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Buddy Bolden's Blues
Buddy Bolden's Blues
Acrylic on Canvas
12" X 12"

Buddy Bolden, active early in the 1900's, was the first great soloist in jazz. He had a powerful and popular sound on the cornet, until he went insane playing in a street parade. He spent the rest of his life in an asylum. One of the symptoms of his condition was that he became afraid of his horn. No recordings of Bolden have been found. Bolden was afraid to be recorded- he didn't want anyone stealing his secrets. My daughter Tao is studying piano and trumpet in New Orleans, and we read, watch and listen to the history of jazz as homework.

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