1
[WIND WHISTLING]
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[ECHOING]
[INDISTINCT WAILING]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[SQUEAKING]
[SCRAPING]
[MAN GRUNTING]
[KEYS JINGLING]
[BREATHING DEEPLY]
[INMATES WAILING]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[RADIO CLICKS ON]
[RADIO TUNING]
MAN: [OVER RADIO]
This is WSNB Radio
New Orleans
live broadcasting
from the beautiful
Suburban Gardens here,
where our special guest
this evening,
Mr. Louis Armstrong,
is back in New Orleans
after ten long years.
He's come back here
a big, big star.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO]
...on WSNB Radio
New Orleans.
And our next broadcast
is brought to you by,
uh, Royal Crown Hair Cream.
That's right.
Your hair'll be curling...
[INDISTINCT CHATTER
AND LAUGHTER]
What a crowd here...
Yes, sir.
Our station manager
handed me a paper here
that says to his recollection,
this will be the first time
a colored boy will be
on the radio in New Orleans.
All right, so we see
they're dimming
the lights here,
and, uh, our MC
is approaching the microphone
to begin
this evening's broadcast.
I ain't announcing
no nigger man on the radio.
[FEEDBACK OVER SPEAKERS]
[FEEDBACK STOPS]
[CLEARS THROAT]
Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.
I'm Mr. Armstrong.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
[WHISTLING]
[LAUGHING]
Hello. You like that?
I said we back home,
we back home.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO]
Thank you, folks.
Thank you, folks.
Thank you, folks.
Look out here, folks.
Now, this goes out to
all you lovely people in here
and all my beautiful
brothers and sisters
outside on the levee.
[CHEERING OVER RADIO]
The first I'm going
to play for you
is You Rascal You.
You Rascal You.
Look out here, fellas,
look out.
You ready?
Here we go. One...
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO]
[PLAYING JAZZ MUSIC]
[MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO]
Boy, you know one thing?
I'll sure be glad
when you're dead
[ARMSTRONG CONTINUES
CHATTERING OVER RADIO]
Laughin' and grinnin'
in my face
You're trying to be
in the back with my wife,
you old dog
[LAUGHS]
[SCRAPING]
[ARMSTRONG CONTINUES
SINGING OVER RADIO]
I'll be glad when you're dead
you rascal, you
[CORNET PLAYING]
[PLAYING CORNET]
[INMATES SHOUTING]
I'll be glad when you're dead
you rascal you
[OVER RADIO]
I'll be glad when you're dead
you rascal you
When you're layin'
six feet deep
No more fried chicken
will you eat
You ain't no good,
you rascal you
[MUSIC CONTINUES OVER RADIO]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[CHEERING]
[ARMSTRONG LAUGHING OVER RADIO]
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, folks.
Thank you, folks.
Thank you, thank you.
[ARMSTRONG SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY
OVER RADIO]
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[CORNET PLAYING]
MAN: [OVER RADIO]
Ladies and gentlemen,
listen to the crowd
welcoming home
the wonderful Louis Armstrong
in New Orleans.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER
CONTINUES OVER RADIO]
MAN: This here is my sister,
Miss Nora Bass.
Nora, this is
Mr. Charles Bolden.
He live on First Street.
Maybe you should
invite Mr. Bolden
to Sunday service with us.
Nora.
You don't seem like
much a church-going man,
Mr. Bolden.
Mama and me, we go to...
Mama and me, we go
to First Street Baptist.
Mama.
This is
Mr. Charles Bolden.
This is my mama,
Mrs. Ida Bass.
How do you do,
Mrs. Ida...
How do you make
your livin', Mr. Bolden?
I make the church music better.
[GIGGLING]
I make the church music better.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING]
[MAN SHOUTS]
[SCREAMING]
[GRUNTS]
[PEOPLE SCREAMING]
[MEN SHOUTING]
BOLDEN: So what do a manager do?
BARTLEY: What do a manager do?
Oh.
I take care of the business
while you take care
of your music.
Your music got power.
