[Dixielandjazz] Ciro's Club Orch - 1st Jazz recording?

[Rob McCallum]

Hello all,

I've been spending some time on the Red Hot Jazz Archive site this evening
and would like to pose a question to the historians of the list.  Why does
everyone consider the ODJB recordings released on 2/26/1917 the first jazz
recording when Ciro's Club Coon Orchestra (an African American band
performing in London) recorded jazz in 1916?  It seems they made recordings
as early as August of 1916 for Columbia.  The only file that can be listened
to on the Red Hot site is a version of St Louis Blues recorded (or
released?) in September of 1916.  I gave it a good listen.  It swings, it's
a blues progression, and there's a lot of syncopation and interpretation of
the melody.  Wouldn't that be jazz?  It sure sounded like jazz to me.  It
even has more of a spontaneous quality than the ODJB recordings. Why has
this been overlooked?

All the best,
Rob McCallum