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"At the Jazz Band Ball" is a 1917 jazz instrumental recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The instrumental is one of the earliest and most recorded jazz compositions. The song is a jazz classic and a standard of the genre.
The instrumental was recorded by Larry Shields, Tony Sbarbaro, Henry Ragas, Nick LaRocca, and Eddie Edwards, the members of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The song was composed by Nick LaRocca and Larry Shields. The song was first recorded as "At the Jass Band Ball" by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on September 3, 1917 in New York and released as an Aeolian Vocalion single, A1205. The instrumental was rerecorded on March 19, 1918 and was released as a Victor 78 single, Victor 18457, Matrix #B-21583/1, with "Ostrich Walk" as the flip side. A third version was recorded on April 16, 1919 in London, England and released as a 78 single as Columbia 735 with "Barnyard Blues" as the flip side.
Lyricist Johnny Mercer added lyrics to the original 1917 ODJB instrumental in 1950.
Other recordings
The song was recorded by Bix Beiderbecke and His Gang in 1927. Bobby Hackett and His Orchestra recorded the song in 1938. Muggsy Spanier and His Ragtime Band and Bud Freeman and His Famous Chicagoans recorded the song in 1940. Spanier released his version as RCA Bluebird B-10518-A and V-Disc 249B. In 1959, The Dukes of Dixieland released an album entitled At the Jazz Band Ball featuring an instrumental version of the song as the opening track. Bing Crosby and Louis Armstrong recorded the song in 1960. Pete Fountain, Bob Crosby, George Barnes and his Octet, Phil Napoleon's Emperor's of Jazz, Nappy Lamare, Kenny Ball and His Jazzmen, Gene Krupa and his Chicago Jazz, Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Sidney Bechet, Joe Venutti, the Sons of Bix, Nick LaRocca and His Dixieland Jazz Band, Kid Ory, the Belgrade Dixieland Orchestra, and Ted Heath also recorded the song.