Freddie Keppard
b. 27 February 1890, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 15 July 1933. Before choosing to play the cornet, Keppard experimented with various other instruments, none of which was especially suitable for performing jazz. In the years before World War I he played with the Olympia Orchestra in New Orleans and several other parade and concert bands. He was leader of the Original Creole Orchestra which toured California and the east coast, and also worked in Chicago. After the war Keppard settled in Chicago, where he worked with Joe ‘King’ Oliver, Jimmie Noone and other luminaries of the city's jazz scene. In the early '20s he played in various bands, sometimes leading his own, almost always in or around Chicago. Among the last bands with which he worked were those of Erskine Tate and Charlie Elgar. He seldom played after 1928 and died in July 1933. Keppard's few recordings barely support his status as a leading hornman of early jazz and a direct link to the legendary playing of Buddy Bolden. Nevertheless, there are suggestions of his qualities and it is hard to question the reputation he enjoyed among fellow musicians such as Sidney Bechet and Milt Hinton. Along with Edward ‘Kid’ Ory, Keppard was important in helping to spread jazz into areas of the west coast not previously familiar with the music.