King Watzke
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Alex "King" Watzke (c. 1880 - 1918) was a violinist and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana. His band enjoyed fair popularity c. 1900 - 1910. The band played ragtime, popular music, and possibly an early or ancestral version of what later became known as jazz. By 1904 Watzke's band's repertory included an early version of what later became known as "Tiger Rag" or a similar melody.
Watzke decided to bill himself as "King" after the example of Buddy Bolden; see: Jazz royalty.
King Watzke died in the Spanish Flu pandemic.