1. Nick LaRocca is the composer of one of the most recorded jazz classics of all-time, "Tiger Rag".
13 Facts About Nick LaRocca
1. 2.
Nick LaRocca was part of what is generally regarded as the first recorded jazz band, a band which recorded and released the first jazz recording, "Livery Stable Blues" in 1917.
3.
Nick LaRocca was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of poor Sicilian immigrants.
4.
Nick LaRocca's father was Girolamo LaRocca of Salaparuta, Sicily and his mother was Vita De Nina of Poggioreale, Sicily.
5.
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.
6.
Frank Christian recalled that Nick LaRocca offered him $200 and a return railway ticket to go back home.
7.
Nick LaRocca led this band on tours of England and the United States into the early 1920s, when he suffered a nervous breakdown.
8.
Nick LaRocca returned to New Orleans and retired from music, going into the construction and contracting business.
9.
In 1936 Nick LaRocca reunited the ODJB for a successful tour and more recordings.
10.
Nick LaRocca proclaimed that he and his band were the inventors of the now nationally popular swing music.
11.
Personality conflicts broke up the band again in 1937, and Nick LaRocca again retired from music.
12.
When Tulane University established their Archive of New Orleans Jazz, now the Hogan Jazz Archive, in 1958, Nick LaRocca donated his large collection of items related to the OD.
13.
Nick LaRocca's playing and recordings were an important early influence on such later jazz trumpeters as Red Nichols, Bix Beiderbecke and Phil Napoleon.