Died On This Date (April 10, 1938) Joe “King” Oliver / Influential Jazz Musician
themusicsover Joseph “King” Oliver
December 19, 1885 – April 10, 1938
King Oliver was a popular jazz cornetist, composer and bandleader at the turn of last century. Louis Armstrong has cited him as being a major influence on his own playing. Born in Louisiana, Oliver and his family settled in New Orleans when he was a child. When he got older, he played in the local brass bands throughout the city’s famed red light district, Storyville. He hooked up with Kid Ory and together they built a band that was one of the most popular and successful at the time. Oliver was one of the few African-American musicians that could easily get work at both black joints, and white high society parties. Unfortunately, Oliver’s business sense was not as strong as his musical skills, so he made some poor career decisions and lost money to some less-than-honest managers. During the Great Depression, he lost everything when his bank collapsed. He continued on as best he could, taking low paying gigs while working as a janitor. Sadly, he was broke and living in a rooming house when he passed away on April 10, 1938.
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Known as the “King of Ragtime,” Scott Joplin took banjo and piano music out of the brothels and raised it to a true art form. Born in Texas to a former slave father, Joplin tought himself how to play on a piano of a local white family. He was soon studying under a German instructor. All of these experiences helped him develop a sound that was truly unique. In 1899, his “Maple Leaf Rag” was published and went on to become one of the most popular instrumentals of all time, a true American standard. Another of his tunes, “The Entertainer” turned a new generation on to his music and helped spark the ragtime revival of the mid ’70s. Featured in the Paul Newman/Robert Redford film, The Sting, the song started receiving heavy airplay which helped its opening to become on of the most recognizable in pop music history. Joplin was just 48 when he died of what has been reported as the result of syphilis.
Maurice Jarre was a three-time Oscar-winning French composer best known for his scores for such films as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Passage To India and Dead Poets Society. He composed music for more than 150 over his career. He is the father of Jean-Michel Jarre, a revered composer and musician as well. Maurice Jarre passed away at 84 as a result of cancer.
The undisputed King of Easy Listening passed away on this date in 1980. If you’re under 40, you likely never heard of Mantovani unless you worked in record store in the ’70s or ’80s. He released over 40 albums in the US, 11 of which landing in the Top 10. Mantovani passed away in his home at the age of 74.
Peter Herolzheimer was a German jazz musician who played the trombone and lead his own band for many years. Over the course of his career, he has played with the likes of Al Jarreau,