Original Dixieland Jass Band
Encyclopedia
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) were a New Orleans, Dixieland
jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues
" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standard
s, the most famous being Tiger Rag
. In late 1917 the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
The band consisted of five musicians who previously had played in the Papa Jack Laine
bands, a diverse and racially integrated
group of musicians who played for parade
s, dance
s, and advertising
in New Orleans.
ODJB billed itself as the Creators of Jazz, because it was the first band to record jazz commercially and to have hit recordings in the new genre
. Band leader and trumpeter, Nick LaRocca
, argued that ODJB deserved recognition as the first band to record jazz commercially and the first band to establish jazz as a musical idiom
or genre.
approached clarinetist Alcide Nunez
and drum
mer Johnny Stein
about bringing a New Orleans-style band to Chicago, where the similar Brown's Band From Dixieland led by trombonist
Tom Brown
already was enjoying success. They then assembled trombonist Eddie Edwards, pianist
Henry Ragas
, and cornetist Frank Christian. Shortly before they were to leave, Christian backed out, and Nick LaRocca
was hired as a last-minute replacement.
On March 3, 1916 the musicians began their job at Schiller's Cafe in Chicago under the name Stein's Dixie Jass Band. The band was a hit and received offers of higher pay elsewhere. Since Stein as leader was the only musician under contract by name, the rest of the band broke off, sent to New Orleans for drummer Tony Sbarbaro
, and on June 5, started playing under the name, The Dixie Jass Band. LaRocca and Nunez had personality conflicts, and on October 30 Tom Brown's Band and ODJB agreed to swap clarinetists, bringing Larry Shields
into the Original Dixieland Jass Band. The band attracted the attention of theatrical agent Max Hart, who booked the band in New York City
. At the start of 1917 the band began an engagement playing for dancing at Reisenweber's Cafe in Manhattan
.
When the New Orleans Jazz style swept New York by storm in 1917 with the arrival of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Jimmy Durante
was part of the audience at Reisenweber's Cafe on Columbus Circle
when ODJB played that venue. Durante was very impressed with the band and invited them to play at a club called the Alamo in Harlem
where Jimmy played piano.
Durante had his friend, Johnny Stein, assemble a group of like-minded New Orleans musicians to accompany his act at the Alamo. They later billed themselves as "Durante's Jazz and Novelty Band". In late 1918 they recorded two sides for Okeh
under the name of the New Orleans Jazz Band. They recorded the same two numbers a couple of months later for Gennett
under the name of Original New Orleans Jazz Band
, and in 1920 the same group recorded again for Gennett as Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band. Numerous jazz bands were formed in the wake of the success of ODJB that copied and replicated its style and sound.
acts. ODJB, on the other hand, played for dancing and hence, were the first "jass" band to get a following of fans in New York and then record at a time when the USA's recording industry essentially, was centered in New York and New Jersey
.
Shortly after arriving in New York, a letter dated January 29, 1917, offered the band an audition for the Columbia Graphophone Company
. The session took place on Wednesday, January 31, 1917
. Nothing from this test session was issued.
The band then recorded two sides for the Victor Talking Machine Company
, "Livery Stable Blues
" and "Dixie Jass Band One Step", on February 26, 1917, for the Victor label. These titles were released as the sides of a 78 record on March 7, the first issued jazz record. The band records, first marketed simply as a novelty, were a surprise hit, and gave many Americans their first taste of jazz. Musician Joe Jordan
sued, since the "One Step" incorporated portions of his 1909 ragtime
composition "That Teasin' Rag". The record labels subsequently were changed to "Introducing 'That Teasin' Rag' by Joe Jordan".
In the wake of the group's success for the Victor release, in May the band returned to Columbia, recording two selections of popular tunes of the day chosen for them by the record company (possibly hoping to avoid the copyright problems which arose after Victor recorded two of the band's supposedly original compositions) "Darktown Strutter's Ball" and "(Back Home Again in) Indiana
" as catalogue #A-2297.
The surprising success of the band influenced other groups to form jazz bands and to record the new music of jazz, such as "Earl Fuller
's Famous Jazz Band", the Frisco Jazz Band, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.
W. C. Handy
recorded one of the earliest cover versions of a ODJB song when he released a recording of "Livery Stable Blues" by Handy's Orchestra of Memphis on Columbia Records in 1917, as Columbia A2419 and Columbia 2912, recorded on September 25, 1917.
The seminal 78 releases by the band include the following Victor, Columbia, and Aeolian Vocalion recordings:
in 1917, and returned to make more sides for Victor the following year, while enjoying continued popularity in New York. Trombonist Edwards was drafted for World War I in 1918 and replaced with Emile Christian
, and pianist Henry Ragas
died of influenza
in the Spanish Flu
Pandemic
the following year and he was replaced by pianist and composer J. Russel Robinson.
Robinson composed the jazz standard "Eccentric" ("That Eccentric Rag"), "Margie", "Jazzola", "Singin' the Blues (Till My Daddy Comes Home)", which was recorded by Bix Beiderbecke
, Frankie Trumbauer
, and Eddie Lang
, "Mary Lou", "Pan Yan (And His Chinese Jazz Band)", "How Many Times?", "Aggravatin' Papa (Don't You Try to Two-Time Me)", "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "Get Rhythm in Your Feet", recorded by Red Allen
and His Orchestra with Chu Berry, "Yeah Man!", recorded by Fletcher Henderson
and His Orchestra in 1933 and released on Vocalion, "Reefer Man" for Cab Calloway
in 1932, "Dynamite Rag", "Meet Me at No Special Place", recorded by Nat King Cole
, "Alhambra Syncopated Waltzes", "Te-na-na (From New Orleans)", "Beale Street Mama", recorded by Bessie Smith
and Cab Calloway, and "Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)". In 1916, Robinson, whose name appeared as "J. Russel Robinson", collaborated with W. C. Handy on the song "Ole Miss Rag". In 1919, Robinson collaborated with Handy and Charles N. Hillman on "Though We're Miles and Miles Apart", which was released by Handy's publishing company. Robinson also wrote the blues classic "St. Louis Gal", which was recorded by Bessie Smith
.
