Henry Ragas
Encyclopedia
Henry Ragas was a jazz pianist who played with the Original Dixieland Jass Band
on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded (not counting piano rolls), although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available. His role in the band was to fill out the chords and to provide a bass line. He did not play solos on the recordings.
Ragas gained experience as a solo pianist during the period from 1910 to 1913. He traveled with Johnny Stein
's band to Chicago in 1916 and subsequently left the group in order to form the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB). The ODJB, the first jazz group to ever record, became a major hit in 1917. Ragas was on the band's first 21 recordings including "Bluin' The Blues", which he composed.
He played on many Original Dixieland Jass Band classics and standards such as "Livery Stable Blues
", regarded as the first jazz recording, "Tiger Rag", one of the most recorded songs in jazz history, "Clarinet Marmalade", "Fidgety Feet", "At the Jazz Band Ball", "Sensation", "Bluin' the Blues", and "Dixie Jass Band One-Step". He died of Spanish Flu
in 1919, his place in the group being taken by ragtime and jazz pianist and composer J. Russel Robinson.
Henry Ragas was a pioneering jazz pianist who was influential on later jazz bands that emerged in the 1930s and 1920s. "Tiger Rag" and "Clarinet Marmalade" were among the most important and most influential jazz recordings of all-time.
Original Dixieland Jass Band
The Original Dixieland Jass Band were a New Orleans, Dixieland jazz band that made the first jazz recordings in early 1917. Their "Livery Stable Blues" became the first jazz single ever issued. The group composed and made the first recordings of many jazz standards, the most famous being Tiger Rag...
on their earliest recording sessions. As such, he is the very first jazz pianist to be recorded (not counting piano rolls), although his contributions are barely audible due to the primitive recording equipment available. His role in the band was to fill out the chords and to provide a bass line. He did not play solos on the recordings.
Ragas gained experience as a solo pianist during the period from 1910 to 1913. He traveled with Johnny Stein
Johnny Stein
John Philip Hountha "Johnny" Stein was an American jazz drummer and bandleader.Stein's surnames are the subject of much confusion; his mother's name was Stein from a previous marriage, and although he was apparently given the last name Hountha, he used Stein professionally...
's band to Chicago in 1916 and subsequently left the group in order to form the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (ODJB). The ODJB, the first jazz group to ever record, became a major hit in 1917. Ragas was on the band's first 21 recordings including "Bluin' The Blues", which he composed.
He played on many Original Dixieland Jass Band classics and standards such as "Livery Stable Blues
Livery Stable Blues
"Livery Stable Blues" is a 1917 jazz composition copyrighted by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. It was famously recorded by the Original Dixieland Jass Band on 26 February 1917 and, with the flip side "Dixie Jass Band One-Step" , became the first jazz recording ever released...
", regarded as the first jazz recording, "Tiger Rag", one of the most recorded songs in jazz history, "Clarinet Marmalade", "Fidgety Feet", "At the Jazz Band Ball", "Sensation", "Bluin' the Blues", and "Dixie Jass Band One-Step". He died of Spanish Flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
in 1919, his place in the group being taken by ragtime and jazz pianist and composer J. Russel Robinson.
Henry Ragas was a pioneering jazz pianist who was influential on later jazz bands that emerged in the 1930s and 1920s. "Tiger Rag" and "Clarinet Marmalade" were among the most important and most influential jazz recordings of all-time.
Compositions by Henry Ragas
Henry Ragas composed the jazz standards "Bluin' the Blues", "Lazy Daddy", "Dixieland Jass Band One-Step", "Clarinet Marmalade Blues", and "Reisenweber Rag".Honors
In 2006, his 1917 recording of "Darktown Strutter's Ball" with the Original Dixieland Jass Band was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.External links
- U.S. Library of Congress, National Jukebox, featuring original ODJB recordings on Victor.
- Wilbur Sweatman's Original Jazz Band's recording of Henry Ragas' composition "Bluin' the Blues" (December 5, 1918) at the Internet Archive.