On Monday, February 26, 1917, five musicians – pianist Henry Ragas, clarinetist Larry Shields, trombonist Eddie Edwards, cornetist Nick LaRocca and drummer Tony Sbarbaro – gathered in the New York City recording studio of the Victor Talking Machine Company.

This quintet was known as the Original Dixieland Jass Band and that day they recorded two of their original compositions: “Dixieland Jass Band One-Step” and “Livery Stable Blues.”

Victor Records released those recordings in May 1917 on a 10-inch, 78 rpm disc, #18255. “Dixieland Jass Band One-Step” was labeled as the A-side; “Livery Stable Blues” was the B-side.

That record stands today as the first recording of Jazz music ever released.

The First.

Check those sides out for yourself!

In late 1917, the spelling of the band’s name was changed to: Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

The original quintet made several more recordings over the next year for three different companies: Columbia, Aeolian-Vocalion and Victor.

However, in 1918, Eddie Edwards was drafted, serving in the United States Army through the end of World War I and Henry Ragas died of influenza in February 1919 during what is now known as the 1918 Flu Pandemic.

The replenished line-up of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band finally disbanded after recording two last sides for OKeh Records on April 20, 1923.

I hope you enjoyed those recordings as much as I do. As I’ve always said: “Good music doesn’t get old.”