THE ORIGINAL DIXIELAND JASS BAND (ODJB) - By Tim Gracyk.

http://www.garlic.com/~tgracyk/

The Original Dixieland Jass Band, commonly called the ODJB, was the first jazz group to be recorded, and two popular discs made by the band in early 1917--one for the Victor Talking Machine Company and then one for the Columbia Graphophone Company--helped create a craze for the new music, making the word "jass" known to the general public for the first time (throughout 1917 "jass" was the standard spelling though by 1918 "jazz" became common). At the time of its recording debut the group consisted of cornetist Nick LaRocca, clarinetist Larry Shields, trombonist Eddie Edwards, pianist Harry Ragas, and drummer Tony Sbarbaro.

The band evolved from an earlier one that included LaRocca, Edwards, Ragas, and clarinetist Alcide "Yellow" Nunez. Arriving in Chicago in early March 1916, these four New Orleans musicians worked under the leadership of drummer Johnny Stein and under the management of entrepreneur Harry James (not the big band trumpeter), opening at Schiller's Cafe on the city's South Side. This was not the first New Orleans band to play in Chicago. A predecessor was Tom Brown's Band from Dixieland which accompanied vaudeville comic Joe Frisco. One member of Tom Brown's Band, Gus Mueller, would a few years later play clarinet on Paul Whiteman's first records, and another Brown member was Larry Shields. This may have been the first band to be called a jass band. The words "jaz" and "jazz" had appeared in print as early as 1913, meaning vigorous and energetic, but the term "jass band" would not be used until New Orleans bands in Chicago identified themselves by the new term.

Stein's band was called a "jass" band at least by May 1916. Soon afterwards the term "jass band" caught on in Chicago. William Howland Kenney reports in Chicago Jazz, A Cultural History 1904- 1930 (Oxford University Press, 1993) that the first use of "Jass Band" in the Chicago black press was in the September 30, 1916 issue of the Defender. Kenney writes that the word is used "to describe music produced by black pianist-songwriter W. Benton Overstreet in support of vaudevillian Estella Harris at the Grand Theater. Harris... was now accompanied by a 'Jass Band.'" Kenney also states, "Very soon thereafter, a variant spelling of the term--'Jaz'--was used in the Indianapolis Freeman to describe an instrumental group, John W. Wickliffe's Ginger Orchestra."

Reportedly fed up because the Schiller's Cafe owners refused to increase pay, the four musicians--LaRocca, Edwards, Ragas, and Nunez--soon deserted Johnny Stein to form a new band. Needing a drummer, they sent for Tony Sbarbaro. In early June the Original Dixie Land Jass Band opened at Del'Abe's Cafe in the Hotel Normandy at Clark and Randolph streets. From July onwards the band worked steadily at the Casino Gardens at Kinzie and North Clark streets. For personal and musical reasons, clarinetist Alcide "Yellow" Nunez was fired and replaced by New Orleanian Larry Shields.

The band made its New York City debut at the Paradise Ballroom on January 15, 1917 and two weeks later, on January 27, opened in the "400" Room at the nightclub Reisenweber's. Harry O. Brunn's important but sometimes unreliable The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (Louisiana State University Press, 1960), which is the source for these dates, reports that upon hearing the band, Al Jolson had enthusiastically recommended the band to agent Max Hart, who signed the band for Reisenweber's. Jolson was in Chicago in the early weeks of 1917 while starring in Robinson Crusoe, Jr. at the Garrick Theatre.

The ODJB immediately attracted the attention of one major record company. In Brian Rust's private collection is a photocopy of a January 29, 1917 letter (sent to Rust by Gary Edwards, grandson of Eddie Edwards) from a Columbia Graphophone Company executive addressed to "Jass Band, c/o Reisenweber's Restaurant, 58th Street & Columbia Circle, New York City." It invites the band to call on him "to discuss a matter which may prove of mutual benefit and interest." It is signed by A.E. Donovan, who had been appointed manager of the company's professional and personal record departments in early October 1916, according to page 45 of that month's issue of Talking Machine World. Edwards had scribbled a note on the letter: "Forbish--Wednesday afternoon, 2:00 P.M." He also jotted down the phone number "Greely 4220." It is likely that the band met Donovan or an assistant on January 31, played an original composition (probably without recording it), and failed to impress Columbia executives with "jass" during this test. The band naturally would have pushed one of its original compositions as suitable for recording. Brunn had stated that the session was "ca. January 30." Donovan's letter establishes January 31--a Wednesday--as the date.

