On this day, January 30, in 1917

The first Jazz record was made. Jazz is rooted in the African American experience in this country, and early Jazz is a direct product of working-class, New Orleans musicians, but this first Jazz recording was cut by a group of middle-class white men called the Dixieland Jazz Band. Many early Jazz recordings were made by white men, some of who performed in blackface. The first Jazz recordings made by black musicians were made later that year.