Robinson's compositions for the band in 1920, the classic "Margie", "Singin' the Blues", and "Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)", released as a 78, were among the most popular and best-selling hits of 1920. "Aggravatin' Papa" was composed with lyricist Roy Turk
and Addie Britt and was recorded by Alberta Hunter
in 1923 with Fletcher Henderson's Dance Orchestra and also by Bessie Smith, Sophie Tucker
, Florence Mills
, Lucille Hegamin
, and Pearl Bailey
. Robinson also collaborated with Roy Turk on the compositions "Sweet Man O' Mine" and "A-Wearin' Away the Blues", and he wrote "Mama Whip! Mama Spank! (If Her Daddy Don't Come Home)" for blues and jazz singer Mamie Smith
and her Jazz Band in 1921, which were released on the Okeh label. Robinson was a member of the band until it broke up in 1923. He rejoined the band when it reformed in 1936.
The ODJB classic "Margie", composed by J. Russel Robinson with Con Conrad
, with lyrics added by Benny Davis
, has been covered over a hundred times. "Margie" has been recorded by Louis Armstrong
, who also covered the band's "Tiger Rag", Ray Charles
, Al Jolson
, Duke Ellington
and His Orchestra in 1935, the Billy Kyle
Swing Club Band, Claude Hopkins
, Red Nichols
, Django Reinhardt
, George Paxton
, the Dutch Swing College Band
, Fats Domino
, Sidney Bechet
, Don Redman
, Cab Calloway
, Jim Reeves
, Gene Krupa
, and Benny Goodman
.
"Margie" was a #9 hit for ODJB in 1921 with J. Russel Robinson on piano. Eddie Cantor had the biggest hit version of the ODJB classic, spending five weeks at #1 in 1921. The song also was featured in the movie The Eddie Cantor Story and was the theme of the television series of the same name in 1961–1962. Cantor also recorded ODJB's "Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)". Gene Rodemich
and His Orchestra reached #7 with their version in 1920. Ted Lewis
and His Band reached #4 in 1921. Frank Crumit
had a #7 hit in 1921. Claude Hopkins and His Orchestra reached #5 in 1934 with Orlando Peterson on vocals. Don Redman and His Orchestra got to #15 in 1939 with a cover of the ODJB song. Dave Brubeck
, Bix Beiderbecke
, Bing Crosby
, Jo Stafford
, Erroll Garner
, Oscar Peterson
, Charlie Shavers
, Jimmy Smith
, Joe Venuti, Ray Barretto
, and Shelly Manne
also have recorded the song. Jimmie Lunceford
recorded the song in 1938 with a Sy Oliver
arrangement that featured Trummy Young
.
, where they would once again enjoy being the only authentic New Orleans jazz band in the metropolis, and again present themselves as the Originators of Jazz because they were the first band to record the new genre of music dubbed jass or jazz. The band's 1919 appearance at the London Hippodrome
was the first official jazz gig by any band in the United Kingdom and was followed by a command performance
for King George V at Buckingham Palace
. The concert did not start auspiciously, with the assembled aristocracy, which included French Marshall Philippe Pétain
, peering through opera glasses
at the band "as though there were bugs on us", according to LaRocca. The audience loosened up, however, after the king laughed and loudly applauded their rendition of The Tiger Rag. The British tour ended with the band being chased to the Southampton
docks by Lord Harrington, who was infuriated that his daughter was being romanced by the lead singer of the band. In London, they made twenty more recordings for the British branch of Columbia. While in London, they recorded the second, more commercially successful, version of their hit song Soudan (also known as Oriental Jass).
The band returned to the United States in July 1920 and toured for four years. This version of the band played in a more commercial manner, adding a saxophone
to the arrangements in the manner of other popular orchestras. In the 1920s LaRocca was replaced by teen-aged trumpeter Henry Levine, who later brought this kind of repertoire to the NBC
radio show The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
. Jazz pianist and composer, Frank Signorelli
, who collaborated on the jazz standards "A Blues Serenade", recorded by Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington, "Gypsy", and "Stairway to the Stars", joined ODJB for a brief time in 1921.
, trombonist Eddie Edwards was discovered operating a newsstand in New York City. Newspaper publicity resulted in Edwards fronting a local nightclub band.
In 1936 the musicians played a reunion performance on network radio. RCA Victor invited them back into the studio, and they recorded six numbers as "The Original Dixieland Five." The group toured briefly before disbanding again. Clarinetist Larry Shields received particularly positive attention on this tour, and Benny Goodman
commented that Shields was an important early influence.
Edwards and Sbarbaro formed some bands without other original members in the 1940s and 1950s under the ODJB name. In 1944, a new version of "Tiger Rag" was released as a V-Disc
or Victory Disc, V-Disc 214, by the reformed band. "Sensation Rag" also was released as V-Disc 214B2. V-Discs were non-commercial releases recorded for the U.S. armed forces.
Back in New Orleans, LaRocca licensed bandleader Phil Zito to use the ODJB name for many years. Nick LaRocca's son, Jimmy LaRocca, continues to lead bands under the name The Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
In 1960 the book, The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, was published. Writer H. O. Brunn based it on Nick LaRocca's recollections, which sometimes differ from that of other sources.
entitled, The Good for Nothing (1917), which was directed by Carlyle Blackwell, who also played the lead role as Jack Burkshaw. Written by Alexander Thomas, it also featured Evelyn Greeley and Kate Lester and was produced by William Brady. Nick LaRocca, Larry Shields, Tony Sbarbaro, and Henry Ragas appeared in the film as a band, with LaRocca on trumpet, Shields on clarinet, Ragas on piano, and Sbarbaro on drums. The film was released on December 10, 1917, produced by Peerless Productions, and distributed by World Pictures.
s, cowbells, gong
s, and Chinese gourd
s. This musical innovation represented one of the first experimental exercises in jazz. At the time, their music was liberating; the barnyard sounds were experiments in altering the tonal qualities of the instruments, and clattering wood blocks broke up the rhythm. The music was very lively when compared to the pop music of the time.
