King Watzke

Alex "King" Watzke (1872-1918) was a violinist and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana. His band enjoyed fair popularity ca. 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. Alexander Watzke, Junior ("King") was the youngest child of Alexander Watzke (Senior), a member of the Louisiana State Legislature, and a leader of New Orleans' German community, who died in 1914. He had several siblings; a family history of the Watzkes in America has been published on the internet. "King" Watzke was one of the first white bandleaders to take up ragtime and jazz, what had hitherto been primarily African-American musical genres, and thus was responsible for more widely popularizing these musical styles.

Watzke decided to bill himself as "King" after the example of Buddy Bolden; see: Jazz royalty.

King Watzke died in the Spanish Flu pandemic. An obituary was published in the New York Times, and he and his band are referred to in a recent scholarly book about the history of New Orleans jazz. Additional information about "King" Watzke was supplied by Ralph Watzke,lawyer, of Regina, Saskatchewan, who has been actively researching the family history.