Born in 1877 in New Orleans, Charles "Buddy" Bolden was a pioneer of the early sound of Jazz. Bolden was a prominent trumpeter and is hailed as the king of jazz. Very little is known about his early life. In the early years of his playing with his band, he heard ragtime blues and gospel and fused those styles. Much of his success came while playing in Lincoln Park, an iconic meeting ground for African Americans during the Jim Crow Era. Bolden would play his trumpet or cornet and would call crowds from Johnson Park and the surrounding areas of Gert Town and New Orleans to hear him play.