c. 1895—New Orleans, Louisiana

Trombonist William Cornish joins trumpeter Buddy Bolden’s band as possibly the earliest known jazz trombonist (Bolden himself often being considered the first jazz musician). Jazz pioneer Kid Ory later describes seeing and hearing Cornish perform, usually on valve trombone, at around the turn of the century (Dietrich 15) (see above photograph of Bolden’s band, with Cornish holding valve trombone; public domain; source: wikimedia commons).