1917 is the age of the Maturation of Jazz ?
In 1917 the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (from New Orleans) cut the first commercial jazz recording while playing in New York City, where they were enthusiastically received. They release was an unexpected hit. Suddenly, jazz New Orleans style was a national craze.
With the new demand for jazz, employment opportunities in the north coaxed more musicians to leave New Orleans. The clarinetist Sidney Bechet left for Chicago in 1917, and cornetist Joe "King" Oliver followed two years later.
The appeal of the New Orleans sound knew no boundaries. Also two years later the Original Dixieland Jazz Band was performing in England and Bechet was in France; their music was wholeheartedly welcomed.
