Happy Birthday to Recorded Jazz

Hear the very first jazz record

The most important day in jazz?

That’s a tough one, but one day surely belongs in the Top Ten.

February 26, 1917 – 100 years ago.

That’s the day the first time jazz was ever recorded.

Here’s the story – and the music.

The Victor Talking Machine Company recorded these tracks at its studio at 46 West 38th Street on the 12th floor.

The band recorded: The Original Dixieland Jass Band.

How did the record do?

Over one million sold. A smash hit in any era, but in 1917 when recording was new it was a world changer.

Here our friend Jim Eigo reminds of what the golden age of jazz records stores was like in the Big Apple.