" jazz"--( issue of early attestations)

[Beverly Flanigan]

I'm struck again by Gerald's full name--especially since I just saw the
film "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man."  I recommend it; it's a great
retrospective, mingling clips of photos and interviews with Cohen with his
songs--unfortunately, all sung (except for the title song) by other, lesser
lights, at a concert in Sydney.  But it's very nice nonetheless, especially
for us oldtimers.

At 09:05 PM 8/25/2006, you wrote:
>Dear Mrs. Stoltz and Dr. Karl Koenig (with a cc. to the American Dialect
>Society and SABR),
>    The earliest mention of "jazz" in a San Francisco newspaper (San
> Francisco Bulletin) that I'm aware of is from March 3, 1913, p. 13/4:
> 'McCarl has been healded all along the line as a "busher", but now it
> develops that this dope is very much to the "jazz".'  Also, NYU librarian
> George Thompson, Jr. spotted several attestations of baseball "jazz" from
> April 2 and April 3, 1912 in the Los Angeles Times ("Ben's Jazz
> Curve"...'"I call it the Jazz ball because it wobbles and you simply
> can't do anything with it"'), although the significance of these 1912
> attestations is still a matter of controversy.
>
>     If Dr. Koenig or Professor Gushee has a "jazz" attestation which
> predates March 3, 1913 for any San Francisco newspaper, this would indeed
> be big news. (Btw, the 1909 "jazz" attestation in OED has been
> acknowledged as an error.)
>
>Sincerely,
>Gerald Cohen,
>one of several researchers on the origin of the term "jazz"
>P.S. I don't have the UMR article before me and no longer remember just
>what it says.
>
>________________________________
>
>From: Stoltz, Mary Helen
>Sent: Fri 8/25/2006 2:58 PM
>To: 'Karl Koenig'; 'PR-L at UMR.EDU'
>Cc: Cohen, Gerald Leonard
>Subject: RE: jazz
>
>Dr. Koenig,
>Thanks for contacting us about the jazz article.  It was based on the
>research of Gerald Cohen, an etymologist and professor of foreign
>languages here at UMR.  I will copy him on this reply, as I'm sure he'd be
>interested to hear about your research.
>
>Good luck with your new book.
>
>Mary Helen Stoltz
>Manager, Public Relations
>UMR Communications
>105-A Campus Support Facility
>1870 Miner Circle
>Rolla, MO 65409-0220
>573-341-4966
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Public Relations Staff [mailto:PR-L at umr.edu] On Behalf Of Karl Koenig
>Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 2:38 PM
>To: PR-L at UMR.EDU
>Subject: jazz
>
>Read your artcile on the use of the word 'jazz' as a baseball term. I'm
>a jazz researcher (have published over 30 books (basinstreet.com) and in
>my research a professor Larry Gushee found the use of the term 'jazz' in
>a San Francisco newspaper earlier then the date you quote. I can look up
>the date that he used. I am working on a new book about early jazz and
>baseball. One quote from my research is "To be successful a town needs:
>a band, a baseball team and pretty girls." Sincerely Karl Koenig, PhD
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org