[Ads-l] Master List of Earliest Uses of "Jazz" (Term for Musical Genre)

[Stephen Goranson]

Though I have not researched jazz anywhere near as much as many many
others, on glancing at some of George Thompson's posts (including ragtime),
and on having been a member of a high school pep band playing at football
games, I do wonder whether there is a clear dividing line between
sports jazz and music jazz. Maybe, maybe not. My mind is mostly elsewhere
atm.
scg

On Wed, Oct 22, 2025 at 8:40 AM Shapiro, Fred <
00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> For those interested in the history of "jazz" as a term for a musical
> genre, I have compiled a master list of the 16 earliest citations I have
> found.  This is an expansion of the excellent list in Gerald Cohen's
> wonderful book "Origin of the Term 'Jazz.'"  The most important of my
> additions beyond the Cohen list are the #2 and #3 items, which are
> non-Chicago articles.  Some of the articles were printed in multiple
> newspapers.  In those instances, I have only listed the earliest newspaper
> printing the article.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
>
> ?  Chicago Examiner, May 22, 1915, page 17: "jad orchestra"  ["jad"
> appears to have been a misspelling of "jaz"]
>
> 1  Chicago Tribune, July 11, 1915, page VIII.8: "jazz"
>
> 2  Dixon (Ill.) Evening Leader, April 8, 1916. page 8: "jazz band"
>
> 3  Sacramento Bee, April 24, 1916, page 3: "jaz orchestra"
>
> 4  Chicago Herald, May 1, 1916, page 1: "jass band"
>
> 5  "When I Hear That Jaz Band Play" (words and music by Eddie Gray
> [Chicago: Frank E. Root], copyrighted May 18, 1916)
>
> 6  Chicago Tribune, May 22, 1916, page 13: "jaz band"
>
> 7  Chicago Examiner, June 4, 1916, page 5-6: "jass band"
>
> 8  Chicago Tribune, June 8, 1916, page 4: "jaz band"
>
> 9  Chicago Tribune, June 25, 1916, page VIII.10: "jass band"
>
> 10  Chicago Tribune, July 7, 1916, page 2: "jaz band"
>
> 11  Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1916, page 15: "jass band"
>
> 11  Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.), July 12, 1916, page 1: "jass band"
>
> 13  New York Clipper, July 15, 1916, page 12: "jazz band"
>
> 13  Twin City Star (Minneapolis), July 15, 1916, page 4: "jaz band"
>
> 15  Chicago Tribune, July 16, 1916, page 21: "jaz band"
>
> 16  Chicago Tribune, July 19, 1916, page 3: "jazz band"
>
>
>
>
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>

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