[Ads-l] Second Earliest Citation for "Jazz" as a Musical Genre

[Ben Zimmer]

Also notable: the headline for the Dixon Evening Leader item is "JAZZ
BAND." I saved a clipping here:

https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-apr-08-1916-4891784/

Nice find, Fred! That certainly antedates the OED's May 1, 1916 "jazz band"
citation from the Chicago Herald. Later that month, there was also the song
"When I Hear That Jaz Band Play," which has a copyright date of May 18, and
a May 22 Chicago Tribune mention of "Jaz band."

However, let's not forget that a year earlier, on May 22, 1915, the Chicago
Examiner ran an ad for Tom Brown's band, calling it a "jad orchestra." OED3
has that as a bracketed cite at "jazz orchestra," and see Lewis Porter's
recent discussion:

https://lewisporter.substack.com/p/the-word-jazz-5the-word-spreads-to

--Ben

On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 5:26 PM Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> wrote:

> This is also an antedating of the OED for the compound "jazz band."
> It strengthens the apparent role of Illinois, rather than Louisiana, as
> the birthplace of the term "jazz."
>
> ________________________________
> From: Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
> Sent: Monday, January 27, 2025 5:08 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>; lewis porter <
> lrpjazz at gmail.com>
> Subject: Second Earliest Citation for "Jazz" as a Musical Genre
>
> I believe the following is the second oldest known citation for the word
> "jazz" denoting a musical genre:
>
> 1916 Dixon (Ill.) Evening Leader 8 Apr. 1/3 (NewspaperArchive)
>
> The Sterling Jazz band will play in the bazaar held by the Ladies of the
> G. A. R. at Rosbrook Hall tonight.
>
>
>

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