Freddie Keppard

about

Freddie Keppard (sometimes rendered as Freddy Keppard) (February 27, 1890 - July 15, 1933) was an early jazz cornetist. Keppard was born in the Creole of Color community of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. His older brother Louis Keppard was also a professional musician. Freddie played violin, mandolin, and accordion before switching to cornet. After playing with the Olympia Orchestra he joined Frankie Dusen's Eagle Band, taking the place recently vacated by Buddy Bolden. Soon after Bolden was off the music scene Keppard was proclaimed "King Keppard" as the city's top horn player. About 1914 Joe Oliver (AKA king oliverwon a musical "cutting contest" and claimed Keppard's crown; soon after Keppard accepted an offer to join Bill Johnson's band in Los Angeles, California. Johnson and Keppard's band became the Original Creole Orchestra which toured the Vaudeville circuit, giving other parts of the USA a first taste of the music that was not yet known as "jazz". While playing a successful engagement in New York City in 1915 the band was offered a chance to record for the Victor Talking Machine Company. In retrospect this would probably have been the first jazz recording. An often repeated story says that Keppard didn't want to record because then everyone else could "steal his stuff". The recording company offered him $25 flat fee to make a record (a fairly standard rate for non-star performers at the time), far less than he was earning on the vaudeville circuit. His retort to

top songs

albums

The Complete Set - 1923-1926

1920 Jazz Classics

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The Complete Set: 1923-1926

Adam's Apple

Freddie Keppard - The Complete Set (1923-1926)

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The Complete Set, 1923-1926

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100 Classics Of The 1920s

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100 Charleston Classics

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Birth Of Jazz

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The Great Gatsby

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Highlights of Freddie Keppard

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The Roots of Steampunk 1903-1929

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