| Nick LaRocca | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Dominic James La Rocca |
| Born | April 11, 1889 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | February 22, 1961 (aged 71) |
| Genre(s) | Dixieland |
| Occupation(s) | musician, bandleader |
| Instrument(s) | cornet, trumpet |
| Years active | 1912 — 1959 |
| Label(s) | Victor Records Okeh Records Vocalion Records Columbia Records Southland Records |
| Associated acts | Original Dixieland Jass Band |
Dominic James "Nick" La Rocca (born April 11, 1889 in New Orleans, Louisiana – died February 22, 1961 in New Orleans) was an early jazz cornetist and trumpeter and the leader of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Dixieland or Dixie is a name for the southeastern portion of the USA; see Southern United States, Dixie. A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a A bandleader is the leader of a band of Musicians The term is most commonly though not exclusively used with a group that plays Popular music as A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The cornet is a Brass instrument very similar to the Trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape and mellower tone quality In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Victrola redirects here For other uses see Victrola (disambiguation The Victor Talking Machine Company ( 1901 – 1929 Okeh Records began as an Independent record label based in the United States of America in Vocalion Records was a Record label historically active in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company Southland Records is a New Orleans Louisiana Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB was a New Orleans band that made the first Jazz recording in 1917 Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1889 ( MDCCCLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States The cornet is a Brass instrument very similar to the Trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape and mellower tone quality Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB was a New Orleans band that made the first Jazz recording in 1917 According to La Rocca himself, he was "The Creator of Jazz", "The Christopher Columbus of Music", and "The most lied about person in history since Jesus Christ". Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE)
Background
La Rocca was the son of poor Italian-American immigrants. An Italian American is an American of Italian descent and/or dual citizenship His father was Girolamo LaRocca of Salaparuta, Sicily and his mother was Vita DeNina of Poggioreale, Sicily. Salaparuta is a town in South-Western Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the Province of Trapani. Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Poggioreale is a small town in Sicily, Italy, set on the Belice valley which administratively belongs to the Province of Trapani. Young Nick was attracted to the music of the brass bands in New Orleans and covertly taught himself to play cornet against the wishes of his father who hoped his son would go into a more prestigious profession. The cornet is a Brass instrument very similar to the Trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape and mellower tone quality La Rocca at first worked as an electrician, playing music on the side.
From around 1910 through 1916 he was a regular member of Papa Jack Laine's bands. Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year George Vital Laine aka Papa Jack ( September 21, 1873 – June 1, 1966) was the most busy and perhaps the most important band leader While not considered as one of the most virtuosic or creative of the Laine players, he was well regarded for playing a solid lead with a strong lip which allowed him to play long parades without let up or to play several gigs in a row on the same day.
In 1916 he was chosen as a last-minute replacement for Frank Christian in Johnny Stein's band to play a job up in Chicago, Illinois. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Frank Joseph Christian ( September 3, 1887 &ndash November 27, 1973) was an early Jazz Trumpeter. John Philip Hountha "Johnny" Stein (1891 or 1895 New Orleans - September 30 1962 New Orleans was an American Jazz drummer and Bandleader. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. This band became the famous Original Dixieland Jass Band, making the first commercially issued jazz recordings in New York City in 1917. Original Dixieland Jass Band (ODJB was a New Orleans band that made the first Jazz recording in 1917 The City of New York Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year These recordings were hits and made the band into celebrities.
Soon other New Orleans musicians began following the O. D. J. B. 's path, arriving in New York to play jazz. La Rocca was uneasy about competition. Frank Christian recalled that La Rocca offered him $200 and a return railway ticket to go back home. Frank Joseph Christian ( September 3, 1887 &ndash November 27, 1973) was an early Jazz Trumpeter. After a band featuring New Orleans musicians Alcide Nunez, Tom Brown, and Ragbaby Stevens won a battle of the bands against the O. Alcide Patrick Nunez ( March 17, 1884 &ndash September 2, 1934) was an early United States Jazz Clarinetist. Tom Brown, sometimes known by the Nickname Red Brown ( June 3, 1888 &ndash March 25, 1958) was an early New Orleans Joe Stephens, generally known as ' "Ragbaby" or "Rag Baby Stephens", (March 3 1887 - c D. J. B. , drummer Ragbaby found his drum heads all mysteriously slashed.
