Before you view the RED HOT JAZZ web site photo of Buddy Bolden’s band, you should know that it holds a couple of mysteries.
Firstly, there was some confusion over the actual date that the picture was taken and secondly, due to the way the musicians are holding their instruments, it is not clear whether or not the picture you see has been printed in reverse.
Dealing with the date first, the web site states that it was taken in 1905. Conversely however, there is an eminent jazz tome called ‘A Pictorial History Of Jazz’ by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr., written in 1955, which carries the same picture, but claims it was taken some time before 1895. This date has been quoted in several publications. It was imparted by Bunk Johnson who claimed to have joined the band in 1895. Further to research into birth and marriage certificates etc, the correct date is more likely to be the 1905 one, because Jimmy Johnson, the bass player, would have been only eleven in 1895 and in the picture, he is certainly older than that!
The puzzle as to whether or not the photo is printed in reverse is due to the way the clarinettists are holding their instruments. It appears that both use left handed fingering, a rarity for such an occurrence in one band. But then, when the photo is reversed, the bassist and the guitarist appear to play left handed.  This has puzzled fastidious jazz nuts ever since the picture was discovered.