Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca (April 11, 1889 – February 22, 1961), was an American early
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
ist and
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
er and the leader of the
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their " Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the ...
. He is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "
Tiger Rag
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions. In 2003, the 1918 recording of "Tiger Rag" was entered into the U.S. Library of Cong ...
". He was part of what is generally regarded as the first recorded jazz band, a band which recorded and released the first jazz recording, "
Livery Stable Blues
"Livery Stable Blues" is a jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez ''(né'' Raymond Edward Lopez; 1889–1979) and Alcide Nunez in 1917. It was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on February 26, 1917, and, with the A side " Dixieland ...
" in 1917.
Background
Nick LaRocca was born in
, the son of poor
Sicilian immigrants. His father was Girolamo LaRocca of
Salaparuta
Salaparuta is a town and ''comune'' in South-Western Sicily, Italy, in the valley of the Belice river, administratively part of the province of Trapani
Trapani ( it, Provincia di Trapani, scn, Pruvincia di Tràpani; officially ''Libero consorz ...
, Sicily and his mother was Vita De Nina of
Poggioreale
Poggioreale ( Sicilian: ''Poggiuriali'') is a ghost town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, western Sicily, southern Italy, located in the Belice
The Belice, , is a river of western Sicily. It is about long. From its main source nea ...
, Sicily. Young Nick was attracted to the music of the brass bands in New Orleans and covertly taught himself to play
cornet
The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...
against the wishes of his father who hoped his son would go into a more prestigious profession. LaRocca at first worked as an electrician, playing music on the side.
From around 1910 through 1916 he was a regular member of
Papa Jack Laine
George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine (September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was an American musician and a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish–American War to World War I. He was often credited for training many musici ...
's bands. While not considered as one of the most virtuosic or creative of the Laine players, he was well regarded for playing a solid lead with a strong lip which allowed him to play long parades without let up or to play several gigs in a row on the same day.
In 1916 he was chosen as a last-minute replacement for
Frank Christian in
Johnny Stein
John Philip Hountha "Johnny" Stein (1891 or 1895 in New Orleans – September 30, 1962 in New Orleans) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.
Stein's surnames are the subject of much confusion; his mother's name was Stein from a previous ...
's band to play a job up in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. This band became the famous
Original Dixieland Jazz Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB) was a Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their " Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz record ever issued. The group composed and recorded many jazz standards, the ...
, making the first commercially issued jazz recordings in New York City in 1917. These recordings were hits and made the band into celebrities.
Soon other New Orleans musicians began following the O.D.J.B.'s path, arriving in New York to play jazz. LaRocca was uneasy about competition.
Frank Christian recalled that LaRocca offered him $200 and a return railway ticket to go back home. After a band featuring New Orleans musicians
Alcide Nunez
Alcide Patrick Nunez (March 17, 1884 – September 2, 1934), also known as Yellow Nunez and Al Nunez, was an American jazz clarinetist. He was one of the first musicians of New Orleans to make audio recordings.
Biography
Alcide Patrick Nunez wa ...
,
Tom Brown, and Ragbaby Stevens won a battle of the bands against the O.D.J.B., drummer Ragbaby found his drum heads mysteriously slashed.
The band gave LaRocca the nickname "Joe Blade", and published a song called "Joe Blade, Sharp as a Tack".
LaRocca led this band on tours of England and the United States into the early 1920s, when he suffered a nervous breakdown. He returned to New Orleans and retired from music, going into the construction and contracting business. His chair in the band was taken by Henry Levine, a teenage trumpeter devoted to traditional jazz stylings. Levine later led one of the house bands on NBC's radio series ''
The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
''The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street'' is a musical variety radio program which began on the Blue Network on February 11, 1940.
The program was created and hosted by NBC staff announcer Gene Hamilton, as a tongue-in-cheek satir ...
''.
In 1936 Nick LaRocca reunited the ODJB for a successful tour and more recordings. LaRocca proclaimed that he and his band were the inventors of the now nationally popular
swing music
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...
. He and the reunited Original Dixieland Jazz Band performed "Tiger Rag" in ''
The March of Time
''The March of Time'' is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945. The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. Pr ...
'' newsreel segment titled "Birth of Swing," released to U.S. theaters February 19, 1937. Personality conflicts broke up the band again in 1937, and LaRocca again retired from music. He died in New Orleans in 1961.
Later life and controversy
In the 1950s, he wrote numerous vehement letters to newspapers, radio, and television shows, stating that he was the true and sole inventor of jazz music, damaging his credibility and provoking a backlash against him and his reputation and career. He made obviously exaggerated claims that he was "The Creator of Jazz", "The Christopher Columbus of Music", and "The most lied about person in history since Jesus Christ" .
When
Tulane University
Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...
established their Archive of New Orleans Jazz, now the
Hogan Jazz Archive
The Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, and is one of the special collections of the Tulane University library. The archive specializes in Dixieland Jazz, gospel, blues, rhyt ...
, in 1958, LaRocca donated his large collection of items related to the O.D.J.B. to Tulane, including several scrapbooks made by LaRocca.