ODJB trombonist Eddie Edwards recalled early studio days for the May, 1947 issue of Jazz Record, which is reprinted in Selections From The Gutter (University of California Press, 1977), edited by Art Hodes and Chadwick Hansen. From his account and Brunn's book, the myth arose that the ODJB's Columbia disc features the first jazz recordings. Although Rust's Jazz Records: 1897-1942 cites a January date for Columbia A2297, Rust has since called this an error, identifying May 31 as the real date for the performances. In "The First Jazz Record of All?" in Victrola and 78 Journal (Issue 6, Summer 1995), he states, "Discographies should be amended to read the Victor date first, and then the Columbia date (which produced probably the worst of all mementoes of the band)." In recalling for Brunn that they had visited Columbia first, some band members evidently confused a January audition with a May session, their memories of visiting a Columbia studio in late January being stronger than memories of returning.

Edwards gives a problematic account of recording for Columbia and Victor. He recalls Columbia studio carpenters building shelves and "hammering away while we tried to play," which is inconceivable if the band had been recording though it is plausible if the band was merely auditioning for Columbia executives. Edwards' account says nothing about the third company to record the band in 1917, the Aeolian Company.

A month after auditioning for Columbia, the band recorded for Victor, and takes from this February 26 session were issued relatively quickly. The first jazz record was Victor 18255, which featured "Dixieland Jass Band One-Step" backed by "Livery Stable Blues." It is worth noting that "one-step" is in one title, and the other is characterized on the label as a fox trot. The phrase "For Dancing" is added to the right of the spindle hole on both sides of the disc (Columbia adds the phrase "Dance music" to the right of its spindle hole). Victor supplements stressed that ODJB records provided dance music. For example, announcing the release of "Broadway Rose" and "Sweet Mamma" on 18722, Victor's March 1921 supplement states, "Here are two numbers, which, if danced properly, are guaranteed to keep the participant at least two jumps ahead of gloom and disaster." Announcing the release of "Dangerous Blues" and "Royal Garden Blues" on 18798, Victor's November 1921 supplement states, "For those who demand humor in their dance records, these are assuredly 'good tunes.'"

The May 1917 Victor supplement, printed in late April, describes the ODJB's debut record and includes a photograph of the band. The May 1917 issue of Talking Machine World announces that Victor was distributing to dealers "an attention compelling poster listing two special Jass band...selections."

The two compositions on the first jazz disc have complex histories, and legal difficulties led to some changes on the disc's label. The inclusion on the disc's A side ("Dixieland Jass Band One-Step") of a strain from Joe Jordan's 1909 "That Teasin' Rag" led to claims of copyright infringement. The earliest copies of the first ODJB disc do not cite the title of Jordan's rag; later copies say "Introducing 'That Teasin' Rag" (curiously, the title on side A of the disc was changed to "Dixie Jass Band One-Step," the suffice "-land" omitted).

Also, a mixup with sheet music and song titles--"Livery Stable Blues" was supposed to have been called "Barnyard Blues" on the label--led to a litigation.

Brunn states in The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band that Victor's success with its first ODJB record inspired Columbia executives to release test recordings made months earlier: "It was not until 'Livery Stable Blues' had become a smash hit that Columbia recovered the master from its dead files and made pressings of 'Darktown Strutters' Ball' and 'Indiana' on A2297." However, Rust reports that the original recording card in the CBS files for both titles bears the date May 31, 1917. It reveals that four takes of Shelton Brooks' "Darktown Strutters' Ball" and three of James Hanley's "Indiana" were completed, two takes of each song used for pressings of Columbia A2297. In the Spring 1991 issue of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Journal, Tim Brooks points out that the Columbia sides have May 1917 matrix numbers and that "notations on the original cards strongly indicate that [the Columbia sides] were recorded then as well, not renumbered from some earlier trial."

The disc was announced in Columbia's September 1917 supplement though the July 1917 issue of Talking Machine World featured an advertisement listing the record as ready for issue on August 10. Columbia was beginning the experiment of issuing some records near the middle of a month. The advertisement states, "Here is the solution of one of your big problems--how to get more business from the 10th to the 20th--the ten dullest record days of the month!" It identifies "Indiana" as a one-step and "Darktown Strutters' Ball" as a fox-trot, as does the disc's label. Brunn reports that the band learned "Indiana" in the publisher's office immediately before the session, humming "the tune en route so that it would not be forgotten." He reports that "Darktown Strutters' Ball" was likewise recorded in a haphazard manner: "They had rehearsed the piece in the key of 'C,' but LaRocca, at the mercy of his peculiar musical memory, started off in 'D.' His colleagues had no choice other than to follow suit..." Though the two performances issued by Columbia are less interesting than the two already issued by Victor, they are too polished for Brunn's accounts to be credible.

