Original Dixieland Jazz Band 1943/Joe Marsala 1944

In 1917 the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (comprised of cornetist Nick LaRocca, trombonist Eddie Edwards, clarinetist Larry Shields, pianist Henry Ragas, and drummer Tony Sbarbaro) was the first jazz group to record. The band, which always seemed to suffer from personality conflicts, broke up in 1923. LaRocca and Shields retired, J. Russell Robinson (who succeeded the late Ragas in 1919) became a full-time songwriter, Edwards had some low-profile jobs (including recording with Lou Gold in 1926-27, two numbers with Brad Gowans in 1927, and the Coon-Sanders Orchestra in 1932), and only Sbarbaro continued as a full-time performer although entirely off records. In 1936 cornetist-leader Nick LaRocca managed to reunite the ODJB for radio appearances, new recordings and an appearance in a March Of Time newsreel. The reunion only lasted until 1938 when LaRocca went back into retirement. After recording in 1938 with a group billed as “The Original Dixieland Jazz Band” that included trumpeter Sharkey Bonano, pianist Frank Signorelli, and Sbarbaro, Shields also dropped out of music. In 1943, dancer-choreographer Katherine Dunham organized a Broadway show, “The Tropical Revue,” that sought to tell the history of jazz. Clarinetist Brad Gowans (who was actually best known for his valve trombone playing) was a long-time fan of the ODJB and he led an Original Dixieland Jazz Band recre