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The Original Dixieland Jazz Band made the first recordings of New Orleans jazz in 1917. The band was formed in Chicago by former members of some of Papa Jack Lain’s popular racially integrated bands in New Orleans. By 1917 they were working in New York and were recorded by Victor. The ODJB booked themselves as the “originators of jazz,” an understandable controversial claim and one that the band members themselves, with the exception of trumpeter Nick LaRocca, who clung to the title later in life, recognized to be merely publicity.

The band went through several names, starting in Chicago in 1916 as Steins Dixie Jass Band under the leadership of drummer Johnny Stein. They later changed the spelling to jazz, possible due to the sexual connotations of the term jass in turn of the century New Orleans slang. In that sense, perhaps they were the originators of jazz, having given it it’s name. Jimmy Durante became the band’s pianist for a while in the early 1920s and later became their bandleader, calling the band Jimmy Durante’s Jazz Band.

Membership in the band changed often. This 1917 78 rpm Victor recording is accompanied by a photo of the band, then made up of drummer Tony Sbarbaro, trombonist Eddie Edwards, cornetist Nick LaRocca, clarinetist Larry Shields and pianist Henry Ragas.

Did you ever wonder what Joe Cocker was singing about in the Woodstock Movie? Here is his performance with closed captions for the curious.

Thanks to my friend Eyre on the FDP or pointing this clip out to me.

Scott Joplin was born in east Texas in 1897 0r 1868 and died, of syphilis, in New York in 1917 Joplin does not appear on film anywhere, however there are several pianola rolls which record his playing of some of his own compositions. You will probably be familiar with his composition The Entertainer from it’s use in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Joplin was either a virtuoso pianist or a very poor player who composed his music sitting at a table, depending on which contemporary source you believe. Some of the differences of opinion may have to do with the ravages of the disease which damages the central nervous system. His ability to play the piano may have been severely deteriorated later in his career.

Ragtime was the first musical style to introduce syncopation to the mainstream of American music, yet to our ears it often seems stiff and bound to straight time. At the turn of the twentieth century this was a radical departure from the rhythmic standards. I have found two YouTube videos made from two performances of Maple Leaf Rag. The first is very straightforward, seeming somewhat stiff to modern ears, yet played very fast, much faster than most renditions of Maple Leaf Rag that I am used to hearing. It shows a bit of syncopation beginning in the middle section, yet is well within the bounds of “ragtime” as we know it. There is a bit of hesitancy, a slowing in one section in the middle and just a bit of raggedness. Because the open player piano was filmed as the music is played you can see the keys, and the hammers, responding to Joplin’s fingers.

The second is an amazing departure. There are several mistakes, or at least departures from the written score, yet starting in that same middle section the music suddenly swings as much as a big band from the mid 1930s. The playing is strong and confident throughout, even with the occasional blip. It shows a growth in rhythmic understanding far beyond what is expected for his time. Swing is a difficult concept to talk about and much easier to learn by listening. It is a kind of syncopation which moves the beat slightly off of it’s expected time.. Melody notes are often played ahead of the beat, yet rhythm sections contribute mightily to swing. The beat is regular and steady yet not on the beat. See, I told you it was hard to talk about. Listen to how Joplin’s left hand (the bass notes) and chords make this version swing.

I have read online that one of Joplin’s pianola roll renditions of Maple Leaf Rag is “shocking” and “disorganized and completely distressing to hear.” The one that swings?