Certainly it is odd that the band cut two numbers composed by others when it returned to Columbia on May 31. Given the success by late May of Victor 18255, which featured original compositions, Columbia executives must have been shortsighted indeed to believe that "Indiana" and "Darktown Strutters' Ball" would appeal to record buyers more than original ODJB material. On the other hand, if Columbia executives already knew about the legal disputes that followed the release of Victor 18255, they may have felt that material composed by others was safer than original ODJB material.

Before Columbia issued what the ODJB had recorded for the company on May 31, the band had signed a contract with the Aeolian Company of New York and had two sessions for that company. LaRocca's diary, which the musician late in life allowed Brian Rust to study, reports that the first session was on July 29, 1917. The jazz artists were among the first musicians to record for the company. The Aeolian contract was for six months and was not renewed. The ODJB Aeolian-Vocalion discs, which are vertical cut, are incredibly rare, and it is not clear when they were issued nor how they were distributed. The Aeolian Company waited until mid-1918 to announce to the trade that it was making records. The May 1918 issue of Talking Machine World states, "The Aeolian Co., New York, is now ready to announce to the talking machine trade the new Aeolian-Vocalion record. The first list of records is now ready for general distribution...The Vocalion record will be merchandised through Vocalion representatives exclusively." The recording studio was not at the famous Aeolian Hall on 42nd Street but in a building at 35 West 43rd Street.

With legal problems evidently resolved, the band returned to Victor in the spring of 1918. The band members would have naturally been eager to record again for the nation's most prestigious record company, and Victor executives undoubtedly looked forward to issuing more hit records. The five ODJB records issued by Victor in 1918 and early 1919 sold well, including "Tiger Rag" (18472). Significantly, all ten titles issued from the 1918 sessions were original compositions. Edwards was drafted in late July 1918, and Emile Christian joined. The next change in personnel was due to the influenza of late 1918: pianist Harry Ragas was a flu victim, dying on February 18, 1919. Composer- pianist J. Russel Robinson soon joined. Raised in Indianapolis, Robinson was the first ODJB member not from New Orleans (Sidney Lancefield played piano for the group too briefly in 1919 to count as a member).

The band traveled to London in March 1919. Brian Rust writes in My Kind of Jazz (Elm Tree Books, 1990), "Just as the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was the first band to introduce jazz, at least under that name, to the United States, so it was also the first to bring real jazz to Europe when it arrived in Liverpool on April 1, 1919, to appear in London as an added attraction to the revue Joy Bells at the Hippodrome." Quickly removed from Joy Bells, the band opened at the Palladium on April 12, weeks later opened at the Martan Club, two months later opened at Rector's, and then opened at the Palais de Danse. J. Russel Robinson reported in an interview for the August 1947 issue of The Record Changer, "[W]e played for contract at the Martan Club which was located at 6 and 8 Old Bond Street...but our contract wasn't renewed. The rest of the follows decided to go and play at the Palais de Dance at Hammersmith, but I thought this was the wrong sort of move and left." For several months, beginning in October, English pianist Billy Jones was a band member. When he returned to the United States, Robinson, became a Palace Trio member, working with Rudy Wiedoeft and Mario Perry. He rejoined the ODJB when the others returned from abroad. Robinson was finally replaced by Frank Signorelli in 1921.

The Columbia company in England engaged the band in 1919 and 1920 for 17 numbers issued on twelve-inch discs. The band recorded eight original compositions (all with Robinson at piano) as well as nine non-original works, mostly popular tunes of the day (all with Jones at piano). The most important performances recorded in London were "Satanic Blues" and "'Lasses Candy." They were original compositions but ODJB performances of them were unavailable in the United States during the band's heyday. The band had recorded the two numbers for Victor before leaving for England and would record them again also upon returning, but no takes were judged satisfactory by Victor executives. The band did record "Satanic Blues" in 1936 for RCA Victor.

The band visited Victor's New York City studio soon after returning from England, making test records on September 13, 1920, including a take of "Singin' the Blues," written by their pianist J. Russel Robinson. The band never again recorded the entire song but included a chorus when recording "Margie," called a medley fox trot. After making tests in September, they did not return to the studio until late November, by which time Robinson had composed "Margie." The band would make fine records in its remaining 16 months with Victor but these ODJB records are more commercial, less wild, than discs of 1917 and 1918. It is significant that all selections issued by Victor before the England trip were ODJB compositions--one member or another took composer credit, sometimes two members working together, sometimes the entire band--and these compositions have since become jazz standards. But no recordings issued by Victor after the England trip were composed by original ODJB members. About half of these selections were composed by African-Americans, the others by white song writers. Robinson was co-composer of "Margie" and "Palesteena" (sharing credit with Con Conrad) but though these two songs proved popular, the New Orleans roots of the ODJB are obscured in these two numbers.

