[Dixielandjazz] Tears

[Jack Mitchell]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marek Boym" <marekboym at gmail.com>

Ever since European musicians took up jazz, they've made it their own!
Moreover, I do not know about Australia, but French, British and
German musicians were playing jazz already in the 1920's,

Dear Marek,

I can assure you that Australians were playing jazz in the twenties. The 
first group to call itself a JAZZ BAND in 1918 was really a vaudeville act, 
but composed of good musicians who went on to play in the business for many 
years. The next year many bands were playing for dances and the scene really 
exploded in 1920 with jazz bands (so called anyway) in every city and 
country town. Unfortunately disc recording didn't begin in Melbourne in 1925 
and Sydney in 1926, so there are no recordings of the early twenties, but a 
limited number of discs made after 1925 show that we had excellent jazzmen 
here. Many of them were incororated into visiting American groups and more 
than held their own.

Of course the locals were learning from recordings by white bands, the great 
classics of jazz by Louis and Jelly Roll etc. (with a few exceptions) 
weren't issued in Australia until the early thirties.

Best wishes
Jack Mitchell