却是持久的。

His life was the embodiment of one who moves from rags to riches, from anonymity³ to internationally imitated innovator¹.  他的生涯是一个人从贫穷到富有,从默默无闻到成为全球效仿的创新者的具体体现。

Louis Daniel Armstrong supplied revolutionary language that took on such pervasiveness⁴ that it became commonplace, like the light bulb, the airplane, the telephone. 路易斯·丹尼尔·阿姆斯特朗发明了革命性的语言，且广 为传播，家喻户晓，如同人们生活中的灯泡、飞机和电话。

Armstrong was born in New Orleans on Aug. 4, 1901.  阿姆斯特朗1901年8月4日出生于新奥尔良。

He grew up at the bottom, trying to bring something home to eat, sometimes searching garbage cans for food that might still be suitable for supper.  他是在社会底层长大的，曾尽力往家里带些可吃的东西,有时在垃圾里搜寻可用作晚餐的食品罐头。

The spirit of Armstrong's world, however, was not dominated by the deprivation⁵ of poverty and the dangers of wild living.  然而，阿姆斯特朗的精神世界却没有被穷困而危难的生活所笼罩。

As a child, he was either dancing for pennies or singing for his supper with a strolling quartet of other kids who wandered New Orleans freshening up the subtropical evening with some sweetly harmonized notes.  在孩童时期，他就通过跳舞挣微薄收入，或者与在新奥尔良四处卖唱的四人孩童演唱组一起演唱，以求得一顿晚餐；演唱小组乐调甜蜜和谐，为炎热的夜晚带来了清新。

But he had his dreams. 然而他有自己的梦想。

In 1915, he got first cornet and was soon known around New Orleans as formidable.  1915年，他担任首席短号手，很快就享誉新奥尔良，被人们认为无人可比。

The places he played and the people he knew were sweet and innocent at one end of the spectrum⁶ and rough at the other.  他演奏过的地方和他认识的人都有两种特性，一方面是可爱无邪的，另一方面则是粗蛮的。

Out of those experiences, everything from pomp to humor to grief to majesty⁷ to the profoundly gruesome and monumentally spiritual worked its way into his tone.  由于具有这些经历，他的乐声五光十色，应有尽有：华丽、幽默、悲伤、雄伟，以及极度的可憎和永恒的圣洁。

He became a beacon⁸ of American feeling. 他因而成为美国情感的灯塔。

In 1922 he went to Chicago and joined his mentor⁹ Joe Oliver, and the revolution took place in full form.  1922年，他来到芝加哥，师从乔·奥利弗。于是一场音乐界的革命全面展开了。

His improvisations set the city on its head.  他的即兴演奏令整个城市疯狂。

The stiff rhythms of the time were slashed¹⁰ away by his combination of the percussive¹¹ and the soaring.  当时的沉闷节奏被一扫而光，取而代之的是他的打击乐器和引吭高歌的结合。

His combination of virtuosity¹², strength and passion was unprecedented¹³.  他的技巧、力量和热情前所未有。

No one in Western music has ever set the innovative¹⁴ pace on an instrument, then stood up to sing and converted the vocalists. 西方音乐中还没有人在一件乐器上做出这样的创新，然后站起来演唱，从而改变了一代的歌唱家。

Armstrong traveled the world constantly.  阿姆斯特朗经常到世界各地演出。

In 1932 he visited Europe and played for King of England.  1932年他访问了欧洲，并为英王演出。

In 1956 he was hailed by crowds during African tour.  1956年在非洲的巡回演出中，他受到听众的欢呼。

In 1964 his recording¹⁵ of Hello, Dolly, hit No. 1. Armstrong died on July 6, 1971 in New York City.  1964年他的唱片《你好，多利》跃居排行榜第一。阿姆斯特朗1971年7月6日在纽约城去世。

But he will always remain as one of the greatest artists who make the world a happy place. 然而他将永远是使世界成为一片乐土的最伟大的艺术家之一。

1 innovator   

n.改革者；创新者

参考例句：

• The young technical innovator didn't lose heart though the new system was not yet brought into a workable condition. 尽管这种新方法尚未达到切实可行的状况，这位青年技术革新者也没有泄气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Caesar planned vast projects and emerged as a great innovator. 恺撒制定了庞大的革新计划。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

2 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

3 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

4 pervasiveness   

n.无处不在，遍布

参考例句：

• The consistency and pervasiveness of this effect is startling, perhaps even disconcerting. 外表的这种作用始终存在、影响甚广，这实在令人惊讶，甚至烦恼不安。 来自互联网
• A major cause of this pervasiveness is the structural difference between application logic and security logic. 这种普遍性的主要因素是应用逻辑和安全逻辑之间的结构差。 来自互联网

5 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

6 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

7 majesty   

n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权

参考例句：

• The king had unspeakable majesty.国王有无法形容的威严。
• Your Majesty must make up your mind quickly!尊贵的陛下，您必须赶快做出决定！

8 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

9 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

10 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 percussive   

adj.敲击的

参考例句：

• When it is dragged over pliant areas, an additional percussive tap could indicate this collision. 当它被拖到受范区域时，一个附加的敲击声提示这种碰触。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Pneumatic DTH (Down-The-Hole) hammer is one of main pneumatic percussive-rotary drilling equipments. 风动冲击器是气动冲击回转钻进的主要设备之一。 来自互联网

12 virtuosity   

n.精湛技巧

参考例句：

• At that time,his virtuosity on the trumpet had no parallel in jazz.那时，他高超的小号吹奏技巧在爵士乐界无人能比。
• As chemists began to pry out my secret they discovered my virtuosity.化学家开始探讨我的秘密，他们发现了我的精湛技巧。

13 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

14 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

15 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。