Charles Joseph Bolden Research Papers

Bryan Huynh

Music 2310.720 Jazz, Pop, and Rock

Dr. Keast

25 July 2014

The Father of Jazz

Charles Joseph Bolden was a contemporary African-American cornet player; he was a key inspirational contributor to the jazz style, which earned him the title: the "Father of Jazz." By 1895, when Bolden was merely 18 years old, he led his own semiprofessional band. His nickname was “King Bolden,” and the band he led was extremely popular in New Orleans during the years of 1901-1907. Before Bolden’s boom and bust, the term “jazz” was rarely used to describe music; afterwards, the musical style became extremely prominent. Unlike other cornet players, he played music by ear and was renowned for fusing the rhythmic, ragtime music, with the more liberated and

The early 1900s came and his band continued to be the regarded with high excellence in New Orleans (Charles “Buddy” Bolden Creator). It seems that a staple part of being a musician is involvement with drugs or alcohol; Chet Baker had his heroin addiction, along with many others; Charles Joseph Bolden had troubles with alcoholism. As the start of the new century dawned, it marked the golden era of Bolden’s band. He was famous for his improvisation, fusing marching-band style, blues, ragtime, and spiritual Black music (Charles “Buddy” Bolden Creator Charles “Buddy” Bolden National). From 1900 to about 1905, Bolden’s band performed many gigs at parks and New Orleans’s City Hall (Buddy Bolden PBS). He even went to play to the outskirts of town and eventually played in neighboring towns. Unfortunately, all good things do come to an end; there is a dawn of a golden age, but there is also a dusk, a twilight, and a nightfall. 1907 was the dusk. That year, the stress of staying as the top band, combined with his ever-growing dependence of alcohol, caused his psychological mind to deteriorate (Buddy Bolden, Buddy Bolden PBS, Charles “Buddy” Bolden Creator, Charles “Buddy” Bolden National). Doctors diagnosed it as acute alcohol psychosis, which is a condition in which a person is delirious and emotionally shrouded (11.4 Alcohol). The early onset of this Bolden was so affected by this that he had to stop performing after he

It was a newly coined term that was used to describe the spirited, high-energy of Bolden’s music (Buddy Bolden PBS). Of course, jazz did in fact exist before Bolden, but it was Bolden who took on the first definitive figure for jazz (Charles “Buddy” Bolden National). Some individuals claim that he invented jazz, but this is clearly not true as it existed before Bolded; however, it is clear that he did cause a surge of popularity to the musical form (Marquis). He was basically Jazz’s first rock star (Marquis). It may seem strange that Bolden, and his huge contribution to jazz, would leave behind zero evidence of his impact. Why, there are no surviving records, no recordings, nothing to prove his influences…but that is exactly what makes it all the more valuable. Much of his story was passed down from oral tales, and these referred to him as “mysterious” and “enigmatic” (Founder). In a sense, this makes his impression all the more valuable. They say that the more abundant a resource is, the less it is worth. Copper is a cent. Nickel is five. Diamonds and gold? Well, right next to priceless. In a musical sense, any information on Buddy Bolden is gold, and silver, and platinum. It’s priceless. Although Bolden did not leave much physical proof of his musical influence, he did in fact inspire many other jazz artists. His work affected Joe Oliver, Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson, and "Dizzy" Gillespie