It can be argued that they ranked among the most talented composers of popular music of their day. Many of the tunes first composed and recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, such as "Tiger Rag
" and "Margie", were recorded by all the major jazz bands and orchestras of the twentieth century, black and white. "Tiger Rag" was recorded by everyone from Louis Armstrong to Duke Ellington to Glenn Miller to Benny Goodman. "Tiger Rag", in particular, became popular with many colleges and universities having a tiger as a mascot. In the biography, John Coltrane: His Life and Music, published in 1999, Lewis Porter noted that ODJB's classic, "Margie", was a "specialty" of John Coltrane
, a song he performed regularly in his early career. "Tiger Rag", "Margie", "Clarinet Marmalade", "At The Jazz Band Ball", "Sensation Rag", and "Fidgety Feet" remain much played classics in the repertory of contemporary Dixieland
and Traditional Jazz bands. Their tunes were published as collaborations by some or all of the entire ensemble, including band leader Nick La Rocca.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recording of "Tiger Rag" was no.1 for two weeks on the U.S. Hit Parade charts beginning on December 11, 1918. The Mills Brothers recorded "Tiger Rag" in 1931 with lyrics and spent four weeks at no.1 on the charts in 1931–1932 with their version of the ODJB song.
Compared to later jazz, the ODJB recordings have only modest improvisation in mostly ensemble tunes. Clarinetist Larry Shields is perhaps the most interesting player, showing a good fluid tone, and if his melodic variations and breaks now seem overly familiar, this is because they were imitated widely by musicians who followed in the band's footsteps.
Their concept of arrangement was somewhat limited, and their recordings can seem rather repetitive. The lack of a bass player is scarcely compensated for by the piano on their earlier, acoustically recorded sessions. Nonetheless, ODJB arrangements were wild, impolite, and definitely had a jazz feel, and that style still is referred to as the style of music known as Dixieland
.
Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, one of the most popular and influential jazz bands of the 1920s, recorded several ODJB compositions:
Jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke recorded nine compositions by ODJB in various bands and orchestras from 1924 to 1930: "Fidgety Feet", his first recording in 1924, "Tiger Rag", "Sensation", "Lazy Daddy", "Ostrich Walk", "Clarinet Marmalade", "Singin' the Blues" with Frankie Trumbauer and Eddie Lang, "Margie", and "At The Jazz Band Ball". Beiderbecke was influenced by ODJB to become a jazz musician and was heavily influenced by Nick LaRocca's trumpet style with the band.
Louis Armstrong acknowledged the importance of ODJB in the evolution and development of jazz and the influence they had on him:
ODJB was the first band to record jazz successfully, establishing and creating jazz as a new musical idiom
and genre
of music.
There were 136 cover versions of ODJB's copyright jazz standard and classic, Tiger Rag by 1942. It was recorded by:
In 1954, "Tiger Rag" was featured in the MGM cartoon "Dixieland Droopy", directed by Tex Avery, in which Droopy plays on his record. It's also what the flea jazz band (on Droopy) performs in the cartoon.
The band's "Tiger Rag" was added to National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress
in 2002.
Finally, "Tiger Rag" was used in a Microsoft Xbox ad, the "Banned Xbox 360 Ad: Best Ad Ever!", advertising the Xbox 360 console from Microsoft.
In 2006, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's recording of "Darktown Strutter's Ball", released in 1917 as Columbia single A2297, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2008, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band classic "Ostrich Walk", written by Edwin B. Edwards, Nick LaRocca, Henry Ragas, Tony Sbarbaro, and Larry Shields, in a performance by Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer, was included on the soundtrack to the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The soundtrack also included "Wah Dee Dah", a collaboration with Russel Robinson, in a performance by Cab Calloway. The movie was based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
from the collection, Tales of the Jazz Age.
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues
Livery Stable Blues
"Livery Stable Blues" is a 1917 jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. It was famously recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on 26 February 1917 and, with the flip side "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" , became the first jazz recording ever released...
" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standard
Jazz standard
Jazz standards are musical compositions which are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list of jazz standards, and the list of songs deemed to be...
s, the most famous being Tiger Rag
Tiger Rag
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.-Origins:...
. In late 1917 the spelling of the band's name was changed to Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
The band consisted of five musicians who previously had played in the Papa Jack Laine
Papa Jack Laine
George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine was a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I....
bands, a diverse and racially integrated
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
group of musicians who played for parade
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
s, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
s, and advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
in New Orleans.
ODJB billed itself as the Creators of Jazz, because it was the first band to record jazz commercially and to have hit recordings in the new genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
. Band leader and trumpeter, Nick LaRocca
Nick LaRocca
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca , was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag"...
, argued that ODJB deserved recognition as the first band to record jazz commercially and the first band to establish jazz as a musical idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
or genre.
Origins
In early 1916 a promoter from ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
approached clarinetist Alcide Nunez
Alcide Nunez
Alcide Patrick Nunez was an early United States jazz clarinetist. Also known as Yellow Nunez and Al Nunez, he was born in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana of an Isleño family and moved to New Orleans in his childhood.He initially played guitar, then switched to clarinet about 1902...
and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
mer Johnny Stein
Johnny Stein
John Philip Hountha "Johnny" Stein was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.Stein's surnames are the subject of much confusion; his mother's name was Stein from a previous marriage, and although he was apparently given the last name Hountha, he used Stein professionally...
about bringing a New Orleans-style band to Chicago, where the similar Brown's Band From Dixieland led by trombonist
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
Tom Brown
Tom Brown (trombonist)
Tom Brown , sometimes known by the nickname Red Brown, was an early New Orleans dixieland jazz trombonist. He also played string bass professionally....
already was enjoying success. They then assembled trombonist Eddie Edwards, pianist
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas was a jazz pianist who played with the Original Dixieland Jass Band on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded , although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available...
, and cornetist Frank Christian. Shortly before they were to leave, Christian backed out, and Nick LaRocca
Nick LaRocca
Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca , was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag"...
was hired as a last-minute replacement.
On March 3, 1916 the musicians began their job at Schiller's Cafe in Chicago under the name Stein's Dixie Jass Band. The band was a hit and received offers of higher pay elsewhere. Since Stein as leader was the only musician under contract by name, the rest of the band broke off, sent to New Orleans for drummer Tony Sbarbaro
Tony Sbarbaro
Antonio Sparbaro, better known as Tony Sbarbaro or Tony Spargo was an American jazz drummer associated with New Orleans jazz. He was the drummer of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band for over 50 years....
