Section from chapter 1917: All That Jazz   [ return to introduction ]

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By Mervyn Cooke • 325 illustrations,
82 in full color • 256 pages • 8-1/2 x 8-1/2"
Cloth • ISBN 0-7892-0399-5 • U.S. $45.00
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The New Orleans Rhythm Kings, Chicago 1923. At the extreme right is Voltaire de Faut (C-melody saxophone), who recorded a fine duet with Jelly Roll Morton in May 1925. Morton, although not in this photograph, played piano for N.O.R.K. recordings made in July 1923. [ view larger image ] (The Frank Driggs Collection)
Down South in Dixie

The first band to make recordings billed as "jazz" was in many ways untypical of early groups, not least because it comprised five white men under the leadership of cornetist Nick LaRocca. The quintet hailed from New Orleans and derived its style from the music played there by black ensembles, achieving a rapid rise to prominence through spirited performances which incorporated novelty instrumental effects such as animal imitations. The group's success was an early (and by no means the only) example of the white commercialization of black music, and their recordings appear embarrassingly crude alongside the finesse of comparable black groups who recorded in the early 1920s.

Firmly based on the sectionalized structure and syncopated march rhythms of ragtime, with increasing use of the twelve-bar blues progression, the New Orleans ensemble style is correctly termed "Dixieland" only when performed by white groups (the term derives from the nickname "Dixie," used to describe the southern secessionist states in the Civil War). Dixieland music sometimes incorporated improvised breaks, an important development away from the composed nature of ragtime. The normal arrangement included three solo melody instruments--cornet, clarinet and trombone--that simultaneously performed different embellished versions of the melody. This elaboration constituted another notable departure from traditional ragtime. The melodic embellishments were supported by a rhythm section--a bass instrument (tuba or double bass), harmony instrument (banjo, guitar or piano) and simple drum kit (typical bass drum, side drum and suspended cymbal).

White groups were generally less adept at handling improvisation, blue notes and swung rhythm than their black counterparts, although the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (who made recordings in 1922-25) represented a tangible improvement on the primitive idiom of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Both groups had disbanded by 1925, by which time black ensembles had gained the ascendancy they merited.