I hear it.
I seen what it do
to folks.
-Take power like you got...
-[SNAPS]
...combine it with
a business purpose,
that's what a manager do.
[SLURPING]
You a sensation, Bolden.
You play horn louder
than the day's long,
even in the hot sun.
You got women
dropping to your feet,
hoping to carry your horn.
The day you was born,
you was kissed on the lips
with something only you got,
ain't nobody else got it.
Folks hear your music,
they understand something
can't hardly put to words.
[HORSE CARRIAGE APPROACHING]
And I know how to sell
what you got.
And you...
[LAUGHS]
...you better listen to me.
Mmm-hmm.
How the band supposed
to make more money
if we gotta pay you?
I put you in front
of a white audience.
[RUFFLING]
Jesus Christ, Bartley.
Yeah.
[LAUGHS]
You ever done this?
I got to fly
the balloon.
[RAGTIME MUSIC PLAYING]
[LAUGHTER]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
MAN: Boy, they don't
like this one bit, huh?
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
How long before
we gotta start this...
-Oh, no,
I'll be damned.
-Oh, yeah.
Oh, no. Buddy.
Bartley, I don't think
this is a good idea.
Oh, you'll be all right.
You'll be great.
I won't fall?
Come on,
you got to go now.
Yeah?
Why the fuck
am I doing this?
All right.
I... Tell me...
Tell me when to jump.
[SCREAMING]
Play it loud!
[LAUGHS]
-Stop the cart.
Stop the cart.
-Whoa, whoa.
[RAGTIME MUSIC
CONTINUES PLAYING]
[SCREAMING]
[GRUNTS]
Oh.
[PLAYING CORNET]
[BAND STOPS PLAYING]
[BRANCHES SNAPPING]
[BOLDEN EXCLAIMS]
[RAGTIME MUSIC RESUMES]
[CORNET PLAYING]
[CROWD SHOUTING]
Thanks for the crowd.
[LAUGHS]
[DRUMS PLAYING]
Whoo!
BAND: Hey, Buddy Bolden!
[RAGTIME MUSIC CONTINUES]
MAN: Whoo!
[BANDS CLASHING]
Stop.
[CHEERING]
[ARMSTRONG CHATTERING
OVER RADIO]
ARMSTRONG: Thank you,
ladies and gentlemen,
thank you.
I see that we have someone
who can't not be here today.
Right over there.
You know, folks,
they helped me
get my very first cornet.
Yes, they did.
I was just a little boy
back then.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[ARMSTRONG CHATTERING]
Oh, that's it right there
Every night
You'll hear her croon
A Russian lullaby
Oh, just
Just a little plaintive tune
When baby starts to cry
[ARMSTRONG SCATTING]
Rock-a-bye, my baby...
[LOOM SQUEAKING]
[WHEELS SQUEAKING]
[ARMSTRONG CHATTERING
OVER RADIO]
You all right
down here, Buddy?
[LOOMS WHIRRING]
[SEWING MACHINE CLICKING]
[HISSING]
[THUMP]
[HISSING]
-[CLACKS]
-[HISSING]
[SOUNDS COMBINING IN RHYTHM]
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES]
[MACHINE WHIRRING]
MAN: [OVER RADIO]
...Radio broadcasting live
from Suburban Gardens
in New Orleans.
[CONTINUES CHATTERING]
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN: Evening, Bolden.
As an officer
of the court,
I am duty-bound to
make a periodic assessment
of the conditions in our
state prisons and asylums.
As presiding judge
of the Criminal Court
or Orleans parish,
I am the final arbiter
of your life and liberty.
I'm here
because you're here.
"Servants...
"be obedient to them
that are your masters.
"according to the flesh,
with fear and trembling..."
That's the way the world
moves on, Bolden.
Hate your oppressors
and you'll be enslaved
forever by your memories.
[GRUNTING]
-[BOYS SHOUTING]
-BARTLEY: Hey!
Hey!
Kid, you gotta put 'em up
or you gonna get hit.
All right, you two.
Go on. Come on.