, and on June 5, started playing under the name, The Dixie Jass Band. LaRocca and Nunez had personality conflicts, and on October 30 Tom Brown's Band and ODJB agreed to swap clarinetists, bringing Larry Shields
Larry Shields
Lawrence James "Larry" Shields was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist.Shields was born into an Irish-American family in Uptown New Orleans, on the same block where jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden lived...
into the Original Dixieland Jass Band. The band attracted the attention of theatrical agent Max Hart, who booked the band in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. At the start of 1917 the band began an engagement playing for dancing at Reisenweber's Cafe in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
When the New Orleans Jazz style swept New York by storm in 1917 with the arrival of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
was part of the audience at Reisenweber's Cafe on Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle
Columbus Circle, named for Christopher Columbus, is a major landmark and point of attraction in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South , and Central Park West, at the southwest corner of Central Park. It is the point from...
when ODJB played that venue. Durante was very impressed with the band and invited them to play at a club called the Alamo in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
where Jimmy played piano.
Durante had his friend, Johnny Stein, assemble a group of like-minded New Orleans musicians to accompany his act at the Alamo. They later billed themselves as "Durante's Jazz and Novelty Band". In late 1918 they recorded two sides for Okeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
under the name of the New Orleans Jazz Band. They recorded the same two numbers a couple of months later for Gennett
Gennett Records
Gennett was a United States based record label which flourished in the 1920s.-Label history:Gennett records was founded in Richmond, Indiana by the Starr Piano Company, and released its first records in October 1917. The company took its name from its top managers: Harry, Fred and Clarence Gennett....
under the name of Original New Orleans Jazz Band
Original New Orleans Jazz Band
The Original New Orleans Jazz Band was one of the first jazz bands to make recordings. Composed of mostly New Orleans musicians, the band was popular in New York City in the late 1910s....
, and in 1920 the same group recorded again for Gennett as Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band. Numerous jazz bands were formed in the wake of the success of ODJB that copied and replicated its style and sound.
First recordings
While a couple of other New Orleans bands had passed through New York City slightly earlier, they were part of vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
acts. ODJB, on the other hand, played for dancing and hence, were the first "jass" band to get a following of fans in New York and then record at a time when the USA's recording industry essentially, was centered in New York and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Shortly after arriving in New York, a letter dated January 29, 1917, offered the band an audition for the Columbia Graphophone Company
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. The session took place on Wednesday, January 31, 1917
1917 in music
-Events:* May 12 - Béla Bartók's ballet The Wooden Prince is premiered in Budapest* First Jazz recordings made by the Original Dixieland Jass Band* First African American jazz recordings made by Wilber Sweatman's Band* Eddie Cantor makes his first recordings...
. Nothing from this test session was issued.
The band then recorded two sides for the Victor Talking Machine Company
Victor Talking Machine Company
The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. It was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey....
, "Livery Stable Blues
Livery Stable Blues
"Livery Stable Blues" is a 1917 jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. It was famously recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on 26 February 1917 and, with the flip side "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" , became the first jazz recording ever released...
" and "Dixie Jass Band One Step", on February 26, 1917, for the Victor label. These titles were released as the sides of a 78 record on March 7, the first issued jazz record. The band records, first marketed simply as a novelty, were a surprise hit, and gave many Americans their first taste of jazz. Musician Joe Jordan
Joe Jordan (musician)
Joe Jordan was an African American musician and composer. Jordan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, grew up in St...
sued, since the "One Step" incorporated portions of his 1909 ragtime
Ragtime
Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...
composition "That Teasin' Rag". The record labels subsequently were changed to "Introducing 'That Teasin' Rag' by Joe Jordan".
In the wake of the group's success for the Victor release, in May the band returned to Columbia, recording two selections of popular tunes of the day chosen for them by the record company (possibly hoping to avoid the copyright problems which arose after Victor recorded two of the band's supposedly original compositions) "Darktown Strutter's Ball" and "(Back Home Again in) Indiana
Back Home Again in Indiana
" Indiana" is a song composed by Ballard MacDonald and James F. Hanley, first published in January of 1917. While it is not the official state song of the U.S...
" as catalogue #A-2297.
The surprising success of the band influenced other groups to form jazz bands and to record the new music of jazz, such as "Earl Fuller
Earl Fuller
Earl Fuller was an American society dance band leader, drummer and pianist.His group "Earl Fuller's Rector Novelty Orchestra" was a regular feature at Rector's restaurant in New York City. Their records were released on Victor Records, Columbia Records, Emerson Records and Edison Records and sold...
's Famous Jazz Band", the Frisco Jazz Band, and the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.
W. C. Handy
W. C. Handy
William Christopher Handy was a blues composer and musician. He was widely known as the "Father of the Blues"....
recorded one of the earliest cover versions of a ODJB song when he released a recording of "Livery Stable Blues" by Handy's Orchestra of Memphis on Columbia Records in 1917, as Columbia A2419 and Columbia 2912, recorded on September 25, 1917.
The seminal 78 releases by the band include the following Victor, Columbia, and Aeolian Vocalion recordings:
- Dixie Jass Band One Step/Introducing That Teasin' Rag/Livery Stable BluesLivery Stable Blues"Livery Stable Blues" is a 1917 jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. It was famously recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on 26 February 1917 and, with the flip side "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" , became the first jazz recording ever released...
, 1917, Victor 18255 - At the Jazz Band Ball/Barnyard Blues, 1917, Aeolian Vocalion A1205
- Ostrich Walk/Tiger RagTiger Rag"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.-Origins:...
, 1917, Aeolian Vocalion A1206 - Reisenweber Rag/Look at 'Em Doing it Now, 1917, Aeolian Vocalion 1242
- Darktown Strutters' BallDarktown Strutters' Ball"Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard....
/(Back Home Again in) Indiana, 1917, Columbia A2297, the ODJB recording of Darktown Strutters' Ball was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame on February 8, 2006 - Skeleton Jangle/Tiger Rag (1918 version), 1918, Victor 18472
- Bluin' the Blues/Sensation Rag, 1918, Victor 18483
- Mournin' Blues/Clarinet Marmalade, 1918, Victor 18513, Mournin' Blues also appeared as Mornin' Blues on some releases
- Fidgety Feet (War Cloud)/Lazy Daddy, 1918, Victor 18564
- Lasses Candy/Satanic Blues, 1919, Columbia 759
- Oriental Jazz (or Jass), 1919, recorded November 24, 1917 and issued as Aeolian Vocalion 12097 in April, 1919 with Indigo Blues by Ford Dabney's Band
- Soudan (also known as Oriental Jass and Oriental Jazz), 1920, recorded in London in the UK in May, 1920 and released as English #Columbia 829; Soudan was composed by Czech composer Gabriel Sebek in 1906 as In the Soudan: A Dervish Chorus or Oriental Scene for Piano, Op. 45. The B side was Me-Ow by the London Dance Orchestra
- MargieMargie (song)"Margie", also known as "My Little Margie", is a 1920 popular song. It was composed in collaboration by vaudeville performer and pianist Con Conrad and ragtime pianist J. Russel Robinson, a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Lyrics were written by Benny Davis, a vaudeville performer and...
