| Jazz and History |
| (2) Buddy Bolden, the originator of Jazz |
 The Bolden Band in 1905 |
There is a man called the originator of Jazz. He is a cornet player and his occupation is a barber and also a publisher of a gossip newspaper " The Cricket". His name is Buddy Bolden. The reason for originator is that he started improvisation. Charles Buddy Bolden is the second man from right of standing musicians. Books tells us that he brew cornet in quite big sound, and it reached more than 10 miles far. Anyway, perhaps he had big langs. |
Louis Armstrong told that he once heard Bolden's cornet when Louis was 4 or 5 years old. He hadn't recognized that was Bolden until long years after. So, Bolden is introduced in books only, but they say Bolden is the first King of Jazz. He played his music in parades or in parks, and let many girls shout. Men couldn't approach him because so many women were there. He ran amok while he was playing in a parade in 1907, and he was committed to the state hospital. He spent the rest of his life there, and sadly never be recorded. He died in 1931, but there are two records for his birthday. They are in 1868 and in 1877. But I found the news that two CDs of Bolden were released in Germany in March of 1999. The titles of albums are "Buddy Bolden's Blues" and "City of Sounds". It might be found out the recorded materials of Bolden. [translated by Mariko Ukawa] |