Timeline
1921
1929
- Zion, Illinois bans jazz as 'sinful.' Of course, this made people want it even more.
- The Harlem Strut and Carolina Shout, by pianist James P. Johnson, are recorded in New York.
- Kid Ory's band makes the first recordings by a black band playing in New Orleans style.
- Pianist Fats Waller and William "Count" Bessie make their first recordings.
- Mamie Smith, a blues singer, makes more and more recordings with jazz bands.
- John Stark goes out of business. This signifies the final blow to ragtime, it is now over.
- Race records are created, categorizing records by race.
- Bandleader Elmer Snowden's Washingtonians performs in New York with Duke Ellington on piano.
- Pianist Jelly Roll Morton, now based in Chicago, makes several recordings including solo pieces such as King Porter Stomp and performances with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings.
- Cornetist King Oliver's band, which includes Louis Armstrong on trumpet and Armstrong's wife Lil Hardin on piano, makes its first recordings, including Dippermouth Blues.
- Bessie Smith, a blues singer, makes her first recordings.
- Cornetist Bix Beiderbecke and his band, The Wolverines, make their first recordings.
- Duke Ellington makes his first recordings as the Washingtonians' leader.
- Louis Armstrong moves to New York.
- James P. Johnson records Charleston, which becomes a huge hit and gives rise to a dance of the same name.
- Louis Armstrong makes his first recordings with his group, the Hot Five.
- Trumpeter Louis Armstrong has a huge hit and pioneers scat singing with his first recorded original composition, Heebie Jeebies, featuring his Hot Five.
- Pianist Jelly Roll Morton's group the Red Hot Peppers records in Chicago.
- Louis Armstrong makes his first recordings with his Hot Seven, which was the Hot Five plus drums and tuba.
- Pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington begins his residency at the Cotton Club in Harlem, increasing the band from six to eleven members.
- Clarinetist Benny Goodman makes his first recordings.
1929
- Pianist Fats Waller participates in a mixed-race recording session in which he is forced to play behind a screen to separate him from the white musicians.
- The film St. Louis Blues about the life of pianist W.C. Handy is released, featuring blues singer Bessie Smith, Handy as musical director, and pianist James P. Johnson's band.