Joe Oliver started off playing the trombone, but he soon switched to playing the cornet. The trumpet playing of Buddy Bolden originally influenced his style of play. Oliver soon developed his own personalized style of playing the trumpet. It was with this modified style that he would gain his recognition and fame. King Oliver "is...reported to have been the first cornet player to play with mutes, cups and bottles." The use of mutes allowed King Oliver to produce new and unusual sounds on his cornet and to present these sounds to his audiences. This technique gave his music a distinctive sound and has been copied by cornet players throughout the world. Bubber Miley's style of play is reported to have been inspired by this unique array of sounds.

The music of Joe "King" Oliver acts as a benchmark for today's musicians. With his innovative style of play and amazing gift for attracting top talent, Oliver had an amazing career. His recordings and arrangements continue to delight jazz lovers to this day. Martin Williams, author of Jazz Heritage writes "I have been listening to Oliver's music...for over twenty-five years, and yet on no occasion do I return to it without the rewards of discovering something new."

While in New Orleans, King Oliver became a mentor to an unknown yet talented musician named Louis Armstrong. King Oliver gave Louis Armstrong a cornet after Armstrong was released from the Colored Waifs Home in New Orleans and encouraged him to play. Louis Armstrong once said, "Joe Oliver has always been my inspiration and my idol. No trumpet player ever had the fire that Oliver had. Man, he could really punch a number...no one ever created as much as Joe."

Despite being well known and respected by jazz audiences throughout the South, King Oliver was arrested while playing a gig in a New Orleans dance hall in 1919. A fight had broken out in the audience during his set and Oliver and his band were arrested along with the participants. This unpleasant incident prompted both Joe Oliver and Kid Ory to leave New Orleans and move to Chicago. While there, he and Kid Ory played in Bill Johnson's Band, The Original Creole Orchestra. Oliver left Chicago the following year to play gigs in California. He stayed in California for two years and then, in 1922, he returned to Chicago.

Despite his dying in obscurity, Joe "King" Oliver had a huge impact on the world of jazz music. His innovative use of mutes has become a standard technique for modern-day jazz musicians. He is also remembered for his impressive mastery of tonal improvisation. Oliver was able to get a "seemingly infinite variety of tones from his instrument." Some famous examples of this talen

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