[Updated] Edward “Kid” Ory may not be as well known as the superstars of early jazz, players such as Louis Armstrong and Buddy Bolden, but Ory played with them all, and he left an indelible imprint on each of them, all the while helping to create the most dominant trombone sound of all.

Ory left New Orleans for Los Angeles in 1919. In the mid-1920s, he landed...