/Singin' the Blues/Palesteena, 1920, Victor 18717 - Broadway Rose/Sweet Mama (Papa's Getting Mad)/Strut, Miss Lizzie, 1920, Victor 18722
- Home Again Blues/Crazy Blues/It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, Tain't No Fault O' Mine), 1921, Victor 18729
- Tell Me/Mammy O' Mine, 1921, recorded in the UK and released as Columbia 804
- I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles/My Baby's Arms, 1921, Columbia 805
- I've Lost My Heart in Dixieland/I've Got My Captain Working for Me NowI've Got My Captain Working for Me NowI've Got My Captain Working for Me Now is a popular song written in 1919 by Irving Berlin.The song tells of a young man who returns to work as a manager in his father's factory following his tour of duty as a Private First Class in World War I. His now-unemployed former Captain is hired as a clerk...
, 1921, Columbia 815 - Sphinx/Alice Blue Gown, 1921, Columbia 824
- Jazz Me Blues/St. Louis BluesSt. Louis BluesThe St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade...
, 1921, Victor 18772 - Royal Garden BluesRoyal Garden Blues"Royal Garden Blues" is a blues song composed by Clarence and Spencer Williams in 1919. Popularized in jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, it has since been recorded by numerous artists and has become a jazz standard...
/Dangerous Blues, 1921, Victor 18798 - Bow Wow Blues (My Mama Treats Me Like a Dog), 1922, Victor 18850. The B side featured Railroad Blues by the Benson Orchestra of Chicago under pianist and composer Roy Bargy
- Toddlin' Blues/Some of These Days, 1923, Okeh 4738
- You Stayed Away Too Long/Slipping Through My Fingers, 1935, Vocalion 3099
- Original Dixieland One-Step/Barnyard Blues (new version of Livery Stable Blues), 1936, Victor 25502
- Who Loves You?/Did You Mean It?, 1936, Victor 25420, which featured vocals by Chris Fletcher and Nick LaRocca on trumpet
- Good-Night, Sweet Dreams, Good-Night/In My Little Red Book, 1938, RCA Bluebird B-7444, which featured vocals by Lola Bard
- Tiger Rag (1943 version), 1944, V-DiscV-DiscV-Disc was a morale-boosting initiative involving the production of several series of recordings during the World War II era by special arrangement between the United States government and various private U.S. record companies. The records were produced for the use of United States military...
214B1, issued June, 1944 - Sensation (1943 version), 1944, V-Disc 214B2
- Shake It and Break It/When You and I Were Young, Maggie, 1946, Commodore C-613
Later history of the band
After their initial recording for Victor, they recorded for Columbia (after the first Victor session, not before as has sometimes been said) and Aeolian-VocalionVocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
in 1917, and returned to make more sides for Victor the following year, while enjoying continued popularity in New York. Trombonist Edwards was drafted for World War I in 1918 and replaced with Emile Christian
Emile Christian
Emile Joseph Christian was an early jazz trombonist; he also played cornet and string bass....
, and pianist Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas was a jazz pianist who played with the Original Dixieland Jass Band on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded , although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available...
died of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
in the Spanish Flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
Pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
the following year and he was replaced by pianist and composer J. Russel Robinson.
Robinson composed the jazz standard "Eccentric" ("That Eccentric Rag"), "Margie", "Jazzola", "Singin' the Blues (Till My Daddy Comes Home)", which was recorded by Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, Frankie Trumbauer
Frankie Trumbauer
Orie Frank Trumbauer was one of the leading jazz saxophonists of the 1920s and 1930s. He played the C-melody saxophone which, in size, is between an alto and tenor saxophone...
, and Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...
, "Mary Lou", "Pan Yan (And His Chinese Jazz Band)", "How Many Times?", "Aggravatin' Papa (Don't You Try to Two-Time Me)", "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "Get Rhythm in Your Feet", recorded by Red Allen
Red Allen
Henry James "Red" Allen was a jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose style has been claimed to be the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstrong.-Life and career:...
and His Orchestra with Chu Berry, "Yeah Man!", recorded by Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
and His Orchestra in 1933 and released on Vocalion, "Reefer Man" for Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
in 1932, "Dynamite Rag", "Meet Me at No Special Place", recorded by Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, "Alhambra Syncopated Waltzes", "Te-na-na (From New Orleans)", "Beale Street Mama", recorded by Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
and Cab Calloway, and "Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)". In 1916, Robinson, whose name appeared as "J. Russel Robinson", collaborated with W. C. Handy on the song "Ole Miss Rag". In 1919, Robinson collaborated with Handy and Charles N. Hillman on "Though We're Miles and Miles Apart", which was released by Handy's publishing company. Robinson also wrote the blues classic "St. Louis Gal", which was recorded by Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
.
Robinson's compositions for the band in 1920, the classic "Margie", "Singin' the Blues", and "Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)", released as a 78, were among the most popular and best-selling hits of 1920. "Aggravatin' Papa" was composed with lyricist Roy Turk
Roy Turk
Roy Kenneth Turk was an American songwriter. A lyricist, he frequently collaborated with composer Fred E. Ahlert – their popular 1928 song "Mean to Me" has become a jazz standard. He worked with many other composers, including for film lyrics...
and Addie Britt and was recorded by Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter
Alberta Hunter was an American blues singer, songwriter, and nurse. Her career had started back in the early 1920s, and from there on, she became a successful jazz and blues recording artist, being critically acclaimed to the ranks of Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith...
in 1923 with Fletcher Henderson's Dance Orchestra and also by Bessie Smith, Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...
, Florence Mills
Florence Mills
Florence Mills, born Florence Winfrey , known as the "Queen of Happiness," was an African American cabaret singer, dancer, and comedian known for her effervescent stage presence, delicate voice, and winsome, wide-eyed beauty.-Life and career:A daughter of former enslaved parents, Nellie and John...
