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Bolden was famous for his big bold cornet sound, it has been said "his trumpet could be heard all over New Orleans, and even across the river in Algiers". Legend has it that he was so popular he had eight bands playing on the same night, and he’d rush from band to band playing a few tunes with each. Several early Jazz musicians like, Sidney Bechet, and Bunk Johnson apparently played in Bolden's bands occassionally.The Bolden style had blues foundations, however his music was more like ragtime with improvised embellishments. His band featured cornet, clarinet, trombone, guitar, bass and drums, playing a mix of popular dance numbers in both ragtime and blues style. By the turn of the century, many New Orlean’s bands had begun playing in the collective improvisational style pioneered by Buddy Bolden. One of those groups was the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the group which made the first ever jazz recording.
In 1906, Buddy began suffering periods of derangement. The following year he was committed to a mental hospital outside of New Orleans, and remained there for 24 years until his death. Trombonist Frankie Dusen took over the Bolden Band and renamed it the Eagle Band and they continued to be very popular in New Orleans until around 1917.
Although we have no recordings of Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton's Buddy Bolden Blues (I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say) did immortalize the pioneer Jazz trumpeter. The song is based on the melody of the Bolden theme song Funky Butt named after the "Funky Butt Hall", one of the more popular dance halls in New Orleans, where Bolden often played.
In Search of Buddy Bolden by Donald M. Marquis, Louisiana State University
Press, 1978
The person most often credited by music historians, and early Jazz musicians, with being the first jazz cornet player is, Buddy Bolden. The old-time musicians say that Buddy Bolden was "the first musician to start the big noise in Jazz". Since his career ended before the first jazz recordings were made, all we have left of his playing career is legend.