The actor gives a mesmerizing performance in the film about Buddy Bolden, the man who is credited with having invented Jazz.

If you’ve never heard of Buddy Bolden, it’s imperative that you check out the film that gives us a glimpse into the times and music of the man that is credited with having created Jazz, one of America’s few indigenous art forms and its earliest and most important cultural export.

His never heard before sound fused gospel, the blues and ragtime with his cornet’s improvisational genius to influence the course of popular music in ways that few ever have, before or since.

In the film “Bolden”, which premieres nationwide in movie theaters on Friday, May 3rd, we see the legendary Louis Armstrong, played by Reno Wilson, performing a seminal concert in New Orleans, which was the first time an African-American musician spoke on the radio.

During this incredible concert, we see the man who was once known as “King Bolden” wasting away in a Louisiana insane asylum as his mind wanders back to the days when the musical world of New Orleans was his oyster.

The movie, which features an intoxicating and mesmerizing score by one of its Executive Producers, the legendary Wynton Marsalis, takes one of history’s forgotten musical geniuses and places him where he belongs, sharing his remarkable legacy with a world that, unfortunately, knows little about him.

We recently caught up with Reno Wilson, who gives an astonishing performance in the film. He doesn’t simply play the great Louis Armstrong, he channels him in a way that is both spooky and awe-inspiring.

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