Raised by a single mother, and later a half-sister, at 17, Oliver was working as a butler for a white family and playing his music at night. From 1908-1917 Oliver played coronet in New Orleans brass bands, party bands and in the red-light district of Storyville. He joined Kid Ory's band and got the nickname "King" because of his impressive mute techniques. He got a wide variety of sounds using plungers, bottles, cups and the derby hat he wore cocked over his bad eye (lost in a childhood accident). The Oliver-Ory band was considered the "hottest" band in New Orleans in the late 1910's and was hired across racial lines from black dance halls to white debutant balls.
In 1918, Storyville was closed down and Oliver moved his family to Chicago to escape the Jim Crow south. He joined Bill Johnson's band at the Dreamland Ballroom and by 1920 was leading his own band. After a brief stint in San Francisco, Oliver returned to Chicago to form his famous Creole Jazz Band featuring Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, Baby Dodds, Johnny Dodds, Honore' Dutrey and William Manuel Johnson. The recordings they made in 1923 introduced an exciting new sound for jazz and were extremely popular. Author Ted Gioia suggested that the band lacked the finesse of some New Orleans-bred, Chicago-based bands, but, "it's hot, dirty, swinging sound comes closest to the essence of the jazz experience." The recordings introduced Louis Armstrong to the world and other musicians flocked to hear them play.
The band broke up by 1924 and Oliver made a couple of recordings with Jelly Roll Morton then moved to New York with his new band, the Dixie Syncopaters in 1928 but the economy made jobs scarce and Oliver's love of sugar (he ate sugar sandwiches) began to rot his teeth which made it harder to play. He also made a fatal business decision, turning down the house band gig at the Cotton Club, giving Duke Ellington his important break. Work was hand to mouth and by the mid-30's he found himself stranded in Augusta, Georgia, taking a job as a janitor in a pool hall until his death a few years later at the age of 52.
Some of Oliver's compositions are still standards today. "Dipper Mouth Blues" (sometimes called Sugar Foot Stomp), "West End Blues", "Dr. Jazz" and "Snag it", among others, have been repeatedly recorded by newer generations of musicians. His recording of "WaWaWa", with it's repeated mute gave the name wah-wah to that technique and would show up in the playing of Bubber Miley, Muggsy Spanier and Tommy Ladnier.
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