ABSTRACT
The established view of the history of jazz in Britain is that it began in 1919 with the arrival of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and Will Marion Cook's Southern Syncopated Orchestra. Although these visits were undoubtedly important events, as these were the first bands that came from America to specifically perform jazz music, this premise is clearly an over-simplification for a number of reasons. Firstly, sheet music of jazz compositions, including those of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, had been published in Britain since at least 1917 and was widely available. 1 Recordings made by this band may also have been heard in Britain prior to their 1919 visit. Secondly, the Dancing Times had reported as early as January 1918: 'A fearsome thing called "Jazz music" has reached us from the other side of the Atlantic: it has been described as "syncopation runs riot". What its effect will be, time alone can show.' (January 1918:126). The word 'jazz', then, was in general use in Britain before 1919, albeit in various contexts and layers of meaning, but this in itself illuminates the wider picture of the development of the genre in this country, which will be considered in Chapter 2.
