Biography
27 February 1890, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, d. 15 July 1933, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Before choosing to play the cornet, Keppard experimented with various other instruments, none of which was especially suitable for performing jazz. In the years before World War I he played with the Olympia Orchestra in New Orleans and several other parade and concert bands. He was leader of the Original Creole Orchestra which toured California and the east coast, and also worked in Chicago. After the war Keppard settled in Chicago, where he worked with King Oliver, Jimmie Noone and other luminaries of the city’s jazz scene. In the early 20s he played in various bands, sometimes leading his own, almost always in or around Chicago. Among the last bands with which he worked were those of Erskine Tate and Charlie Elgar. He seldom played after 1928 and died in July 1933. Keppard’s few recordings barely support his status as a leading hornman of early jazz and a direct link...
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