King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band · King Oliver was an American cornet player and bandleader, born in Louisiana and active in New Orleans. From 1908 to 1917 he played there in brass bands and dance orchestras, including in Storyville, the city's entertainment district. When Storyville closed, he moved to Chicago. There, from 1922, he played at Lincoln Gardens with his own group, King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band.

Music and breakthrough

In that band played Louis Armstrong on second cornet, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Baby Dodds on drums, Lil Hardin on piano, Honoré Dutrey on trombone and Bill Johnson on bass. The recordings the group made in 1923, for Gennett, Okeh, Paramount and Columbia among others, let you hear the New Orleans style: collective improvisation, in which all the horns play their own line at the same time. Because recording was acoustic, into a horn, Armstrong, with his powerful sound, had to stand in the corner of the studio.

Influence

Oliver was also an innovator on his instrument. He used all kinds of mutes, such as the rubber plunger, and his solo in Dippermouth Blues is regarded as a well-known example. As a composer he wrote pieces that are still played, including Canal Street Blues and Doctor Jazz. Armstrong saw him as his great model. Oliver himself was dealt little money and health in the 1930s, and died in poverty in 1938.

Listening

• 
  Dipper Mouth Blues · King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, 1923
  Apple Music ↗
• 
  Snake Rag · King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, 1923

Discography

Studio albums

• 2008Classic Jazz - The Encyclopedia of Jazz - From New Orleans to Harlem, Vol. 3

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• After Hours: Session 1^NL Reader

See also

• New Orleans jazz