, Lucille Hegamin
Lucille Hegamin
Lucille Nelson Hegamin was an American singer and entertainer, and a pioneer African American blues recording artist.-Life and career:...
, and Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
. Robinson also collaborated with Roy Turk on the compositions "Sweet Man O' Mine" and "A-Wearin' Away the Blues", and he wrote "Mama Whip! Mama Spank! (If Her Daddy Don't Come Home)" for blues and jazz singer Mamie Smith
Mamie Smith
-External links:* African American Registry* with photos* with .ram files of her early recordings* NPR special on the selection on "Crazy Blues" to the 2005...
and her Jazz Band in 1921, which were released on the Okeh label. Robinson was a member of the band until it broke up in 1923. He rejoined the band when it reformed in 1936.
The ODJB classic "Margie", composed by J. Russel Robinson with Con Conrad
Con Conrad
Con Conrad was an American songwriter and producer.-Biography:Con Conrad was born Conrad K. Dober in New York City. He published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad produced the Broadway show The Honeymoon Express, starring Al Jolson, in 1913...
, with lyrics added by Benny Davis
Benny Davis
Benny Davis was a vaudeville performer and writer of popular songs. He composed the classic 1926 standard "Baby Face" with Harry Akst.-Life and career:...
, has been covered over a hundred times. "Margie" has been recorded by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, who also covered the band's "Tiger Rag", Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
and His Orchestra in 1935, the Billy Kyle
Billy Kyle
William Osborne "Billy" Kyle was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kyle was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began playing the piano in school and by the early 1930s worked with Lucky Millinder, and later the Mills Blue Rhythm Band. In 1938, he joined John Kirby's band, but was drafted in...
Swing Club Band, Claude Hopkins
Claude Hopkins
Claude Driskett Hopkins was an American jazz stride pianist and bandleader.-Biography:Claude Hopkins was born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1903. Historians differ in respect of the actual date of his birth. His parents were on the faculty of Howard University...
, Red Nichols
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols was an American jazz cornettist, composer, and jazz bandleader.Over his long career, Nichols recorded in a wide variety of musical styles, and critic Steve Leggett describes him as "an expert cornet player, a solid improviser, and apparently a workaholic, since he is...
, Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
, George Paxton
George Paxton
George Paxton was an American big band leader, saxophonist, composer, publisher, and arranger of swing jazz music from the 1930s to the late 1940s; as well as president and producer of Coed Records, primarily a doo-wop label, from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s.-Early career:He was born in...
, the Dutch Swing College Band
Dutch Swing College Band
The Dutch Swing College Band "DSCB" is a traditional dixieland band founded on May 5, 1945 by bandleader and clarinetist/saxophonist Peter Schilperoort....
, Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
, Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet
Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.He was one of the first important soloists in jazz , and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist...
, Don Redman
Don Redman
Donald Matthew Redman was an American jazz musician, arranger, bandleader and composer.Redman was announced as a member of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame on May 6, 2009....
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Jim Reeves
Jim Reeves
James Travis Reeves , better known as Jim Reeves, was an American country and popular music singer-songwriter. With records charting from the 1950s to the 1980s, he became well-known for being a practitioner of the Nashville sound...
, Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa
Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
, and Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
.
"Margie" was a #9 hit for ODJB in 1921 with J. Russel Robinson on piano. Eddie Cantor had the biggest hit version of the ODJB classic, spending five weeks at #1 in 1921. The song also was featured in the movie The Eddie Cantor Story and was the theme of the television series of the same name in 1961–1962. Cantor also recorded ODJB's "Palesteena (Lena from Palesteena)". Gene Rodemich
Gene Rodemich
Eugene Frederick Rodemich was a pianist and orchestra leader, who composed the music for Frank Buck’s first movie, Bring 'Em Back Alive .-Early life:...
and His Orchestra reached #7 with their version in 1920. Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis (musician)
Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
and His Band reached #4 in 1921. Frank Crumit
Frank Crumit
Frank Crumit was an American singer, composer. radio entertainer and vaudeville star. He shared his radio programs with his wife, Julia Sanderson, and the two were sometimes called "the ideal couple of the air."...
had a #7 hit in 1921. Claude Hopkins and His Orchestra reached #5 in 1934 with Orlando Peterson on vocals. Don Redman and His Orchestra got to #15 in 1939 with a cover of the ODJB song. Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
, Erroll Garner
Erroll Garner
Erroll Louis Garner was an American jazz pianist and composer known for his swing playing and ballads. His best-known composition, the ballad "Misty", has become a jazz standard...
, Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, Charlie Shavers
Charlie Shavers
Charles James Shavers , known as Charlie Shavers, was an American swing era jazz trumpet player who played at one time or another with Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmy Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams and Billie Holiday...
, Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
, Joe Venuti, Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
, and Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
also have recorded the song. Jimmie Lunceford
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
recorded the song in 1938 with a Sy Oliver
Sy Oliver
Melvin "Sy" Oliver was a jazz arranger, trumpeter, composer, singer and bandleader...
arrangement that featured Trummy Young
Trummy Young
James "Trummy" Young was a trombonist in the swing era. Although he was never really a star or a bandleader himself, he did have one hit with his version of "Margie," which he played and sang with Jimmie Lunceford's Time-Life Orchestra.-Biography:Growing up in Savannah, GA and Richmond, VA, Young...
.
London tour
Other New Orleans musicians, including Nunez, Tom Brown, and Frank Christian, followed ODJB's example and went to New York to play jazz as well, giving the band competition. LaRocca decided to take the band to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where they would once again enjoy being the only authentic New Orleans jazz band in the metropolis, and again present themselves as the Originators of Jazz because they were the first band to record the new genre of music dubbed jass or jazz. The band's 1919 appearance at the London Hippodrome
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...
was the first official jazz gig by any band in the United Kingdom and was followed by a command performance
Command Performance
Command Performance is a radio program which originally aired between 1942 and 1949. The program was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network with a direct shortwave transmission to the troops overseas. It was not broadcast over domestic U.S...
for King George V at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. The concert did not start auspiciously, with the assembled aristocracy, which included French Marshall Philippe Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
, peering through opera glasses
Opera glasses
Opera glasses, also known as theater binoculars or Galilean binoculars, are compact, low-power optical magnification devices, usually used at performance events, whose name is derived from traditional use at opera performances. Magnification power below 5x is usually desired in these circumstances...
at the band "as though there were bugs on us", according to LaRocca. The audience loosened up, however, after the king laughed and loudly applauded their rendition of The Tiger Rag. The British tour ended with the band being chased to the Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
docks by Lord Harrington, who was infuriated that his daughter was being romanced by the lead singer of the band. In London, they made twenty more recordings for the British branch of Columbia. While in London, they recorded the second, more commercially successful, version of their hit song Soudan (also known as Oriental Jass).
