He was born on August 4, 1901 in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans was the city of jazz music. He grew up in a poor family in a rough part of New Orleans. The area of New Orleans where he grew up was called "The Battlefield". Louis Armstrong was a born musician demonstrating singing talents at an early age. The music that surrounded him growing up inspired him to play and sing. To help support his family, he started working on a junk wagon, singing on street corners, cleaning graves for tips, and selling coal at a young age. He dropped out of school at age 11, but then had to go back into reform school for firing a gun on New Year's Eve. He worked for the Karnofsky family, a group of Russian Jewish immigrants who gave him a job on their junk wagon. "They took an interest in little Louis and would invite him over to their home, feed him dinner and teach him how to sing. With the money he made from the Karnofsky's, he was able to buy his first cornet. Armstrong wore a Jewish Star of David around his neck for the rest of his life because he was so indebted to what they did for him". Louis Armstrong taught himself how to play the cornet and started to play in pick-up bands at small clubs, funerals, and parades around town. Joe "King" Oliver, a member of Kid Ory's band and one of the finest trumpet players around, became Armstrong's mentor. Louis Armstrong joined Oliver's band in 1917. Joe Oliver also became a fatherly figure for Louis in his life.