Poor old Joe "King" Oliver. What jazz fans tend to forget, and seldom learn about, is what happens to their jazz heroes once they became passé. Joe Oliver ended his days as a janitor living in extreme poverty. He died alone and pretty much forgotten and ignored. Art Tatum suffered a similar fate- once his style had come and gone, he couldn't BUY a gig. Well before Joe Pass died, you could often find him playing near-empty New York clubs. Lester Young spent his last years living in a seedy apartment, drinking and smoking his life away, listening to records, rarely if ever playing.
Today, jazz fans like to gush on about the accomplishments and the great performances and recordings of the "jazz greats", but nobody, it seems, is willing to address the END of their careers, and the manner in which the public, recording labels and fellow musicians kicked them to the kerb once their day in the sun was done.
By all accounts, Joe Oliver did a LOT for young musicians, including his protege, Louis Armstrong. If any of them returned the favour, including Louis Armstrong, I've never heard about it.