JAZZ <-- JASS

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>... I will write a check of $100 to the first person who can provide me
>clear evidence that "jazz" (or any variant spelling) was used prior to
>1913 in a musical or sexual sense.

Lusting for Gerald Cohen's 2000 jitneys, I tried the online sheet-music
collection at

http://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/

... I searched for "jazz".

Hey, what's this?

<<Title: Sliding Sid. One Step (March Two-Stp or Fox Trot).
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: by Abe Losch.
Publication: Williamsport, PA: Vandersloot Music Pub. Co., 1913.
Form of Composition: sectional
Instrumentation: piano
Performer: [Earl Fuller and His Famous Jazz Band]
Dedicatee: To Mr. Earl Fuller and His Famous Jazz Band>>

If "jazz" reached PA in 1913, and CA in 1913, maybe it was somewhere else
in 1912! A hot lead!

Hey! Even better!

<<Title: Le Jazz D'Alexandre (Alexander's Ragtime Band). [with text in
English and French].
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Paroles anglaises et musique de Irving Berlin.
Publication: Paris: Editions Salabert, 1911.>>

Surely I can glom the hundred dobies!

Alas, it's just more smoke with no fire ... just like in the OED.

The '1913' is an error (it's 1918). The '1911' is the copyright date for
the original "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and not really the date of the
French version with the "jazzed-up" title. Oh well ....

-- Doug Wilson

PS: Note the expression "de Irving Berlin" in the second citation above. An
example of "de [vowel]" in French (rather than "d'[vowel]"), relevant to an
earlier discussion on this list.