[BOYS CHEERING]
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
-[GRUNTING]
-What'd I tell you?
What'd I tell you?
Come on now,
come on!
[GRUNTING]
[METAL CLANGING]
[CORNET ECHOING]
[MATCHSTICK FLARING]
[SLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES]
BOLDEN: Come on down
and see me play tonight.
NORA: And leave Mama
all alone?
No. Bring her with.
She can dance
like we do in church.
-What?
-I know she can.
[MUSIC RESUMES]
[CORNET PLAYING]
[GASPS]
Hold this.
[GASPING]
Come on,
you go it.
[MUTTERING]
God damn.
[THUDS]
[PLAYING CORNET]
Why we out here?
Women are dancing
over here.
Buddy, dancing's inside.
[CHUCKLES]
Ain't never enough
dancers for that.
You gotta call 'em all.
Can't you call, call 'em
from inside?
So you're just gonna
keep playing, huh?
You know what's
between them stars?
Don't start with
that shit, Buddy.
Space.
Please, man. Shit.
Ain't nothin' but time.
Yeah.
[KNOCKING ON WINDOW]
Nora.
Shh.
-Nora.
-Shh.
[WHISPERING]
What are you doing here?
-[GASPS]
-Nora, why you don't
come see me play?
A lady don't go
where the Bolden band play.
Oh.
Mama said you grow up
too wild for a good girl.
All that rockin'
in church,
she don't like that, no.
Mama don't like
your music neither.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
BOLDEN:
Hey, whoa, whoa!
Y'all ain't
playin' it right.
Put your horns down.
Put 'em down,
put 'em down.
We, we, we,
we're gonna clap it out.
Tillman, give me that, uh,
give me that beat
you were working with.
Hit it on four.
-This one?
-[PLAYS DRUMS]
Yeah, yeah,
that's it. Four.
Now, Johnson.
Ba, ba, ba-ra, ba-ra.
Ba, ba, ba-ra, ba-ra.
See how that feels?
Yeah, yeah, that's it.
Now, Mumford,
give me time.
[SCATTING TO BEAT]
[PLAYING GUITAR]
Oh, yeah.
Cornish, come on down.
-Hit two and four.
-[CLAPPING TO BEAT]
Come on, Cornish.
-[CLAPPING]
-Da. Da.
Let's go.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
Now, Warner.
Pay attention. Look.
You're gonna hit the four.
[CLAPPING TO BEAT]
Come on, Warner.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, yeah.
[CLAPPING TO BEAT]
Listen, listen.
That's it.
Oh!
[CLAPPING TO BEAT]
Yeah, ha.
[ARMSTRONG SCATTING]
This music about
talking to each other.
Yeah. Come on.
Now y'all havin'
a conversation.
[CORNET BLOWS]
-Who said that?
-[CORNET BLOWS]
Why would you now...
Yeah!
Come on.
[MUSIC FADES]
[MUSIC RESUMES]
[CHEERING]
I love you!
[LAUGHING]
Mama.
Nora gonna
move in with us.
NORA: Mmm.
-Yeah. That's it.
-[GIGGLING]
Ease into it
like that.
And you gotta, um...
Get your...
Get your wrists loose.
See that.
[BLOWS RASPBERRY]
Blow your lips.
Like that.
-You blow...
-[GIGGLES]
-[BLOWS RASPBERRY]
-Yeah, like...
[LAUGHING]
IDA: I ain't raise my daughter
for the likes of you.
How you fixin'
to make a livin'
playing your horn?
Why can't you
get a real job?
[WALTZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[INDISTINCT CHATTER
AND LAUGHTER]
[MUSIC ENDS]
[CHATTER CONTINUES]
[PLAYING JAZZ MUSIC]
[CROWD SHOUTING]
You dressing for church?
I don't wanna hear
nothing about that
First Street Baptist Church.
We're Episcopal.
[MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
Yeah.
ALICE: I got a new collar
for your shirt.
BOLDEN: Mama, I ain't wearing
a collar. It's too tight
around my neck.
