Paul Mares’ Trumpet

This trumpet belonged to Paul Mares, a New Orleans native who became one of the top jazz trumpeters of the Prohibition era. Mares gained renown playing in Chicago nightclubs. He formed the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, one of the era’s most influential white jazz bands. In 1923, his band recorded five songs with jazz legend Jelly Roll Morton that are considered the first interracial jazz recordings. Mares died in 1949. Conn likely manufactured this Cavalier-brand instrument in the early 1930s.