The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, who billed themselves the originators of Jazz, have long been been dismissed as the White guys who copied African American music, and called it their own. There is a lot of truth to that statement, but on the other hand, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's recordings still hold their own unique charm, over 80 years after their initial release. How ever unfair, and indicative of the racism of the era, the record "Livery Stable Blues", coupled with "Dixie Jass Band One Step" became the first Jazz record ever released on February 26, 1917 for the Victor Talking Machine Company. It was wildly successful selling over one million copies in 1917. It's release signaled the begining of the Jazz age and helped define the the wild, exhuberent era we call the "Roaring Twenties". The Original Dixieland Jazz Band had recorded for Columbia in January, 1917, but the session was unsuccessful and the band had to come back and re-record the songs, thus the release of the Columbia sides did not come about until after the amazing success of the Victor records.

The group had formed in New Orleans, all of the musicians had played in Papa Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band at one time or the other. In 1916 the band moved from New Orleans to Chicago, just like so many of the African American and Creole musicans from that city. In Chicago, where they played a season at the Booster Club. At the beginning of the following year The Original Dixieland Jazz Band moved to New York, where, on the recommendation of Al Jolson, they started a residency at Reisenweber's Café, a new and fashionable night-spot.

The band created quite a stir and Columbia rushed to record the band only two weeks after they had arrived in the city. The band was an immediate success, with their wacky stage antics, like wearing top hats that spelled out "Dixie", playing the trombone's slide with the foot, and so on. The band's slogan was "Untuneful Harmonists Playing Peppery Melodies", and their leader Nick La Rocca and cornet player delighted in stirring up the press, describing themselves as musical anarchists and coining fun statements like "Jazz is the assassination of the melody, it's the slaying of syncopation".

The Original Dixieland Jazz Band went on to record and play in London, producing 20 tracks for Columbia, before returning to America in July 1920. They signed a new record contract with Okeh, but never regained the sales or popularity of their initial success. The group broke up in 1925 after La Rocca suffered a nervous breakdown. The surviving members briefly reformed in 1936 and recorded some sides for Victor. In 1940 the band reformed yet again, but this time without La Rocca and recorded six sides for Bluebird and played up until 1940.

This Biography Text from the Red Hot Jazz Archives edited and reformatted by Sean Glass