The band gave La Rocca the nickname "Joe Blade", and published a song called "Joe Blade, Sharp as a Tack".
La Rocca led this band on tours of England and the United States into the early 1920s, when he suffered a nervous breakdown. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada He returned to New Orleans and retired from music, going into the construction and contracting business. His chair in the band was taken by Henry Levine, a teenaged trumpeter devoted to traditional jazz stylings; Levine later led one of the house bands on NBC's radio series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street was a musical variety radio program which began on the Blue Network in 1940
In 1936 Nick LaRocca reunited the O. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. D. J. B. for a successful tour and more recordings. La Rocca proclaimed that he and his band were the inventors of the now nationally popular swing music. Personality conflicts broke up the band again the following year, and La Rocca again retired from music.
In the 1950s he started writing numerous vehement letters to newspapers, radio, and television shows, stating that he was the true and sole inventor of jazz music, and that those who claimed that the music had Negro origins were part of a Communist conspiracy. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Communism is a Socioeconomic structure that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless Society based
When Tulane University established their Archive of New Orleans Jazz in 1958, La Rocca donated his large collection of papers related to the O. Tulane University is a private, Nonsectarian, Coeducational Research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. D. J. B. to Tulane, after adding numerous glosses in the margins, often very insulting to his fellow musicians, and occasionally modifying documents to make them more in line with his own version of history. This article is about the literary term For other uses see Gloss (disambiguation.
At the same time, he worked with writer H. O. Brunn on the book The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (sometimes sarcastically nicknamed by jazz historians as "The Gospel according to Nick La Rocca"). While Brunn toned down some of La Rocca's most extreme rhetoric, the book still presents a curious tale of La Rocca growing up in a New Orleans apparently devoid of African Americans where he founded the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1908 (8 years before anyone else recalls it existing). Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year The book is dismissive even of the other members of the O. D. J. B. ; it is perhaps kindest to clarinetist Larry Shields who was already dead at the time, but still it claims that Shields, unlike La Rocca, was not an essential member of the band. Lawrence James "Larry" Shields ( September 13, 1893 - November 21, 1953) was an early American Dixieland
Those trying to assess La Rocca's contributions to jazz are sometimes perhaps as much hindered as helped by La Rocca's own statements. A small few (mostly in England) have taken La Rocca on his word, while a much larger segment of jazz historians have simply dismissed him out of hand. La Rocca may have inadvertently done much damage to his own reputation, especially in some of his statements which are unusually racist even when compared to interviews with other white southerners born in the late 19th century, and his dismissal if not outright insults of his fellow white musicians. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar
If few of his contemporaries had anything kind to say about La Rocca, it should be remembered that they were very aware of how he had little kind to say about them. La Rocca's statements in his later life were made when he was not completely well. A balanced assessment may be to regard LaRocca as an important figure in taking jazz from a regional style to international popularity, the leader of the most influential jazz band of the period from 1917 to 1921, a good player in a very early jazz style on records such as "Clarinet Marmalade", and unfortunately his own worst enemy with his bragging in his old age. La Rocca's playing and recordings were an important early influence on such later jazz trumpeters as Red Nichols, Bix Beiderbecke and Phil Napoleon. Ernest Loring "Red" Nichols ( May 8, 1905 &ndash June 28, 1965) was an American Jazz Cornettist Leon Bix Beiderbecke ( March 10, 1903 &ndash August 6, 1931) was an American Jazz Cornetist and composer as well Phil Napoleon (born born Filippo Napoli on 2 September, 1901 - 13 September, 1990) was an early Jazz Trumpeter and Others information about Nick La Rocca and his biographer are in a Salvatore Mugno's novel: "Il biografo di Nick La Rocca. Come entrare nelle storie del jazz", Besa Editrice, Nardò (Lecce), Italia, 2005.
External links
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