The story of obscure jazz legend Buddy Bolden, the first man of New Orleans jazz.

Who he was: Charles “Buddy” Bolden was born on September 6, 1877 to Alice and Westmore Bolden in uptown New Orleans. Bolden was thought of as the king of improvised music which would become known as Jazz. Many regarded him in fact as it's undispudeted creator.

Buddy Bolden seems to be a sort of national treasure who's life and music are currently in resurrection in literature, television and now a big budget movie. His story may be one of the most pivotal in American music history. It brings to mind images and sounds of a bygone era flavored with notes of music and of humanity.

Charles “Buddy” Bolden was born on September 6, 1877 to Alice and Westmore Bolden in uptown New Orleans. Bolden was thought of as the king of improvised music which would become known as Jazz. Many regarded him in fact as it's undisputed creator. Buddy's life experiences placed him in the era of Storyville. Storyville played host not only to the Crescent City's most noted period of prostitution but also to New Orleans' first generation of jazz men before falling to decay of disease and crime and being dismantled in 1917.

Buddy Bolden is generally considered to be the first bandleader to play the improvised music which later became know as Jazz. He was the first "King" of cornet in New Orleans, and is remembered by the musicians of that time period as one of the finest horn players they had ever heard. He is remembered for his loud, clear tone. His band starting playing around 1895, in New Orleans parades and dances, and eventually rose to become one of the most popular bands in the city. In 1907 his health deteriorated and he was committed to a mental institution where he spent the remainder of his life. Trombonist Frankie Dusen took over the Bolden Band and renamed it the Eagle Band and they continued to be very popular in New Orleans until around 1917. Bolden made no recordings, but was immortalized in the Jazz standard "Buddy Bolden's Blues" (I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say) which is based on Bolden's theme song "Funky Butt". Several early Jazz musicians, like Sidney Bechet (as a child musician) and Bunk Johnson, apparently played in Bolden's bands occasionally.

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