Known for his use of mutes in jazz, as well as for his compositions, like "Doctor Jazz."
He started playing with brass bands in New Orleans in his mid-twenties and started his own extremely popular band with Kid Ory.
His band King Oliver and his Dixie Syncopators was an expanded group of nine, which toured in the mid-1920s.
He and his wife raised a daughter named Ruby.
Oliver was mentor to Louis Armstrong and one of his most important influences.
