The Earliest Jazz
Artists
MUH 271 JAZZ HISTORY
Buddy Bolden

"Sometime around 1897, the Charles "Buddy" Bolden band began
filling the dance halls and streets of New Orleans with a new kind of
music. Instead of following the notes on sheet music like they were a
railroad track, Buddy made his cornet an extension of his emotions.
To this rough Negro barber, popular melodies were only points of
embarkation for funky, hip-swinging improvisation. Some twenty
years later this new music would be called jazz." (Buerkle and Barker,
p. vii)
st
1
Jazz Artist

Probably first to embellish melodies in the jazz style

first "King of Jazz" in New Orleans

remembered by musicians of the time as “one of the finest horn
players they had ever heard”

became known around 1895 playing in New Orleans parades and
dances

his band eventually rose to become one of the most popular in the
city

his health deteriorated by 1907 and he was committed to a
mental institution
Jelly Roll Morton (Ferdinand Joseph
La Menthe)

first jazz composer

an important transitional figure between ragtime and jazz piano

born into Creole society and studied classical piano

In 1912, briefly settled in Chicago's South Side; published "The Jelly
Roll Blues.“

recorded for the Gennett label in 1923 and 1924

formed the Red Hot Peppers and recorded for Victor

Morton died just before the Dixieland revival
Joe “King” Oliver

Born in or near New Orleans in 1885.

Began playing with brass bands in New Orleans
around 1908.

First called “the King” by Kid Ory in 1917,
although possibly already “past his prime.”

Moved to Chicago in 1919 to play with Bill Johnson’s Original Creole
Orchestra.
King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band

formed in 1922.

1923 recordings introduced Louis Armstrong to the world.

group fell apart in 1924.
Poor Business Decisions

Rejected offer to open Cotton Club as house
band.

Eventual move to New York probably too late; by
1925 his style had been superseded by Armstrong’s.

(problems with teeth and gums interfered with
ability to perform).

final "mistake" was an extended tour of the South
beginning in 1931. By 1936 he had ended up in
Savannah selling fruit and vegetables and
sweeping out a pool parlor. He died there in April
1938.
Contributions

he "had a repertory of expressive deviations of
rhythm and pitch, some verging on theatrical
novelty effects and others derived from blues
vocal style . . .”

“He frequently used timbre modifiers of various
sorts and was especially renowned for his wawa effects, as in his famous three-chorus solo
on ‘Dipper Mouth Blues’.“

“Oliver was a good band leader, and his
cornet playing was well integrated into the
ensemble. By 1925 his performance style had
been superseded by Louis Armstrong, but he
had a significant impact on Bubber Miley as
well as on Armstrong himself.”
Louis Armstrong

“Louis Armstrong is the single most important figure in the
development of jazz.”

1st virtuoso jazz soloist (arguably with Sidney Bechet).

Influential as both vocalist and instrumentalist.
Innovations

Blues – established the blues scale (pitches) and blues
feeling as jazz’s harmonic foundation

Improvisation – established jazz as a soloist’s art form

Singing – introduced a true vocal jazz style (pitch, time,
imagination); “scat singing”

Repertory – showed that Tin Pan Alley/pop music could be
performed in a jazz style
Early Years

Although Armstrong apparently believed that he was born
on July 4, 1900, a birth certificate shows the date as August
4, 1901.

sent to reform school at age 12, where he learned to play
cornet.

took lessons from King Oliver and took Oliver’s place in Kid
Ory’s band when Oliver moved to Chicago.

played with Fate Marable's band from 1919 to 1921 on
riverboats.
Chicago and New York

Armstrong moved to Chicago in
1922 to play with Oliver's Creole Jazz
Band.

made the first of his famous Gennet
recordings with Oliver in April 1923.

moved to New York to play with
Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra in
September 1924; also recorded with
several blues singers including Ma
Rainey and Bessie Smith and with
Sidney Bechet.
Return to Chicago

made first Hot Five and Hot Seven recordings.

“Weather Bird” released in 1930.

Briefly moved to Los Angeles in 1930 to form Louis Armstrong
and his Sebastian New Cotton Club Orchestra, but he
returned to Chicago in 1931.

By the 1940s Armstrong's style of jazz was losing popularity,
and Armstrong had no interest in the newer styles. He
traveled extensively with an All-Star band during the revival
of interest in New Orleans and Dixieland.

recorded "Hello Dolly“ in 1963, "What A Wonderful World“ in
1968.

On July 6th 1971, Armstrong died in his sleep.
Original Dixieland Jazz Band

led by Nck LaRocca (cornet)

LaRocca claimed that he and the ODJB had played an important
role In the formation of jazz (typically discounted)

1st jazz group to record (1917)

residency at Reisenweber's Restaurant from January 1917

Helped popularize the New Orleans style in the US and Europe