Where you
performing at?
Union Sons Hall.
They call it the Funky Butt
when you're out playing.
Yeah, Mama.
But how you know that?
I hear things.
[PLAYING JAZZ MUSIC]
No, Mama, no.
No, Mama.
No, Mama, please.
Mama, please, I can't
breathe with that on.
But you look good.
Can't breathe in it.
[MUSIC SLOWS]
CROWD: Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
[CROWD CHEERING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
WOMAN: Bolden!
WARNER: Buddy.
Buddy!
Where you at, man?
[DOOR BANGS]
There you are.
I been lookin' all over.
Evenin', Warner.
This here is Mavis.
Hey, Mavis.
Bolden, we got a big crowd
waitin' on you, man.
We're busy now, honey.
And George Baquet,
waitin' out there
with his horn.
Blue-eyed tan man
comin' to
our neighborhood?
[DOOR SHUTS]
BOLDEN: Warner, you worried
about George Baquet?
That motherfucker
comin' for my job.
WARNER: Ain't nobody
comin' for your job.
BOLDEN: Why you think
the best paid clarinet man
in New Orleans
come to the pit
to play with us?
Jimmy Palao got the
light-skin niggers, too.
Nobody come
for your job.
He ain't so white
like they talk.
-[CELLO PLAYING]
-WOMAN: Make me
a pallet on your floor
Make me a pallet
on your floor
What she doin' here?
If you make me a pallet
I swear your woman
will never know
Make me a pallet
on your floor
Play your heart out,
Buddy Bolden.
[INAUDIBLE]
WOMAN:
Make it soft
Make it easy
make it flow
Make it soft
Make it easy
make it slow
When she comes in
I swear she would
never know
That you make me a pallet
down upon your floor
NORA: I'm pregnant.
[BABIES CRYING]
A baby?
You can't take care
of yourself.
Ain't you got one already?
A little boy?
[CORNET PLAYS ON RADIO]
[CHEERING]
ARMSTRONG: Yeah!
JUDGE PERRY:
Right and wrong.
Oh, it can be
so confusing.
Lord wrote a book
about it.
Civil societies are
defined by it.
You just don't know
the difference.
Niggers don't know
right from wrong.
You are not
in God's image.
NORA: We're gonna
have a baby, Buddy.
Come on.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
BARTLEY: King Bolden.
I want you to meet
George Baquet.
Hey, George.
You come to copy me?
BARTLEY:
Don't worry, Warner.
He just want to do
a couple of rounds
with Bolden.
[CHEERING]
[PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC]
[CROWD CHEERING]
[PLAYING CORNET SOLO]
[CHEERING]
[TEMPO INCREASES]
Yeah!
[ALL CHEERING]
Ladies and gentlemen,
this here George Baquet.
[SOUNDS FADING]
[CLATTERING]
YOUNG BOLDEN:
Here, here, let me
show you how to.
[CLARINET PLAYING]
Warner, come and get me!
Come on, Warner,
come and get me.
Come on.
[CLARINET CONTINUES PLAYING]
[WATER DRIPPING]
It's all right.
It's all right.
You'll get this.
GEORGE: Bolden, do you
write your music down?
Can you
write it down?
We're composing
on the bandstand,
you know?
So, it's...
It's like we're
talking to each other.
We're havin'
a conversation.
I let the notes
play on through,
that's what I do.
Just got to listen.
I never play
without the music
right in front of me.
[EXHALES]
You play it the same,
same, same, same, same.
I don't do none of that.
I play it my way.
Every time.
And that string may,
it may never come out the same
so how you gonna
write it down?
How you gonna
write it down, huh?
Bolden if you don't
write your music down,
how's anyone gonna
play it when you're gone?
You don't understand.
It's a...
It's a livin' thing.
It's, it's, it's...
It's me and the whole band.
We, we, we just
breathing together.
So you don't even know
what you're gonna play.
You know,
sometimes I...
[WATER DRIPPING]
I think it's better
not to play anything at all.
Bolden, try playing
around this.
