1912 "jazz"--If not isolated, where is the evidence?

[Dave Wilton]

We must remember that there are some basic patterns and commonalities
regarding slang coinages.

Written citations are vital guideposts, but we shouldn't assume that just
because there are no known written citations that a slang term was not in
use. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Typically, spoken slang
usage will predate the first written use. In fact, other than literary or
media catchphrases (e.g., "grok" or "show me the money" or "OK" which was
part of a newspaper fad), I cannot name a single slang term where the
precise coinage is definitively known.

Even if we grant that Gleeson was the first to record "jazz," we must assume
that the word was in spoken use for some period before Gleeson wrote it
down. After all, Gleeson didn't claim to have coined the word; he heard it
from someone. Without the 1912 L.A. Times citation, it would be safe to
assume that this period was relatively short--perhaps days or weeks. But
with the 1912 citation, it now becomes reasonable to assume that "jazz" was
in use among players that year. Had the 1912 citation been from cowboys in
Texas or cane cutters in Florida, people with no contact with West Coast
baseball, we might dismiss it as unrelated and isolated. But a use of "jazz"
by a Pacific Coast League player just a year before Gleeson records the word
must be viewed as part of a larger pattern of usage.

And why didn't sportswriters pick up on the term? Well, two of them did, the
LA Times reporter and Gleeson. A span of a year between initial written
citations is not unusual.

And is the craps reference key? I don't think so. It's a minor detail,
especially since we have no other evidence of a connection to gambling
slang. The key point in the Gleeson account is the Art Hickman connection.
That is the route that "jazz" took from baseball to music--without the
Hickman connection we could dismiss the entire baseball usage as isolated
and unrelated to the musical sense. (And the craps connection is not
necessarily false. Gleeson may very well have heard the term from Slattery
while the latter was relating what happened at a craps game. This is just
more evidence that "jazz" was "in the air" during the period.)