a) Buddy Bolden

Buddy Bolden, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is often recognized as the first person to play a style of music that later became known as jazz. A cornetist based in New Orleans, Bolden is credited with being a key figure in the development of jazz music. His band was popular for their improvisational style and their ability to blend ragtime, blues, and other musical forms, which were the foundations of jazz. Although no recordings of Bolden’s music exist, his influence on the genre is well documented through the accounts of contemporaries and historians. Bolden’s contributions to the creation and evolution of jazz music have earned him the title of the genre’s originator.