King Oliver

King Oliver (1885-1938), American cornetist, the earliest indisputably major jazz figure, and the single greatest influence on the jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong. Born Joseph Oliver near Abend, Louisiana, Oliver formed the Creole Jazz Band in New Orleans, taking them to Chicago in 1918. Armstrong joined the group four years later. In 1923 the group made recordings that are now regarded as the greatest examples of the early New Orleans jazz style. From 1924 Oliver led the Dixie Syncopators. He went to New York City in 1928; thereafter his fortunes declined, and he died in obscurity.