One of Bolden’s musicians improvised the lyrics “Funky Butt, Funky Butt, take it away, open up the windows and let the bad air out”, apparently referencing the cramp confines in which the sweat and whiskey soaked dancers grooved to. Before long the whole room would be swaying along to Bolden’s hypnotic beat. As Bolden would stomp out a song’s tempo, the dancer’s seemed to suddenly come to life. We can only imagine what it must have felt like on a hot and sweaty night at places like the Union Sons Hall on Perdido Street. Sadly, there was never a recording made of the first king of jazz and we will never know exactly how Bolden sounded. There is no doubt however as to the manner in which King Bolden thrilled his crowds, always entertaining them with his exciting new sound, full of the blues. A place where folks got the latest news in a pre-CNN era. Just as barbershops in many African American neighborhoods funtion today, the shops in Bolden’s neighborhood served as a social hub of sorts. He never did work as a barber or own a shop but he did hang out at a friend’s barbershop because it was a meeting place where musicians networked. One of the popular Buddy Bolden myths was that he worked as a barber in addition to being a musician. Some of the patrons dancing to the John Robicheaux orchestra would scurry over to Johnson Park once King Bolden started up.Īs with many iconic figures in American history, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between fact and fiction, especially in the relatively new field of jazz history. He would often blast his signature call from Johnson Park, to let folks know in Lincoln Park that his band was about to play. After the baseball games, greased pig chase, and the infamous hot air balloon rides, King Bolden would sound his horn and “call his children home”. A whole lot of fun in those days could be had in either of these uptown parks. Often, members of King Bolden’s flock followed him to Lincoln and Johnson parks to hear his band perform at dances held there. Others simply found Bolden’s band irresistible but made their exits earlier in the evening, before the dances started getting too rowdy. Many originated from the underbelly of New Orleans’ Black Storyville neighborhood as hustlers, prostitutes, and pimps who lavished their praises onto the dapper King. King Bolden’s sound appealed to a new generation some thirty three years removed from the end of the Civil War. The result was an all new sound that was perfect for dancing and quickly caught the attention of young African Americans in New Orleans. King Bolden took the guttural moan of the blues, mixed it with the spirit of the black Baptist church, and applied a ‘ragged’ rhythmic feel to his songs. Blues numbers played at medium tempos, some with raunchy lyrics, soon had black patrons of the South Rampart/Perdido Street area (known as “back o’ town”) dancing a new beat. It wasn’t that King Bolden and his band didn’t perform other numbers, they played waltzes, ragtime, and popular songs of the day, it’s just that nobody laid into the blues so down and dirty like the king. More polite and polished dance bands like John Robichaux’s orchestra played a smoother style of popular dance music. Musicians who were old enough to have heard Bolden perform described his band as playing a whole lot of blues. He forged his reputation with the power of his horn, said to be heard miles away, and his proficiency playing the blues. He stirred his dancers into a frenzy, some simply shouted out, “Aw, play it King Bolden!” Bolden led a band during this time that is generally considered the first group to play what would later be called jazz music. A young man whom, for a period ranging from around 1898 until 1906, reigned as the undisputed King of black New Orleans music.īuddy Bolden played the cornet (an instrument similar to the trumpet) like no one before him. A sturdy young man who would sport expensive suits and was often escorted by several women who liked to carry his horn. Little did his mother know her son would soon grow up a young man whom everyone called “King”. If music is the essence of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, then people are the heart of our story.Ĭharles “Buddy” Bolden was born to Alice and Westmore Bolden in uptown New Orleans on September 6, 1877. The People of Traditional New Orleans Jazz: Buddy Bolden holds a cornet in an old black and white photograph.
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