DUPREE BOLTON

There are Obscure Trumpet Masters…and then there’s Dupree Bolton. To say that a shroud of mystery has always surrounded Bolton would be an understatment. Bolton never led an actual recording session under his own name. He appeared, seemingly from nowhere in California in 1959 and set the West Coast jazz world abuzz with his performance as a sideman. He then disappeared just as quickly and reappeared a few years later, again as a sideman, displaying mind-blowing chops. He was then gone again, never to officially record again for the remainder of his life. Who was Dupree Bolton, where did he come from and where did he go? The information will forever remain sketchy, at best. The most that we know comes from the indefatigable work of the noted jazz historian and writer, Ted Gioia, who, with a great deal of effort, managed to track down Bolton, in person, during his later read more...