These records by Wilbur Sweatman were made only about a month after the Original Dixieland Jass Band made what is generally considered to be the first Jazz record on February 26, 1917. As several of the titles of Sweatman’s songs suggest the music is closer stylistically to Ragtime than Jazz, but Sweatman seems to be improvising a bit on his clarinet particularly on “A Bag Of Rags” and “Joe Turner Blues“. Wilbur Sweatman would go on to record quite a few records for the Columbia label from 1918 to 1920 which are quite a bit Jazzier, but some people consider these recordings to be the first African-American Jazz records.

Thanks to Jeff Lichtman of Swazoo Koolak’s Web Jukebox for his help with the music on this page.

Title	Recording Date	Recording Location	Company
A Bag Of Rags (W.R McKanlass)	4-1917	New York, New York	Pathé B 20167
Boogie Rag (Wilbur Sweatman)	4-1917	New York, New York	Pathé B 20147
Dance And Grow Thin (George W. Meyer)	4-1917	New York, New York	Pathé A 20147
Dancing An American Rag (Bob Ward)	4-1917	New York, New York	Pathé B 20145
I Wonder Why From “Love O’ Mike” (Jerome Kern)	4-1917	New York, New York	Pathé A 20145
Joe Turner Blues (W.C. Handy)	4-1917	New York, New York	Pathé A 20167

Artist	Instrument
Piccolo Jones	Alto Saxophone
Henry Minton	Tenor Saxophone
Wilbur Sweatman	Clarinet, Leader
Charlie Thorpes	Baritone Saxophone
Vess Williams	Alto Saxophone
Frank Withers	Bass Saxophone