In the mid 20s, the technology to record music was invented. The style for recording music was much different than it is today. The musicians would all record in the same room and play simultaneously (like in this photo. If you'll notice in the photo, there's a big horn that look like a large Vitrola record player. The musicians would actually play into that horn and the vibrations would etch the sound into the record as they were playing. What this meant for the band is that each individual member had to stand far away enough from the horn so as to not over power another member of the band. These early recordings were limited to 2-3 min because the records the recorded on spun at 78 rpm. Vinyls went on to spin at 45 and 36 rpm, resulting in a side lasting about half an hour.

The band who received the honors of first recording jazz was the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. The recording was done at a studio in New York in 1917. This group, who was led by the coronet player Nick LaRocca, was an instant hit with the general American audience. For most of the country, this was the first jazz they had ever heard. Some Americans even felt a sense of pride because to them, having an original style of music meant they had finally broken the musical ties with Europe and created something all their own. The Original Dixieland Jazz Band members however became way to engrossed in what they were doing and forgot their roots when they would often claim that jazz was strictly by and for whites and that anything else was only an attempt to recreate what they were doing. So we begin to see racism set in within the jazz realm.

"I always try to teach by example and not force my ideas on a young musician. One of the reasons we’re here is to be a part of this process of exchange." - Dizzy Gillespie