[CLARINET PLAYING]
[DUET CONTINUES]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[CHILDREN LAUGHING]
[CORNET PLAYING]
You think Warner
holding back the band?
He been working hard.
But I'm with you
whatever you decide.
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING]
[MEN SINGING
RIDE ON KING JESUS]
Ride on
No man can hinder thee
- Ride on
- Ride on King Jesus
Ride on
No man can hinder thee
Ride on
- Ride on
- Ride on King Jesus
Ride on
No man can...
[BOAT HORN BLOWS]
You know what
this country needs?
What's that?
A negro
heavyweight champ.
Jack Johnson
the champ, man.
He the color champ.
White champ
won't even fight him.
No.
White champ ain't gonna
fight your ministry boys
and you wanna know why?
Why?
'Cause they don't
find us serious.
[CHUCKLES]
Gettin' in a ring
with Jack Johnson's
pretty goddamn serious.
White folks...
they're gonna have to
reckon with talent.
Bolden, you know about
cylinder recording?
-Cylinder recording?
-Mmm-hmm.
Put your music
in a machine.
[BOAT HORN BLOWS]
BOLDEN: Bartley know a man
put music in a tin can.
NORA: Music in
a tin can?
Yeah.
Well, how do it work?
You sound music
into a machine
and the machine
put out a tin can.
They'll put tin can
back into the machine,
and that music come out.
B...
Music in a tin can?
What it sound like?
I don't know.
I never heard it.
But Bartley say
it sound like money.
Sounds like magic.
[LAUGHS] Yeah.
Folks will hear my music,
but I'm invisible.
I don't know, Nora.
People hearing you play
and you ain't there?
[WATER DRIPPING]
Yeah.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[INMATES WAILING]
[SHOUTING]
[ALL SHOUTING]
MAN: This is a shit hole!
Gotta get a better place!
And I want
bigger niggers next time.
[FOOTSTEPS ECHOING]
[INTENSE MUSIC CONTINUES]
This cost a dime.
Sell 50 vials,
you make a dollar.
Sell 100 vials,
you get $2.10.
As business gets better,
y'all do better.
There's money
in recording music.
You gonna put your music
in Bartley's machine?
If there's a machine
play your music,
more folks gonna hear.
White folks, too.
They the ones
can afford the machine.
[INAUDIBLE]
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[INAUDIBLE]
JUDGE PERRY:
Desire and desperation
are dangerous
motivations, Bolden.
[WOMAN WAILS]
Humility recedes
and loyalty vanishes.
One thing stays the same.
There's always someone
who can do it better.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[PLAYING UPBEAT MUSIC]
[CROWD CLAPPING IN RHYTHM]
[ALL CHEERING]
MAN: Teach him
a lesson, Buddy.
[CHEERING]
BOLDEN: Yeah, all right.
Thank you.
[PLAYS HOLLOW NOTE]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[SOFTLY] Warner, I can't find
the valves to my horn.
You have the valves
right here. Look.
You're fine.
I'm not fine, Warner.
[CROWD SHOUTING]
Buddy.
[CROWD CHATTERING]
Play somethin'.
He's gonna let some
other motherfucker
right in
and steal our shit off?
Who gonna catch us, Buddy?
BOLDEN: Cornish , Cornish,
Cornish. You're supposed
to be on my side.
Can't nobody do
what we do, baby.
You gotta put your music
in that man's machine,
motherfucker.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
[BELL CHIMING]
King Bolden.
You ready?
Are you ready, Warner?
Ain't I lookin' ready?
We gonna play
at Butcher Hollow tonight.
No.
It hurts my ears, man.
The sound comin' off
of that wall, it's, uh,
messin' with my time,
so...
We go now,
we'll be right on time.
Right on the down beat.
Warner, listen to me.
My lip ain't balmed, so...
So get on down there.
I'll meet y'all over there.
Come on, man,
we gotta go to work.
"Go to work"?
Warner, you goin' to work.
You all right, Buddy?
Goddamn!
Warner, get out!