The band returned to the United States in July 1920 and toured for four years. This version of the band played in a more commercial manner, adding a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
to the arrangements in the manner of other popular orchestras. In the 1920s LaRocca was replaced by teen-aged trumpeter Henry Levine, who later brought this kind of repertoire to the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
radio show The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street was a musical variety radio program which began on the Blue Network in 1940. The magazine Radio Life described it as "one of radio's strangest offsprings... a wacky, strictly hep tongue-in-cheek burlesque of opera and symphony."It was a weekly...
. Jazz pianist and composer, Frank Signorelli
Frank Signorelli
Frank Signorelli was an US jazz pianist of the 1920s. He was a founder member of the Original Memphis Five in 1917, then joined the Original Dixieland Jazz Band briefly in 1921. In 1927 he played in Adrian Rollini's New York ensemble, and subsequently worked with Eddie Lang, Bix Beiderbecke, Matty...
, who collaborated on the jazz standards "A Blues Serenade", recorded by Glenn Miller and Duke Ellington, "Gypsy", and "Stairway to the Stars", joined ODJB for a brief time in 1921.
Break-up
The band broke up in the mid-1920s and its originators scattered. During the DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, trombonist Eddie Edwards was discovered operating a newsstand in New York City. Newspaper publicity resulted in Edwards fronting a local nightclub band.
In 1936 the musicians played a reunion performance on network radio. RCA Victor invited them back into the studio, and they recorded six numbers as "The Original Dixieland Five." The group toured briefly before disbanding again. Clarinetist Larry Shields received particularly positive attention on this tour, and Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
commented that Shields was an important early influence.
Edwards and Sbarbaro formed some bands without other original members in the 1940s and 1950s under the ODJB name. In 1944, a new version of "Tiger Rag" was released as a V-Disc
V-Disc
V-Disc was a morale-boosting initiative involving the production of several series of recordings during the World War II era by special arrangement between the United States government and various private U.S. record companies. The records were produced for the use of United States military...
or Victory Disc, V-Disc 214, by the reformed band. "Sensation Rag" also was released as V-Disc 214B2. V-Discs were non-commercial releases recorded for the U.S. armed forces.
Back in New Orleans, LaRocca licensed bandleader Phil Zito to use the ODJB name for many years. Nick LaRocca's son, Jimmy LaRocca, continues to lead bands under the name The Original Dixieland Jazz Band.
In 1960 the book, The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, was published. Writer H. O. Brunn based it on Nick LaRocca's recollections, which sometimes differ from that of other sources.
Movie appearance
In 1917, the band made the first appearance of a jazz band in a motion picture, a silent movieSilent Movie
Silent Movie is a 1976 satirical comedy film co-written, directed by, and starring Mel Brooks, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 17, 1976...
entitled, The Good for Nothing (1917), which was directed by Carlyle Blackwell, who also played the lead role as Jack Burkshaw. Written by Alexander Thomas, it also featured Evelyn Greeley and Kate Lester and was produced by William Brady. Nick LaRocca, Larry Shields, Tony Sbarbaro, and Henry Ragas appeared in the film as a band, with LaRocca on trumpet, Shields on clarinet, Ragas on piano, and Sbarbaro on drums. The film was released on December 10, 1917, produced by Peerless Productions, and distributed by World Pictures.
Music of ODJB
Their first release "Livery Stable Blues" featured instruments doing barnyard imitations and the fully loaded trap set, wood blockWood block
A woodblock is essentially a small piece of slit drum made from a single piece of wood and used as a percussion instrument. It is struck with a stick, making a characteristically percussive sound....
s, cowbells, gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
s, and Chinese gourd
Gourd
A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Gourd is occasionally used to describe crops like cucumbers, squash, luffas, and melons. The term 'gourd' however, can more specifically, refer to the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita or also to their hollow dried out shell...
s. This musical innovation represented one of the first experimental exercises in jazz. At the time, their music was liberating; the barnyard sounds were experiments in altering the tonal qualities of the instruments, and clattering wood blocks broke up the rhythm. The music was very lively when compared to the pop music of the time.
It can be argued that they ranked among the most talented composers of popular music of their day. Many of the tunes first composed and recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, such as "Tiger Rag
Tiger Rag
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard, originally recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions of all time.-Origins:...
" and "Margie", were recorded by all the major jazz bands and orchestras of the twentieth century, black and white. "Tiger Rag" was recorded by everyone from Louis Armstrong to Duke Ellington to Glenn Miller to Benny Goodman. "Tiger Rag", in particular, became popular with many colleges and universities having a tiger as a mascot. In the biography, John Coltrane: His Life and Music, published in 1999, Lewis Porter noted that ODJB's classic, "Margie", was a "specialty" of John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, a song he performed regularly in his early career. "Tiger Rag", "Margie", "Clarinet Marmalade", "At The Jazz Band Ball", "Sensation Rag", and "Fidgety Feet" remain much played classics in the repertory of contemporary Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
and Traditional Jazz bands. Their tunes were published as collaborations by some or all of the entire ensemble, including band leader Nick La Rocca.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band recording of "Tiger Rag" was no.1 for two weeks on the U.S. Hit Parade charts beginning on December 11, 1918. The Mills Brothers recorded "Tiger Rag" in 1931 with lyrics and spent four weeks at no.1 on the charts in 1931–1932 with their version of the ODJB song.
Compared to later jazz, the ODJB recordings have only modest improvisation in mostly ensemble tunes. Clarinetist Larry Shields is perhaps the most interesting player, showing a good fluid tone, and if his melodic variations and breaks now seem overly familiar, this is because they were imitated widely by musicians who followed in the band's footsteps.