At the same time, he worked with writer H.O. Brunn on the book ''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''. In the book, LaRocca claimed that he founded the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1908. The book was dismissive of the other members of the O.D.J.B. It was perhaps kindest to clarinetist
Larry Shields
Lawrence James Shields (September 13, 1893 - November 21, 1953) was an early American dixieland jazz clarinetist. He was a member of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, the first jazz band to record commercially.
Background
Shields was born int ...
.
Musicologists and historians who seek to assess LaRocca's contributions to jazz are hindered by LaRocca's self-aggrandizement. A balanced assessment would have to acknowledge that Nick LaRocca was an important figure in taking jazz from a regional style to international popularity, the leader of the most influential jazz band of the period from 1917 to 1921, and a good player in a very early jazz style on records such as "Clarinet Marmalade".
[Stewart, Jack. "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's Place in the Development of Jazz." ''New Orleans International Music Colloquium'', 2005.] LaRocca's playing and recordings were an important early influence on such later jazz trumpeters as
Red Nichols
Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols (May 8, 1905 – June 28, 1965) was an American jazz cornetist, composer, and jazz bandleader.
Biography Early life and career
Nichols was born in Ogden, Utah, United States. His father was a college music profes ...
,
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer.
Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical app ...
and
Phil Napoleon
Phil Napoleon (born Filippo Napoli; 2 September 1901 – 1 October 1990) was an early jazz trumpeter and bandleader born in Boston, Massachusetts. Ron Wynn observed that Napoleon "was a competent, though unimaginative trumpeter whose greatest val ...
. Nick LaRocca's 1917 composition "
Tiger Rag
"Tiger Rag" is a jazz standard that was recorded and copyrighted by the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1917. It is one of the most recorded jazz compositions. In 2003, the 1918 recording of "Tiger Rag" was entered into the U.S. Library of Cong ...
" was covered by
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
in several different versions throughout his career, while
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...
,
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...
, and
The Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...
also recorded important and influential cover versions of the jazz standard. Additional information about Nick LaRocca and his biographer can be found in Salvatore Mugno's ''Il biografo di Nick LaRocca''. ''Come entrare nelle storie del jazz'', Besa Editrice, Nardò (Lecce), Italia, 2005.
Legacy
Nick LaRocca's 1917 composition "Tiger Rag" is one of the most important and influential jazz standards of the twentieth century. There were 136 cover versions of LaRocca's copyrighted composition "Tiger Rag" by 1942 alone.
Among the artists who have recorded "Tiger Rag" are Louis Armstrong,
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker Jr. (August 29, 1920 – March 12, 1955), nicknamed "Bird" or "Yardbird", was an American jazz saxophonist, band leader and composer. Parker was a highly influential soloist and leading figure in the development of bebop, a form ...
,
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...
,
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
, Duke Ellington,
Kid Ory
Edward "Kid" Ory (December 25, 1886 – January 23, 1973) was an American jazz composer, trombonist and bandleader. One of the early users of the glissando technique, he helped establish it as a central element of New Orleans jazz.
He was ...
and his Creole Jazz Orchestra, Bix Beiderbecke,
Les Paul
Lester William Polsfuss (June 9, 1915 – August 12, 2009), known as Les Paul, was an American jazz, country, and blues guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor. He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype ...
, Art Tatum, The Mills Brothers in a No. 1 pop version, and
Bob Crosby
George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the young ...
.
The Original Dixieland Jazz Band is now regarded as one of the seminal groups in the formation and development of jazz. The ODJB compositions have been covered by everyone from Louis Armstrong to Duke Ellington to Joe Jackson. The influence of the ODJB on the history and development of jazz is undeniable.
Honors
In 2006, his 1917 recording of "
Darktown Strutters' Ball
"Darktown Strutters' Ball" is a popular song by Shelton Brooks, published in 1917. The song has been recorded many times and is considered a popular and jazz standard. There are many variations of the title, including "At the Darktown Strutters' ...
" with the Original Dixieland Jass Band was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
.
See also
*
Italians in New Orleans
Italians have had a presence in the New Orleans area since the explorations of the Europeans. Many Sicilians immigrated to New Orleans in the 19th century, traveling on the Palermo-New Orleans route by ship.Maselli and Candeloro, p7Maggi, Laura ...
References
Sources
The ODJB on RedHotJazzContains
.ram
RealAudio, or also spelled as Real Audio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fid ...
files of their vintage recordings.
Jimmy LaRocca's Original Dixieland Jazz Band* Stewart, Jack. "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's Place in the Development of Jazz." ''New Orleans International Music Colloquium'', 2005.
* Lange, Horst H. ''Wie der Jazz begann: 1916–1923, von der "Original Dixieland Jazz Band" bis zu King Olivers "Creole Jazz Band"''. Berlin: Colloquium Verlag, 1991.
* Brunn, H.O. ''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1960. Reprinted by
Da Capo Press
Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books.
History
Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...
, 1977.
* Mugno, Salvatore. ''Il biografo di Nick LaRocca. Come entrare nelle storie del jazz''. Lecce, Italy: Besa Editrice, Nardò, 2005.
External links
Nick LaRocca (1889-1961)Red Hot Jazz Archive
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larocca, Nick
1889 births
1961 deaths
Jazz musicians from New Orleans
Dixieland bandleaders
Dixieland cornetists
Dixieland trumpeters
Original Dixieland Jass Band members
American people of Italian descent
American jazz musicians