Warner get out!
Get on out.
And I'll be right over.
Okay?
Well, I guess
I'll see you
over there, Buddy.
[DOOR SHUTS]
You were supposed
to be playing my place
last night.
[GRUNTS]
I heard you was
playing down the street.
Hmm?
You fuck up
my Thursday night
business.
Somebody be
playing like me.
Somebody be
playing like me.
You gonna give us
the next three Thursdays
for nothin'. Hmm?
Gotta pay the band.
[GRUNTS]
BARTLEY: You out your
motherfuckin' mind.
You mess with
that man's business,
that means you messing
with my business.
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[INAUDIBLE]
[WATER DRIPPING]
WOMAN: Hey, Bartley,
what you gonna do
when you get Buddy's
music in a tin can?
BARTLEY: I'm gonna sell it.
Who's gonna want
to hear his music?
And I got exclusive
arrangements with
a white man by then.
[INHALES AND EXHALES]
Baby, you're gonna be
a family man now.
You gonna have a child
to provide for.
You wanna play your horn
instead of plastering walls,
all right.
But you gotta
make it pay.
Bartley...
he need to put
his music in that machine.
BARTLEY: Don't worry, baby.
We gonna get him.
Sooner or later,
we gonna get his music.
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING]
[CORNET PLAYS]
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
MAN: [OVER RADIO]
You're listening
to Louis Armstrong...
BOLDEN: [SHOUTS] Nora!
NORA: I need to get married
to you, Buddy.
When you coming home?
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
[MELANCHOLY MUSIC PLAYING]
[PLAYING BLACK AND BLUE]
[PLAYING CORNET SOLO]
Hey, baby.
Cold empty bed
Springs hard as lead
Feel like Old Ned
Wished I was dead
All my life through
I've been so black and blue
Hmm, hmm
- Even the mouse
-[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Ran from my house
They laughed at you
and scorned you too
What did I do, babe
To be so black and blue?
Mmm, I'm white
Inside
But that don't help my case
'Cause it
Can't hide
What is in my face
[ARMSTRONG SCATTING]
How would it end?
Ain't got a friend
My only sin is in my skin
What did I do, babe
Bartley!
To be so black and blue?
Bartley!
[PLAYING CORNET SOLO]
[MUSIC ENDS]
Buddy!
Buddy! Buddy!
[BUDDY GAGS]
Come on.
That's what
a motherfuckin'
manager do.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
[BUDDY BREATHING HOARSELY]
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
Aah!
Stupid motherfuckin'
whore.
[BUDDY GROANING]
Clean him up.
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
[RAIN PATTERING]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Ain't you somethin',
King Bolden.
You ain't come home
to me.
Don't do that to me.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[WATER DRIPPING]
[CORNET PLAYING]
[MAN SHOUTING]
JOHNSON: Ain't nobody playin'
what we playin'.
Ain't nobody playin'
what Buddy playin'.
Nobody's splitting up.
-And it just have
a certain life.
-[ALL CHATTERING]
Buddy showed up
like black Jesus.
[LAUGHTER]
So I guess that make us
his disciples.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
I'm looking for
a Buddy Bolden.
Well, shit, get in line.
You the police?
Uh, no, no.
Uh, Bartley sent me.
You don't play
clarinet, do you?
[CHUCKLES]
No.
No, he said that
Bolden wanted to
record his music.
I can do this.
It come out on
a little tin can, huh?
No. No, it comes out
on a wax cylinder.
Ah. I got...
-"Oscar Zahn"
-Mmm-mmm. Uh, Zahn.
"Cylinder recorders."
Buddy want to record
our music.
Let me see that.
Buddy's scared people are
gonna steal our music.
Now he wanna
put it on a machine?
Make no sense to me.
[PLAYING CORNET AND CLARINET]
[PLAYING OFF-KEY]
WARNER: Why you think
the best paid clarinet man
in New Orleans
come to the pit
to play with us?
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
So, uh...
[CLEARS THROAT]
It's pretty good.