Their concept of arrangement was somewhat limited, and their recordings can seem rather repetitive. The lack of a bass player is scarcely compensated for by the piano on their earlier, acoustically recorded sessions. Nonetheless, ODJB arrangements were wild, impolite, and definitely had a jazz feel, and that style still is referred to as the style of music known as Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
.
Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra, one of the most popular and influential jazz bands of the 1920s, recorded several ODJB compositions:
- "Beale Street Mama", composed by ODJB pianist J. Russel Robinson, was recorded by the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1923 as an instrumental and was released on Paramount
- "Clarinet Marmalade" was recorded in 1926 by the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra and released on Vocalion and on Brunswick. In 1931, Henderson recorded a new version of "Clarinet Marmalade", which was released on Columbia
- "Livery Stable Blues" was recorded in 1927 and released on Columbia;
- "Fidgety Feet", composed by Nick LaRocca, was recorded in 1927 and was released on the Vocalion label
- "Sensation" was recorded in 1927 and released on Vocalion
- "Tiger Rag" was recorded in 1931 and was released on Crown
- "Aggravatin' Papa", a collaboration with ODJB pianist J. Russel Robinson, was recorded by the Fletcher Henderson Dance Orchestra in 1923 with Alberta Hunter on vocals
- "Singin' the Blues (Till My Daddy Comes Home)" was recorded in 1931 with Rex Stewart on cornet
Jazz cornetist Bix Beiderbecke recorded nine compositions by ODJB in various bands and orchestras from 1924 to 1930: "Fidgety Feet", his first recording in 1924, "Tiger Rag", "Sensation", "Lazy Daddy", "Ostrich Walk", "Clarinet Marmalade", "Singin' the Blues" with Frankie Trumbauer and Eddie Lang, "Margie", and "At The Jazz Band Ball". Beiderbecke was influenced by ODJB to become a jazz musician and was heavily influenced by Nick LaRocca's trumpet style with the band.
Louis Armstrong acknowledged the importance of ODJB in the evolution and development of jazz and the influence they had on him:
“Only four years before I learned to play the trumpet in the Waif's Home, or in 1909, the first great jazz orchestra was formed in New Orleans by a cornet player named Dominick James LaRocca. They called him "Nick" LaRocca. His orchestra had only five pieces but they were the hottest five pieces that had ever been known before. LaRocca named this band, "The Old Dixieland Jass Band". He had an instrumentation different from anything before, an instrumentation that made the old songs sound new. Besides himself at the cornet, LaRocca had Larry Shields, clarinet, Eddie Edwards, trombone, Ragas, piano, and Sbarbaro, drums. They all came to be famous players and the Dixieland Band has gone down now in musical history.”
– Louis Armstrong, Swing That Music, 1936
ODJB was the first band to record jazz successfully, establishing and creating jazz as a new musical idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
and genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of music.
Cover Versions of "Tiger Rag"
The band's original 1917 composition "Tiger Rag" became a jazz standard that later was covered by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ted Lewis, Joe Jackson, and the Mills Brothers.There were 136 cover versions of ODJB's copyright jazz standard and classic, Tiger Rag by 1942. It was recorded by:
- Louis Armstrong, who released the ODJB classic as a 78 single, in 1930 on Okeh and in 1934 on Brunswick
- Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
- Frank Sinatra
- Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra on a two-part, double-sided 78 released on Brunswick in 1929
- Edward "Kid" Ory with his Creole Jazz Orchestra
- Bix Beiderbecke with the Wolverines or the Wolverine Orchestra
- Ethel Waters and the Jazz Masters in 1922
- Billie Holiday
- Sidney Bechet
- Bob Crosby and his Bobcats
- Fats Waller
- Gene Krupa
- Ozzie Nelson and His Orchestra
- Phil Napoleon and his Orchestra in 1926 on Edison
- Abe Lyman and his Orchestra
- Harry Reser
- Whiteway Jazz Band
- The New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1922 on Gennett
- Fletcher Henderson
- Jelly Roll Morton in 1938
- Ray Miller's Orchestra in 1929 on Brunswick
- Red McKenzie
- Freddy Fisher
- Acker Bilk
- Harry Roy and his Orchestra
- The Maple City Four
- The Saint Jazz Band
- Isham Jones' Orchestra
- Eddie Condon
- Pete Fountain released "Tiger Rag" as a 45 single on Coral
- Tommy Dorsey
- Glenn Miller and his Orchestra
- Muggsy Spanier
- George Barnes
- Liberace
- Barney Kessel
- Bobby Short
- Teddy Wilson
- Alvino Rey
- The Mills Brothers in 1931, no.1 for four weeks
- The Washboard Rhythm Kings
- Art Tatum in 1932
- Bert Ambrose and his Orchestra
- Jack Hylton
- Lew Stone
- Billy Cotton
- Jack Payne
- Ray Noble
- Joe Jackson
- Django Reinhardt with the Quintette of the Hot Club of France
- Roy Smeck
- Tiger Rag was covered on the 78 series entitled Studies in Swing No.1, 1927, with Nat Gonella on solo trumpet
- The Paul Whiteman Orchestra
- Jimmy Dorsey with Spike Hughes
- Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1952
In 1954, "Tiger Rag" was featured in the MGM cartoon "Dixieland Droopy", directed by Tex Avery, in which Droopy plays on his record. It's also what the flea jazz band (on Droopy) performs in the cartoon.
The band's "Tiger Rag" was added to National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
in 2002.
Finally, "Tiger Rag" was used in a Microsoft Xbox ad, the "Banned Xbox 360 Ad: Best Ad Ever!", advertising the Xbox 360 console from Microsoft.
Honors
In 1977, the ODJB classic "Singin' the Blues", co-written by ODJB pianist J. Russel Robinson, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in a landmark 1927 recording by Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke on cornet and Eddie Lang on guitar, as Okeh 40772-B, recorded on February 4, 1927.In 2006, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band's recording of "Darktown Strutter's Ball", released in 1917 as Columbia single A2297, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2008, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band classic "Ostrich Walk", written by Edwin B. Edwards, Nick LaRocca, Henry Ragas, Tony Sbarbaro, and Larry Shields, in a performance by Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer, was included on the soundtrack to the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The soundtrack also included "Wah Dee Dah", a collaboration with Russel Robinson, in a performance by Cab Calloway. The movie was based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
from the collection, Tales of the Jazz Age.