"No one is really sure what [New Orleans’s] first "cornet king," Charles (Buddy) Bolden, sounded like 100 years ago, much less what made him tick," writes MICHAEL CIEPLY recently in the New York Times.
For years the legend of Buddy Bolden was overshadowed by myths about his music, his reckless lifestyle, and his mental instability. In In Search of Buddy Bolden: First Man of Jazz, author Donald M. Marquis sought to overlay the Bolden myth with fact and substance. Now, two movies are currently in production, inspired by the life of Buddy Bolden, and Marquis’s authoritative biography.
The first movie, "Bolden," a musical biography, is now in post-production having been filmed on site in Wilmington, NC and New Orleans. The second movie is a silent film, "The Great Observer." They are expected to be released together. The executive producer of both films is New Orleans native, Wynton Marsalis.