A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.
Score
Wynton Marsalis recreates lost Bolden compositions from thin air.
Direction
Pritzker's nonlinear fever dream mirrors a fractured mind.
Acting
Gary Carr plays Bolden like a man burning from within.
Director
Dan Pritzker
Gary Carr
Buddy Bolden
Michael Rooker
Pat McMurphy
Ian McShane
Judge Perry
Yaya DaCosta
Nora Bolden
Ser'Darius Blain
Willie Cornish
Reno Wilson
Louis Armstrong
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Frankie Dusen
Erik LaRay Harvey
Bartley
Robert Ri'chard
George Baquet
Karimah Westbrook
Alice Bolden
JoNell Kennedy
Ida Bass
Christina Marie Karis
Bernadette
Kearia Schroeder
Grace
Chelsea Vale
Dancer
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
No recordings of Buddy Bolden exist — Marsalis composed the entire score based on descriptions from musicians who heard him play in 1900s New Orleans.
Bolden was institutionalized in 1907 and never performed again; jazz history was literally written by the white musicians who copied him while he rotted in an asylum.
US
