King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band was one of the best and most important bands in early Jazz. The Creole Jazz Band was made up of the cream of New Orleans Hot Jazz musicians, featuring Baby Dodds on drums, Honore Dutrey on trombone, Bill Johnson on bass, Louis Armstrong on second cornet, Johnny Dodds on clarinet, Lil Hardin-Armstrong on piano, and the band's leader, King Oliver on cornet. In 1922 Armstrong received a telegram from his mentor Joe Oliver, asking him to join the band in Chicago. He nervously accepted and went north to Chicago to play second cornet with the band at the Lincoln Gardens at 459 East 31st Street. The addition of Armstrong to this already powerful and popular band took the town by storm. Soon musicians and fans were flocking to hear Louis' amazing cornet playing with the Oliver band. Louis met his second wife Lil Hardin who was the pianist in the Creole Jazz Band. Eventually it was she who urged Louis to leave the band so that he might live up to his true potential and not get stuck playing second to Oliver.

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