"Tiger Rag" - Ronell Johnson

“Tiger Rag” (PDF) from the Ronell Johnson album, That Gentilly Swing.

One of the earliest jazz recordings, “Tiger Rag” is credited to the members of The Original Dixieland Jazz Band however its origin and musical themes have been disputed long before its 1917 publishing. For instance, ragtime had already been established as popular music by the turn of the century, branching out from American industrial cities like St. Louis through the distribution of printed sheet music and mechanical piano rolls, so its direct influence on the development of early jazz is widely documented. However, the original recordings of “Tiger Rag” document the uniquely New Orleans playing style of the “ragged” syncopated rhythms that would define the swing feeling of jazz.

New Orleans drummer “Papa Jack” Laine found success in the late-nineteenth century as a bandleader who assembled integrated bands of musicians to perform for the cultural events and celebrations, including funeral parades and social gatherings, by combining military marches, cakewalk parades, and folk melodies - essentially creating the framework of New Orleans brass band culture. Among Laine’s class of musicians - many of whom were educated, self-taught, formerly-enslaved, indigenous, or immigrant workers who blended the musical traditions of Europe, Africa, South and Central America, and Caribbean islands - was an ensemble that eventually became The Original Dixieland Jazz Band, establishing a legacy of musical mentorship in New Orleans that would be carried on by other bandleaders like Paul Barbarin and Danny Barker.

Although the compositional makeup of “Tiger Rag” shares common traits with other music of its era, the ODJB recordings feature the creative tailgate performance and brassy roar of trombonist “Eddie” Edwards’ command over such a wild beast - a playing style that can hardly be notated by traditional methods.

Here is a YouTube video of Ronell Johnson’s hold on that tiger:

Recommended reading: Traditional New Orleans Jazz: Conversations with the Men Who Make the Music by Thomas W. Jacobsen. Published by Louisiana State University Press.