Beginning with the September session during which only test records were made, Victor executives evidently wanted the ODJB to conform more to their own ideas of how a popular dance ensemble should sound. Saxophonist Bennie Krueger was added, the first time a non-ODJB member was included on ODJB records. Few jazz bands making records in the earliest years used saxophones, and the instrument was virtually never used in early New Orleans jazz bands. Saxophone was added undoubtedly at the insistence of a Victor recording manager--either John S. Macdonald, Eddie King, or Clifford Cairns. In late November and early December, the ODJB with Krueger recorded various takes of titles issued on what became their best-selling disc: "Margie" coupled with "Palesteena" (18717). Various versions of the two songs were also issued in February 1921 when the ODJB disc was released--Eddie Cantor's version of "Margie" on Emerson 10301, Cantor's version of "Palesteena" on Emerson 10292, Billy Jones's version of "Palesteena" on Okeh 4222 and his versions of both songs on Aeolian-Vocalion 14132, the Vernon Trio's version of "Margie" on Gennett 4658, Fred Whitehouse's version of "Palesteena" on Cardinal 2001, the Frisco Syncopators' version of "Margie" on Paramount 20037, the Crescent Trio's version of "Margie" on Cardinal 2005, the Rega Dance Orchestra's version of "Margie" on Okeh 4211.

Announcing the new ODJB release, Victor's February 1921 supplement indicated that the sound on the record was different, the adjective "beautiful" used for the first time to describe an ODJB selection: "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band is back on the stage this month with two superb fox trots. They are widely different from anything this organization has ever done. 'Margie' is melting, soft, tender, romantic in spirit, but for all that has the dash and go, perhaps, which supply the only real romance in jazz music...'Palesteena'...is in similar style, with some lovely effects produced by the use of sustained tones against highly rhythmic 'figures' in other instruments. These are beautiful and original recordings."

On August 10, 1920, black singer Mamie Smith supported by her Jazz Hounds recorded Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues" for Okeh 4169. Half a year later, on January 28, 1921, the ODJB cut "Crazy Blues" as an instrumental (18729)--its kazoo solo was novel for the time. Smith's record was genuinely popular though exact sales figures cannot be known today. The ODJB record is easier to find today than the Smith version, which suggests that the ODJB's version of Bradford's tune probably sold more copies than Smith's (Victor had a more sophisticated network for the distribution of a hit disc than the relatively new General Phonograph Corporation, maker of Okeh discs).

Also recorded during the January 1921 session were "Home Again Blues," "Broadway Rose," and "Sweet Mamma (Papa's Getting Mad)." The first two were conventional popular songs. Victor had already recorded a vocal recording of "Broadway Rose"--Henry Burr enjoyed success with this song--and that Victor executives viewed such material as suitable for the ODJB indicates they wanted the band to deliver a more commercial sound, or what supplements called a "beautiful" sound. Victor's March 1920 supplement, announcing its release, admits the song "was a beautiful sentimental song, but that does not prevent its becoming an equally beautiful fox trot." The band performs it as a quick pace, and it is a fine performance. The last song of the three, "Sweet Mamma (Papa's Getting Mad)," is noteworthy for being the first ODJB record to feature voices. Band members along with executives Eddie King and Clifford Cairns sing out "Sweet mama, papa's getting mad!" The performance ends with Nick LaRocca announcing in New Orleans dialect, "Yes, sir! Sweet mama, papa's getting mad!"

A few months passed before the next session. On May 3 the band recorded takes of Tom Delaney's "Jazz Me Blues" and W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues." An instrumental version of "Jazz Me Blues" was issued on 18772; the takes of "St. Louis Blues" from this session were rejected, as were takes of "Jazz Me Blues" featuring Lavinia Turner as vocalist--the only time a female recorded with the ODJB in the Victor studio, also the only time an African-American recorded with the band. The Delaney song, destined to become a jazz standard, was published in 1921 and was recorded around this time by Lillyn Brown for Emerson 10384. It had been introduced on record by Lucille Hegamin, whose version on Arto 9045 was issued in March. It was Hegamin's record debut.

