The legendary trombonist, Kid Ory, one of the architects of early jazz, allegedly financed some of his sessions by running rum—or at least facilitating it.

In the 1920s, with jazz clubs booming and booze illegal, musicians often played both the speakeasies and the underground networks that kept them wet.  Ory, who performed with Louis Armstrong and King Oliver, was said to stash bottles inside his trombone case while traveling between gigs in Storyville and the French Quarter.

One story claims he once evaded a raid by pretending to be mid-performance—popping the slide off his trombone just as an agent reached for the horn, and “accidentally” dumping it into the Mississippi.