Edward "Kid" Ory (1886-1973)
A rough timeline of Kid Ory's life:
1912-1919 New Orleans - Ran a very popular Jazz band. Played on occasion with
King Oliver,
Louis Armstrong and others.
1919-1925 California - Ran
Kid Ory's Creole Orchestra AKA
Original Creole Jazz Band. Made the first ever Jazz recording by a black musician in 1922.
1925-1930 Chicago - Played with
King Oliver,
Louis Armstrong and
Jelly Roll Morton.
1930-1966 California - Restarted
Kid Ory's Creole Orchestra in the 40's. Toured and played until his retirement.
1966-1973 Retired to
Hawaii, where he died in 1973.
Kid Ory was a major
Jazz musician in the early 20th century. He started with the
banjo, but eventually moved over the the
trombone. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest and most influential
Jazz trombone players of his time. His start with the
banjo influenced his early
trombone and he is thought to have been one of the
trombone players to have started the
tailgate style of Jazz
trombone playing. From a historical perspective, Kid Ory is most notable for being the first black jazz musician to make a recording. He and his band (
Spike's Seven Pods of Pepper Orchestra) recorded "
Ory's Creole Trombone" and "
Society Blues" in
Los Angeles in 1922. (On an interesting side note,
Freddie "King" Keppard was the first black Jazz musician to be offered a
recording gig, he turned it down because he thought other Jazz musicians would copy his style.)
Kid Ory's
remains are schedualed to be moved from
Los Angeles to their final resting place in
New Orleans in 2003.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz/jazzprofiles/ory.shtml
http://www.redhotjazz.com/ory.html
http://www.duke.edu/~asn1/bio.html
rp tells me that his father asserts Ory's "lazy" playing style was due to lung damage from exposure to
mustard gas in
WW 1. I can't confirm that Ory fought in
WW 1, in fact everything I've read suggests that he was in
New Orleans for the duration. However, I do know that his move from
New Orleans to
California was for health reason. His doctors told him to move somewhere less wet. So, regardless of his military history, his playing style was most likely influenced by
respritory problems of some sort. I'll leave it at that.