Buddie Petit (born Joseph Crawford; ca. 1897 – July 4, 1931), also spelled Buddy Petit, was an American early

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

cornetist. His early life is somewhat mysterious, with dates of his birth given in various sources ranging from 1887 to 1897. He was said to have been born in White Castle,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, United States. His given name was Joseph Crawford, but he was adopted by the trombonist

Joseph Petit Joseph Petit (1873 or 1880, in New Orleans – 1946, in New Orleans) was an American jazz trombonist. He was the stepfather of Buddy Petit, and played in many early New Orleans jazz groups. Joseph Petit played in the Olympia Orchestra, the Camel ...

, whose name he took. He took Freddie Keppard's place in the Eagle Band (a place earlier held by

Buddy Bolden Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden (September 6, 1877 – November 4, 1931) was an African American cornetist who was regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of a New Orleans style of ragtime music, or "jass", which later ...

) when Keppard left town. He was briefly lured to Los Angeles by

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a ge ...

and Bill Johnson in 1917, but he objected to being told to dress and behave differently from what he was accustomed to and returned to New Orleans. He spent the rest of his career in the area around greater New Orleans, and the towns north of

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from wes ...

, not venturing further from home than Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Okeh Records offered him a chance to record on their 1925 field trip to New Orleans, but Petit held out for more money and was never recorded.

Danny Barker Daniel Moses Barker (January 13, 1909 – March 13, 1994) was an American jazz musician, vocalist, and author from New Orleans. He was a rhythm guitarist for Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter during the 1930s. One of Barker's ea ...

and Louis Armstrong said that it was a great loss to jazz history that there are no recordings of Petit. He died in July 1931, after "over-indulging" in food and drink.

References

External links

Buddy Petit (1895-1931)
on Red Hot Jazz Archive
Buddy Petit
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petit, Buddie 1890s births 1931 deaths Jazz musicians from New Orleans American jazz cornetists 20th-century American musicians People from White Castle, Louisiana The Eagle Band members 20th-century African-American musicians