[CLEARS THROAT]
Mmm-hmm.
[SIGHS]
We need to talk about
exclusive arrangements,
you and me.
[PLAYING SLOW MUSIC]
I'll put you
in front of a white audience.
[MEN CHEERING]
You a sensation, Bolden.
When people hear your music,
they understand somethin'
can hardly be put in words.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[INAUDIBLE]
[PEOPLE CHEERING]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
We need to talk about
exclusive arrangements,
you and me.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER
IN BACKGROUND]
[VALVES CLATTERING]
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[INMATES WAILING]
Playing with George Baquet,
good business.
[WATER DRIPPING]
Now how you gonna
make a livin'
without these, huh?
You got a wife and child
to provide for.
If it is your child.
NORA: You gonna
get out of bed?
Willie Cornish come by,
gave me the buttons
for your horn.
Why you takin' them out?
ALICE: I hear your daddy
every time you play.
I hear your daddy
every time you play.
Your daddy die young
to give you strength.
[WATER DRIPPING]
[DOOR OPENS]
[CREAKS SHUT]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[NORA GRUNTING]
[SCREAMING]
[GROANING]
[GRUNTING]
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[SCREAMING]
[CROWD CHEERING]
BOLDEN: My daddy gave me
the power of my lungs.
That's how I play like I do.
[SCREAMING]
[CROWD SHOUTING]
[CROWD SHOUTING]
[MAN COUGHING]
[SCREAMING]
[BABY WAILING]
ALICE: Your daddy
was sacrificed for your gift.
What gonna happen
to your baby?
You gonna lose your gift.
Where are you now?
Huh?
[UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
Brothers and sisters...
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
...I come to you today
to talk about returning home.
Back to Africa.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
We will never
be Americans.
It's time to return home.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[CHEERING]
-OFFICER: Now, let's go.
-We have the right
to a peaceful protest.
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[GRUNTING]
Get out! Get out! Go!
[PLAYING BROKEN NOTES]
[PLAYING HALTINGLY]
You, come here!
You don't move!
-MAN: Hey. Hey.
-Keep your hands off of me!
[WOMEN SHRIEK]
[INDISTINCT SHOUTING]
[SHOUTING]
MCMURPHY:
This is all on Bartley.
This here's your
enterprising nigger's
boy, Bolden.
Caused a riot
outside that dance hall
he was playin' at.
He's serious trouble.
This is all on Bartley.
[FOOTSTEPS ECHOING]
JUDGE PERRY:
Shut Bolden down?
MCMURPHY: Shut him down.
Just stop that boy playing.
A bold nigger
is dangerous.
[BRASS BAND PLAYING]
What you lookin' at?
[CROWD WHISTLING]
[BRASS BAND PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
[MUSIC FADING]
[GROWLS]
[PLAYING OFF TUNE]
Come on.
Get on out of here.
Motherfucker!
Get off of me!
[BOLDEN SHOUTING]
Cornish, where's Warner?
BOLDEN: You made
all your crowd crazy,
caused a riot.
You will stop playing
your goddamn horn.
That's what
the motherfuckers want.
That's what you'll do.
[HISSING]
[SCREAMING]
What we gonna do here?
MAN: What's wrong
with the man?
CORNISH: He gone
lost his mind.
Look, he ain't no Bolden,
but we can always
get Bunk Johnson
to play with us all.
[BIRDS TWITTERING]
NORA:
Ain't you got work?
You gonna
get out of bed?
[CORNET PLAYING FAINTLY]
[WALTZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
No. No, no. Leave me!
[BOTH GRUNT]
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
[SHOUTING]
[MUSIC FADES]
[MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING]
[CHEERING]
[CROWD EXCLAIMS]
Horns up, motherfuckers.
[WATER DRIPPING]
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
JUDGE PERRY:
Ambition...
born of vanity.
This is America, Bolden.
How far you think
you're gonna get?
Destroy the nigger's soul,
and they will destroy
each other.
[CROWD CLAMORING]
Turn around.
Number 9 to win.
Your valves
are right here.
