The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Improvised Music Company & Dublin Jazz Society
On behalf of Mssrs. Harry Crosbie & Sen. David Norris
Present From New Orleans: The Original Dixieland Jazz Band
Jimmy La Rocca Trumpet/vocals
Tom Fischer Clarinet
Steve Suter Trombone
Tom Roberts Piano
Al Bernard Bass
David Hansen Drums
Master of Ceremonies - Sen. David Norris
“Wonderfully evocative of the era, ODJB turn back the clock to the dawn of the recorded jazz age.” – The Washington Post
It’s February 26th, 1917, and in the cultural melting pot of New Orleans, history is in the making. The Victor Talking Machine Company have just released a 78 disc by The Original Dixieland Jazz Band. Livery Stable Blues, and its flipside Dixie Jass Band One Step, went on to sell a staggering 1.5 million copies worldwide, as it kickstarted the birth of jazz, made New Orleans forever synonymous with swinging music, and paved the way for musicians like Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong.
In 1917, ODJB was led by cornetist Nick La Rocca, an Italian émigré. Eighty five years later, the family connection has endured and the band is under the direction of Nick’s son Jimmy La Rocca, who like his father, plays the cornet in the authentic New Orleans style. He’s surrounded himself with fellow devotees of early jazz and its repertoire of Dixie staples like Tiger Rag, Basin Street Blues and Bourbon Street Parade.
Steve Suter’s gruff trombone and Tom Fischer’s swooping clarinet compliment La Rocca’s brightly singing tone, perfectly evoking the organised anarchy that typified the New Orleans front line, while the rhythm section of David Hansen, Al Bernard and Tom Roberts throw in the obligatory mischievous accents and keep those early dance beats grooving in fine Crescent City style.
Jazz has changed irrevocably since 1917, when the music reflected the hedonistic and irrepressible spirit of its genesis in the cathouses and gin joints of New Orleans’ French Quarter. The bandwagon is still rolling with this 21st century ODJB, so come along for some shameless nostalgia, perhaps a strut or two, and relive the halcyon days of the birth of jazz.
All proceeds to The De Paul Trust & St Vincent’s Hospital Cancer Research Unit
