King Oliver

Birth Name:

Joseph Nathan Oliver

Birth Date:

December 19, 1885

Birth Place:

Aben, Louisiana

Death Date:

April 10, 1938

Place of Death:

Savannah, Georgia

Age:

Cause of Death:

Arteriosclerosis

Cemetery Name:

Woodlawn Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Music

Associates:

A pioneering jazz trumpet and cornet player, songwriter and bandleader Joseph “King” Oliver played an instrumental role in the popularization of jazz outside of New Orleans. Though born in Louisiana, Oliver spent much of his career in Chicago, where he established his legendary King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band. Initially, the band included Louis Armstrong, formerly Oliver’s student in New Orleans. Ironically, Armstrong’s success ultimately overshadowed his mentor’s reputation as a jazz pioneer. As both a teacher and a musician, however, Oliver played an important role in the early history of jazz. Upon his death he was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City

A Very Sad Ending …

The end of Joe Oliver’s life was less than happy. His career-long dental problems, likely exacerbated by his habit of sipping sugar water “for energy” during performances, made it increasingly difficult to play the cornet. He lost his life savings in a bank collapse during the Great Depression, and spent the last years of his life touring with bands of increasing obscurity. Things only got worse when Oliver finally landed a long-term contract playing in New York’s Kentucky Club for pretty decent money, but made another bad decision when he passed up the chance to go to the newer Cotton Club because they paid less. Oliver unfortunately failed to take the powerful “Struggle Buggy Radio” broadcasts into account, something that Ellington, and his manager Irving Mills, did not overlook. The result was that Ellington’s fame grew while Oliver’s diminished. Later he was hired by the Savoy Ballroom before Chick Webb took up residence, but was unsatisfied with the pay. He tried to wangle more money out of management, but the end result was that he lost the job. Webb moved in as Oliver finally just gave up and moved back to Savannah, Georgia.

In Savannah Oliver was working in a pool hall trying to make enough money to buy an overcoat so he can get back to New York in the wintertime. But he never makes it. He dies, and there’s no money to bury him. Fortunately Louis Armstrong comes up with enough money to bury him at Woodlawn Cemetery in New York City, and he was pretty much forgotten until the hot jazz resurgence some 50 years after his passing.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Woodlawn Cemetery

4199 Webster Avenue

Bronx, New York, 10470

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx in New York City

Grave Location:

Salvia Plot, Section 195, Range 16

Grave Location Description

Drive to the lower part of the cemetery (C-2 on the official cemetery map) and take Canna Avenue around until it turns into Heliotrope Avenue. Park and walk to the edge of the cemetery. King Oliver is buried in a shared grave and 2nd to the left of one of the large trees across from a red brick building on the other side of the fence.

Grave Location GPS

40.880349723923736, -73.87263773346578

Photos:

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FAQ's

King Oliver was born on December 19, 1885.

King Oliver was born in Aben, Louisiana.

King Oliver died on April 10, 1938.

King Oliver died in Savannah, Georgia.

King Oliver was 52.

The cause of death was Arteriosclerosis.

King Oliver's grave is in Woodlawn Cemetery

Videos Featuring King Oliver:

Shake It And Break It - King Oliver & His Orchestra (1930)

King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band - Dipper Mouth Blues (1923)

Riverside Blues -- King Oliver 1923

Tin Roof Blues

King Oliver's Dixie Syncopators - Deep Henderson

St James Infirmary : King Oliver and His Orchestra

See More:

Eddy Howard

Lil Hardin Armstrong

popular name: Lil Hardin Armstrong

date_of_death: August 27, 1971

age: 73

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Lil Hardin Armstrong was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, singer, and bandleader. She was the second wife of Louis Armstrong, with whom she collaborated on many recordings in the 1920s with the Louis Armstrong Hot Five and Hot Seven ensembles. On February 4, 1924, Armstrong married Lil Hardin Armstrong, King Oliver's pianist. Armstrong's second wife helped him develop his career, urging Armstrong to seek more prominent billing and develop his style apart from the influence of Oliver. At her suggestion, Armstrong began to play classical music in church concerts to broaden his skills; and Armstrong began to dress more in more stylish attire to offset his girth. Her influence eventually undermined Armstrong's relationship with his mentor, especially concerning his salary and additional money that Joe "King" Oliver held back from Armstrong and other band members. Shortly after Armstrong, with Lil Hardin, formed the famous Louis Armstrong Hot Five and later the Hot Seven jazz bands that launched Armstrong's career to new heights. After her divorce from Armstrong when he had a liaison with Alpha Smith, sometimes billing herself as "Mrs. Louis Armstrong", Hardin led an "All Girl Orchestra", a mixed-sex big band which broadcast nationally over the NBC radio network. In the same decade she recorded for Decca as a swing vocalist and performed as piano accompanist for other singers. Hardin returned to Chicago and the house on East 41st Street. She made a trip to Europe and had a brief love affair in France, but mostly she worked around Chicago, often with fellow Chicagoans. Collaborators included Red Saunders, Joe Williams, Oscar Brown Jr., and Little Brother Montgomery. After living a full and complete life, Miss Lil was at the piano at a Louis Armstrong memorial concert shortly after his death when she slumped over and died while playing The St. Louis Blues at the age of 73. She was laid to rest at Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois.

King Oliver