Nick LaRocca

Nick LaRocca. , Panel 2 , The phonograph was the medium that took New Orleans jazz from the city's streets and dance halls to the attention of the world. Despite the early travels of New Orleans musicians, it was the Original Dixieland Jass Band's recordings in 1917 that finally succeeded in permanently fusing the term "jazz" to collectively- improvised dance music from New Orleans, at least as far as the general public was concerned. Ironically, the band did not exist in New Orleans but instead grew from a group of local players recruited especially for an extended engagement in Chicago, beginning in March 1916. After some initial success the band went to New York, where it became an instant sensation among dancers. Columbia arranged a recording audition but was not impressed with the results, so to Victor went the spoils. The records were rushed into the stores and are estimated to have sold more than a million copies within the first six months. The Jazz Craze was on. Under the leadership of Nick LaRocca, the ODJB traveled to England in 1919, performing for the Allied generals and heads of state at the Armistice Ball. After returning to the United States, the band continued to record, but time took its toll, and LaRocca broke up the group in 1925. Despite a brief comeback in 1936-38, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band never regained the glory it had experienced during World War I. Yet, its place in jazz history was important. Their music became part of classic jazz repertoire, and the influence of the early recordings on both white and black musicians back in New Orleans was substantial. , Panel 3 , In 1917 the Victor Talking Machine Company was the industry leader. Its success in recording was based on the patience of recording engineer, Charles Souey. His experiments with placement of the musicians in relation to the acoustical horn brought the instruments into balance, creating a recording that captured to spontaneity and excitement of the band's sound. , In New York, the Band recorded "Tiger Rag", "Clarinet Marmalade", Livery Stable Blues", and "Door Jass Band One-Step". , Panel 4 , The original personnel consisted of cornetist Nick LaRocca (1889-1961), trombonist Edwin Edwards (1891-1963), clarinetist Alcide Nunez (1884-1934), pianist Henry Ragas (1891-1919), and drummer Johnny Stein (1891-1962), who billed them as Stein's Dixie "Jass" Band. , Two months after their arrival, LaRocca, Edwards, and Ragas left Stein, eventually summoning drummer Tony Sbarbaro (1897- 1969) and clarinetist Larry Shields (1893- 1953) to form the Original Dixieland Jass Band. , Back in New Orleans, Violinist Manuel Manetta tells of being let go by Joe Oliver and Kid Ory in 1917 because they wanted to change their instrumentation to be more like the ODJB, and clarinetist Ollie Johnson, who played on Ory's first recordings in 1922, named ODJB's Larry Shields as his inspiration.