Why a Booktrail?
Buddy Bolden, one of the legendary jazz pioneers of turn-of-the-twentieth-century New Orleans
Coming through Slaughter
What you need to know before your trail
Coming Through Slaughter is an extraordinary recreation of a remarkable musical life and a tragic conclusion. Through a collage of memoirs, interviews, imaginary conversations and monologues, Ondaatje builds a picture of a man who would work by day at a barber shop and by night unleash his talent to wild audiences who had never experienced such playing.
But Buddy was also playing the field with two women, and inside his head was a ticking time-bomb which he was unable to stop.
Travel Guide
BookTrail Travel To New Orleans
The City of Buddy Bolden
Charles Joseph “Buddy” Bolden (1877 – 1931) was a key (African-American) figure in the development of the New Orleans style of ragtime music, or “jass”, which later came to be known as jazz.
He played the cornet and was known as “King” Bolden” He was also well- known for his loud sound and improvisational skills. Some of the songs first associated with his band, such as the traditional song “Careless Love” and “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It”, are still standards. No known recordings of Bolden have survived.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: Coming through Slaughter
Destination: New Orleans Author/guide: Michael Ondaatje Departure Time: 1960s
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