This biography is written from the point of view of Louis Armstrong's closest companion throughout his youth-his horn! This unusual narrator tells his story starting with the small New Orleans hock shop where young Louis bought his first trumpet for five hard-earned dollars. As Louis goes from a street quartet to the marching band of the Colored Waif's Home to the big sounds of New Orleans jazz clubs, author Muriel Harris Weinstein creates a moving portrait of the jazz legend.