During sessions on May 25 and June 7, 1921, Al Bernard added vocal refrains for "St. Louis Blues" (18772), "Royal Garden Blues" (18798), and "Dangerous Blues" (18798). Though the decision to add vocal refrains came from Victor executives, Krueger may have been instrumental in the choice of Bernard for the sessions. Bernard had added vocal refrains to Bennie Krueger and His Orchestra sessions beginning in early 1921, including for "Royal Garden Blues" (Brunswick 2077). Around the time of the ODJB session, Bernard added refrains during Krueger sessions for Gennett, including for "St. Louis Blues" (Gennett 4751). Like the ODJB members, Bernard was from New Orleans, and perhaps he was considered suited for the band since in 1919 he had recorded for different companies "Bluin' the Blues," an ODJB number. Closely associated with "St. Louis Blues" and other W.C. Handy tunes, Bernard was as close to a jazz singer in mid-1921 as any white singer making records at the time. (He worked closely with J. Russel Robinson around this time--this is another possible connection with the ODJB though Robinson had left the ODJB by this point, pianist Frank Signorelli taking his place.)

Bernard's vocal contributions to these three numbers are lackluster, but band members, including saxophonist Krueger, are in fine form, with Shields delivering a memorable 24 bar solo on "St. Louis Blues," which is the first time on record one of the band members delivers an improvised solo of significant length. It is the first solo of distinction to be issued on a jazz record, and since this version of "St. Louis Blues" sold well, it must have influenced in the early 1920s many aspiring jazz musicians. Over a year passed before clarinet soloing on records--namely, Leon Rappolo's work with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings--would match Shields' performance.

The final Victor session was on December 1, 1921, which produced only "Bow Wow Blues (My Mamma Treats Me Like a Dog)" (18850), composed by Cliff Friend and Nat Osborne. For the first time, an ODJB performance was issued with another artist on a disc's reverse side, in this case the Benson Orchestra of Chicago performing "Railroad Blues." The ODJB's final Victor performance shared something with its first, "Livery Stable Blues"--the comic imitation of animals. "Livery Stable Blues" is by far the more significant achievement since nothing like it or its companion piece, "Dixie Jass Band One-Step," had ever been recorded before. But "Bow Wow Blues," though a fine performance, is indicative of the ODJB's inability after only a few years--at least partly due to studio interference--to remain innovative jazz artists. The song itself was composed by Tin Pan Alley writers, and dog imitations on jazz records were already becoming old-fashioned . The Louisiana Five enjoyed success with "Yelping Hound Blues" in 1919, and others who had recorded songs with "dog" themes around this time include Gorman's Novelty Syncopators ("Barkin' Dog" was issued in late 1919 on Columbia A2844) and Saxi Holtsworth Harmony Hounds ("Bow-Wow" was issued on Gennett 9039 and Emerson 10247). The ODJB was following rather than setting a trend.

Ominously, Shields quit in late 1921 to settle in California. Original members LaRocca, Edwards, and Sbarbaro were joined by clarinetist Artie Seaberg, pianist Henry Vanicelli, and saxophonist Don Parker for three Okeh sessions beginning in late 1922. Two Okeh discs were issued, both rare today. Among the four titles, "Toddlin' Blues" was the most significant since it was an original ODJB composition not recorded for any other company by that time. "Some of These Days" was a Shelton Brooks standard, and the two remaining titles, "Tiger Rag" and "Barnyard Blues" (also known as "Livery Stable Blues"), had already been recorded for other companies. Since no versions by the band of the original compositions "'Lasses Candy" and "Satanic Blues" had been issued in America, it is surprising that the band did not record these during the Okeh sessions.

The band would not record again until the mid-1930s. In 1935 a group called the Original Dixieland Jazz Band made two records for Vocalion, but the only original band member was Sbarbaro. In 1936 Nick LaRocca and the Original Dixieland Band recorded titles for RCA Victor. Although Sbarbaro played drums and Shields played clarinet, a dozen additional musicians were engaged, and new arrangements were followed for old numbers. The resulting performances share little with the band's trademark sound.

Finally, on September 25 and again on November 10, 1936, four original members (LaRocca, Shields, Edwards, and Sbarbaro) along with J. Russel Robinson re-recorded numbers that the ODJB had introduced nearly two decades earlier, using the old arrangements for the most part. On "Original Dixieland One Step," Shields--arguably the band's most gifted musician--is given an extra chorus for a solo. Band members were considerably older and the music must have seemed dated to audiences at that time, but recordings from these two sessions are notable. The microphone captured nuances that no acoustic era recording horn could. Moreover, drums and piano were finally prominent on ODJB records.