I was thinking of the guys who stayed home, and became part of the revival (Kid Rena, Kid Thomas, etc) -
I don't think we would find Bolden's playing any less impressive than others of that time who played in a very basic ragtime
style - Oliver, Landnier, Keppard, Mutt Carey, Natty Dominique, and then later Bunk - with all of these players it was less the notes than the expression, which was not well captured until the electrical era, and then imperfectly (one thing, for example, that is regularly said about Bix is that the recordings don't catch his power).