Joe ‘King’ Oliver was an American cornetist and trumpeter and bandleader, as well as an influential composer, who was one of the true pioneers of early jazz during the 1920s and into the ‘30s – Louis Armstrong, for whom he was a mentor, said of him “if it had not been for Joe Oliver, jazz would not be what it is today”. Born in Louisiana in the 1880s, he learnt his trade in New Orleans marching bands and during WWI moved to Chicago, which became the primary centre of recorded jazz. This 126-track 5-CD collection comprises a significant proportion of his career recordings leading his own bands or as a member of other leaders’ bands and accompanying singers where he made an important contribution. It includes some of the most significant and influential recordings made during this era, through to the end of his active recording career in 1931 occasioned by dental and mouth problems that affected his ability to play. There are recordings on the Gennett, Okeh, Columbia, Paramount, Autograph, Vocalion, Brunswick, QRS and Victor labels, featuring recordings with his Creole Jazz Band, Dixie Syncopators, Savannah Syncopators, his Jazz Band and his Orchestra. It also includes recordings with Butterbeans & Susie, Irene Scruggs, Sippi Wallace, Ida Cox, Victoria Spivey, Katherine Henderson, Irene Gibson and Texas Alexander, and with the Clarence Williams Novelty Four, with performances alongside Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, Lil Armstrong, Jimmy Noone, Clarence Williams, Barney Bigard and many other top names. It’s a comprehensive showcase for one of the genre’s most important personalities.