"jazz"--the non-existent 1909 attestation

Sat Mar 31 17:01:40 UTC 2001

   In two messages today Jan Ivarsson makes a good attempt to track
down a 1909 attestation of "jazz," as attested in OED2. But this OED
entry is the one that has proven to be a mistake. The subject is
treated in David Shulman's article "The Earliest Citation of _Jazz_,"
in _Studies in Slang_, part II (ed.: Gerald Leonard Cohen), Frankfurt
am Main: Peter Lang, 1989; pp.120-124.

    Shulman here convincingly rejects the OED Supplement's attestation
of 1909 "jazz". The attestation had been provided in error by Peter
Tamony who heard it on a later version of a pre-1910 recording
without double-checking to see if it was on one of the earlier
records;and Tamony simply assumed that the pre-1910 recording was
made in 1909. Shulman listened to a 1919 version of the recording
(which contains the "jazz" quote) but then hedges a bit about whether
Tamony listened specifically to this version. Tamony might have
listened to a version from a few years earlier; Shulman did not track
down every single post-1913 recording of the song.

      Shulman  soon shared his new information with OED editor Robert
Burchfield and then commented in the conclusion of his article: "In
the meantime, Robert W. Burchfield advises me that there will be no
addenda or errata for OED Sup. 2, but the correction will be made in
later reprints, eliminating 1909 and leaving the 1913 citation as the
earliest for _jazz_...."

--Gerald Cohen

>
>Date:         Sat, 31 Mar 2001 17:38
>From: Jan Ivarsson TransEdit <transedit.h at TELIA.COM>
>Subject:      Re: jazz
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>
>The Cal Stewart recording in question is Edison Cylinder # 10058.
>It has recently been reedited by Vintage Comedy Recordings (ViCoRec)
>The text of "Uncle Josh in Society" that figures in Cal Stewarts
>book "Uncle Josh's Punkin Stories" from 1903 has "One lady asked me
>if I danced the German...", but he may well have changed the text
>for the recording in 1909
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jan Ivarsson TransEdit" <transedit.h at telia.com>
>To: "George Thompson" <gt1 at NYU.EDU>
>Cc: "ADS Mail List" <ads-l at listserv.uga.edu>
>Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 11:14 AM
>Subject: Re: jazz
>
>
>Yes, you may well be right about the possibility that Robert's 1908
>date is a misprint for 1918, but I am not completely convinced:
>Grand Larousse Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise (1975) under
>"jazz" also gives the date 1908 and as a reference cites Dietrich
>Behrens, Ueber englisches Sprachgut im Französischen (1927).
>And even better:
>The big Oxford English Dictionary (2d ed. 20 volumes) in volume VIII
>p 204 gives a very interesting reference for its date of 1909:
>C. Stewart, Uncle Josh in Society (gramophone-record) "One lady
>asked me if I danced the jazz".
>Someone with access to Congress Library's phono records really
>should verify this.
>
>Jan Ivarsson, TransEdit
>Translator, Subtitler
>Storgatan 2
>SE-27231 Simrishamn, Sweden
>Tel. +46 (0)414 106 20
>Fax +46 (0)414 136 33
>jan.ivarsson at transedit.st
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "George Thompson" <gt1 at NYU.EDU>
>Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 10:03 PM
>Subject: Re: jazz
>
>
>>  Jan Ivarsson has sent me on an interesting chase.  He wrote: "The French
>>  dictionary "Le Nouveau Petit Robert" (my ed. from 1993) gives under the
>>  word "jazz": - - - 1918; jazz-band 1908 "orchestre"- - -  They do not
>>  cite sources, and I do not have the big, 6 volume, Robert accessible,
>>  but it might be worth looking into."
>>
>>  Indeed, it has been worth looking into.  The 1985 Robert (9 vols.)
>>  refers to Manfred Hofler, Dictionaire des Anglicismes, Larousse, 1982.
>>  This has under "jazz" ("musique d'origine negro-americaine. . . .") the
>>  following as French sources:
>>      ***  Des <<blues>> et des <<Jezz>> [sic] executes par un quintette
>>  de saxophones m'ont paru tout particulierement remarquables.  (Le Matin,
>>  25/8/1918, 2d.)
>>      Les Americains reclament la paternite du Jazz, les Anglais aussi. .
>>  . .  Ce Jazz qui a tant fait jaser est une danse que l'on execute de
>  > preference sur les Musiques aux rythmes heurtes et syncopes.
>>  (Vade-mecum du partait danseur, 1920, 10)
>>      J'aime egalement l'opera, le classique et le jazz.  (Cinemagazine
>>  16/9/1921, 12b.)
>>
>>  It has for "jazz-band" ("orchestre de jazz") the following as French
>  > sources:
>>      [LA GRANDE NOUVEAUTE AMERICAINE -- THE SENSATIONAL AMERICAN JAZZ
>>  BAND (Le Matin, 3/2/1918, 4a.)]  [Glancing over Hofler's intro and list
>>  of abbreviations, I don't see an explanation for his use of [] here.  I
>>  assume that they signify that in this passage he regards the words "jazz
>>  band" and an unassimilated quotation from the American.]
>>      CHANGEMENT DE PROGRAMME . . . CASINO JAZZ BAND  (Le Matin 28/6/1918,
>>   4b.)
>>      LE VERITABLE ET JOYEUX JAZZ-BAND DE NEW-YORK  (Le Matin 14/9/1918,
>>  4a.)
>>      Le theatre Apollo music-hall, transforme avec son agreable
>>  promenoir, son grand bar americain et son Jazz Band sensationnel, est
>>  immediatement devenu le lieu de rendez-vous a la mode. . . .  (Le Siecle
>>  12/11/1918, 3c.)
>>      Comment s'etonner apres cela que tous les impresarii songent a
>>  ouvrir de nouvelles salles aux revues a grand spectacle et aux
>  > Jazz-Band, au moment ou Paris est devenu la Babel du vingtieme siecle.
>>  (Le Siecle, 10/12/1918, 3c.)
>>
>>  And another passage from 1919.  It seems that the date "1908" in Jan's
>>  posting is a typo for 1918.  I suppose that these passages refer to
>>  James Reese Europe's band?  I don't know who else could have been
>>  playing jazz in Paris in 1918 -- other than French imitators of Europe.
>>
>>  Despite this, I wish my stock portfolio was as safe as Jerry Cohen's
>>  $100.
>>
>>  GAT
>>
>>  George A. Thompson
>>  Author of A Documentary History of "The African
>>  Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.
>>