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:

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Mahalia Jackson

popular name: Mahalia Jackson

date_of_death: January 27, 1972

age: 60

cause_of_death: Post surgical complications to remove a bowel obstruction

claim_to_fame: Music

best_know_for: Known as the Queen of Gospel Music, Mahalia Jackson was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to the development and spread of gospel blues in black churches throughout the U.S. During a time when racial segregation was pervasive in American society, she met considerable and unexpected success in a recording career, selling an estimated 22 million records and performing in front of integrated and secular audiences in concert halls around the world. Nationwide recognition came for Jackson in 1947 with the release of "Move On Up a Little Higher", selling two million copies and hitting the number two spot on Billboard charts, both firsts for gospel music. Jackson's recordings captured the attention of jazz fans in the U.S. and France, and she became the first gospel recording artist to tour Europe. She regularly appeared on television and radio, and performed for many presidents and heads of state. In January 1972, she received surgery to remove a bowel obstruction and died in recovery. Although news outlets had reported on her health problems and concert postponements for years, her death came as a shock to many of her fans. She received a funeral service at Greater Salem Baptist Church in Chicago where she was still a member. Fifty thousand people paid their respects, many of them lining up in the snow the night before, and her peers in gospel singing performed in her memory the next morning. The day after, Mayor Richard Daley and other politicians and celebrities gave their eulogies at the Arie Crown Theater with 6,000 in attendance. Her body was returned to New Orleans where she lay in state at Rivergate Auditorium under a military and police guard, and 60,000 people viewed her casket. She was later laid to rest at Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana.

King Oliver