TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Before the trumpet took center stage, the cornet was jazz’s leading voice. With its rounded tone and agile response, the cornet helped define the sound of early New Orleans jazz. Buddy Bolden, often called jazz’s first great soloist, used the cornet to shape the music’s raw energy and expressive power.
Louis Armstrong began his career on cornet, developing the phrasing, swing, and melodic invention that would transform jazz forever.
Artists like King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, and later Ruby Braff kept the cornet’s lyrical tradition alive.
As ensembles grew louder and concert halls larger, many musicians shifted to trumpet—but the cornet’s influence never faded.
This has been Rapp On Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by Layman Publishing Partners, celebrating 50 years of expert content creation, authoritative information management, and standards-driven print and digital production.