You fine.
[TRAIN HORN BLOWS]
I'm leaving you, Buddy.
Mr. Warner gonna
take us up to Chicago.
I'mma help them
settle up there.
Can see if I can
get some work.
Maybe in one of
the stockyards.
[CROWD CHEERING]
[SLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]
Well, I though I heard
Buddy Bolden call
We started in the summer
we didn't end till fall
You walk in my room
But when you leave,
you will crawl
Oh, that's what
Mr. Bolden called...
[MUSIC FADING]
[MUSIC PLAYING FAINTLY]
[CHEERING]
[MAN CONTINUES SINGING]
BARTLEY: Are you ready?
Are you ready?
[CROWD CHEERING]
JUDGE PERRY:
Destroy men's souls
and they will
destroy each other.
BARTLEY: The best boxers
in the world
in the ring of fire!
[CHEERING]
Yeah
And then take it away
I thought I heard him say
No, Bolden.
Step back, man.
...Buddy Bolden repeat
I can play it hot
or I can play it sweet
-BOLDEN: I'm going...
-You ain't going in!
-Get out of here.
-That's my song!
[CONTINUES SHOUTING]
That's what I heard
Buddy Bolden repeat
[CONTINUE SHOUTING]
[GRUNTS]
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
[LOOMS WHIRRING]
[WHEEZES]
[LOOMS WHIRRING]
That one there.
[SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING]
[CROWD SHOUTING]
[GRUNTS]
[GASPING]
[FAINT SHOUTING]
[WHEEZING]
[CHEERING]
Get up! Get up!
Get your black ass up!
-Get up!
-Bartley!
You look at me, Bartley!
You lost!
You lost on our deal!
Bartley!
[CHUCKLES]
You're gonna stop
killing us.
BARTLEY:
It ain't me, baby.
It ain't me.
[PEN SCRATCHING]
[BARTLEY GAGGING]
[GASPS]
You have no past.
No history.
No culture.
You come from nothing.
I come from
the same place as you.
There is nothing
the same for you and me.
And that ain't never
gonna change.
You come from nothing,
raise your head,
get people to gather
like you're some kind of...
You think we're gonna
let that happen?
Hmm?
Let you incite
a godless crowd?
You don't like
what I played on this?
No one ever will.
[INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING]
Power that is not righteous
must be destroyed.
[BOLDEN SCREAMING]
[KEYS JINGLE]
[FOOTSTEPS RECEDING]
Oh, thank you, folks.
Thank you, folks.
Thank you, thank you.
Thank you, folks.
Thank you, folks.
So good to be back home.
You know,
when I was a little boy
wearing short pants,
I lived with my sister
and my mama
in the back of town.
Yeah. Yeah,
that was my neighborhood.
[BOLDEN SHOUTING]
I was delivering coal
to the district.
[CROWD EXCLAIM]
Boy, yeah, they don't talk
about a district no more,
now, do they?
[LAUGHS]
Yeah. Yeah, I think
I remember seeing you
there, Jackson, yeah.
You had a big hat on though
covering your face.
[BOLDEN SHOUTING]
Anyway, this one morning,
I was rolling through
that particular neighborhood,
and I heard a sound
that I never heard before.
I thought, "Man..."
[BOLDEN SHOUTING]
And, folks,
I wanna tell you something.
He was playing
the saddest tune
anyone hear.
Oh. Mmm-mmm.
I looked at him,
I said, "Mister."
I said, "Mister."
I said, "Why you playing
so sad, why you playing
so sad a tune?"
And he looked at me
and he said,
he said, "Son,
"today they took away the king.
They took away the king."
[DOOR OPENS]
I said, "The king?"
I was just a little boy,
you know.
"The king?"
I said, "Who's the king?"
He said, "'Who's the king?'"
"Buddy Bolden."
He said, "King Buddy Bolden."
That's what he told me.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
So this one's gonna go out
to King Buddy Bolden,
the first king
of New Orleans music.
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]


[MUSIC ENDS]
[JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING]