Joseph Nathan Oliver - Essay Example

These instruments include cornet and trumpet for melody input, trombone, percussion, and tuba for rhythm in music. Also, used is the clarinet for counterpoint production, drums, contrabass, piano, guitar, and banjo, and later saxophones. Most of these were obtained from the military band (Gushee 45). Jazz music formed a uniting point for all races, as people played it from all races in the world. Joe worked with and transformed a number of marching band groups. Examples of such include the Kid Ory, Bill Johnson’s original Creole Orchestra, The onward Brass band, the Olympia, the eagle band, and the original superior.

He also founded King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band where he invited Louis Armstrong and others like Lil Hardin, Johnny Dodds, Baby Dodds, and Honore Dutrey. After their breakup, Oliver King went on to belong to other bands, like Dave Peyton’s band which he renamed Dixie Syncopators (Gushee 260). Oliver ‘king’ was known for his expertise in the cornet playing as aforementioned. He was raised in New Orleans, which was recognized for its musical vibrancy. This jazz musician produced ‘hot jazz’ sounds, as his music came to be referred to later.

In jazz music, Oliver King was famed for using mutes, derbies, cups, and bottles to modify the sound of his cornet. His style was that of producing rhythm that was four square and a melody that was clipped. This made him unique since the other cornetists, including Louis Armstrong, played an irregularly thus contrasting them. In addition to this, Oliver king was also famous for the production of a wild array of sounds from his horn. His performance in Wa Wa Wa and the styles he used to enhance such performance gave rise to the ‘wa-wa effect’ in Jazz music, which further assisted in making him stand out from among other cornetists and other jazz musicians (Gushee 262).

He acted as Louis Armstrong’s mentor, who, later rises to fame and is still known in the jazz world. After the breakup of King Oliver Jazz Band, Joe went ahead to produce two duets with Jelly Roll Morton, a pianist. The duets were King Porter and Tom Cat, both with Piano accompaniment. Apart from playing the cornet and founding bands, Oliver King also wrote music for his bands. Some of the music he wrote include, Sweet like this, Dippermouth Blues Doctor Jazz and Canal Street blues. Oliver’s Dippermouth blues is without a doubt one of the most notable and memorable performance by the fallen king.

Both Oliver king and Louis Armstrong composed this piece while they were in King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. The two were on the cornets while William Johnson played the banjo; Baby Dodds played the drums and Honore Dutrey played the trombone. The clarinetist was Johnny Dodds while Lil Hardin played the piano. This piece was recorded in 1923, in Richmond, Indiana (Gushee 263). Dippermouth blues starts with a four- bar lead that is diminished, which, progresses to a meandering ride over the hills, of two chorus.

An ostinato motor of one bar guides all this. There is a repetitive function of all the parts of the instruments, including the trombone and the clarinet, which offers support for the lead cornet. This is proceeded by a stop time solo of the clarinet. After another ensemble, Oliver’s prowess is displayed as he plays a three chorus muted cornet solo. Together with the band, Oliver king presents a moving show that demands attention. In fact, his