The Great Gatsby
Music GREAT JAZZ ARTISTS
There were many great jazz artists in the 1920s. These were the people that made the 1920s so well known and treasured in history. They put their hearts and souls into this upbeat and fun music. Some of these people were Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, Freddie Keppard, Joe "King" Oliver, George Gershwin, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, and Charles "Buddy" Bolden.

Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington is considered America's greatest composer. He loved playing instrumental music as a child and continued through the years. He learned jazz piano from James P. Johnson and Willie "the lion" Smith after he had moved to New York. The year after this he formed his own band. He also led his own orchestra for over fifty years.

Freddie Keppard
Freddie Keppard followed Buddy Bolden as "king" of cornet players in New Orleans. He played in a band called the Original Creole Orchestra traveling to different places and introducing the people to jazz. He worked with many bands throughout his life. He stopped playing after he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1928, and he died of the disease in 1933.

Joe Oliver
Joe Oliver was an important figure in jazz. Hot Jazz refers to his style of improvisation. He taught Louis Armstrong and was his mentor. He gave Armstrong his first cornet and included Louis in a band that he formed called the Creole Jazz Band. This group is what made Louis so famous. Oliver started many more bands and continued to play the cornet until 1931 when he ran out of money. He died in 1938.

George Gershwin
George Gershwin was a famous composer. His work is well known in today's society. His Rhapsody in Blue was one of his most famous works. He composed this piece when Paul Whiteman asked him to write a jazz piece for his band. Gershwin did it but kind of shrugged it off. Little did he know that, after the first performance in New York at the Aeolian Hall, this piece would become extremely famous. He earned over $250,000 from Rhapsody in Blue.

Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong was the greatest of all jazz musicians. He came from New Orleans. When he was young, he was sent to reform school where he learned to play the cornet. Joe Oliver was like a father to Louis and gave him his first real cornet. Armstrong played many gigs that were good but minor. It was not until Oliver asked him to go play in his band, the Creole Jazz Band in Chicago, that Armstrong became famous everywhere. He did many recording sessions with famous blues singers and different bands. The first records he ever made under his own name were Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven. After recording and performing for almost the rest of his life, he finally died in his sleep in 1971.

Charles Bolden
Charles Bolden is considered to be the first man who ever played jazz. He was the first "King" of cornet in New Orleans. He had a loud and clear tone and was widely known for this. He never made any recordings because he was institutionalized in 1907 and died in a mental hospital.

Page last updated on May 14, 1999.
Curator: Melissa Orme


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