Papa Jack Laine

Who was Papa Jack Laine?

George Vital "Papa Jack" Laine was a pioneering band leader in New Orleans in the years from the Spanish-American War to World War I. He is often credited with being instrumental in the development of jazz music as his Reliance Brass Band was the first to fuse European, African and Latin music together. The earliest jazz musicians can be traced back to playing within the Reliance Brass Band or being influenced from those who had.

Many of the New Orleans musicians who first spread jazz around the United States in the 1910s and 1920s got their start in Laines band, including the members of the Original Dixieland Jass Band. Laine was a drummer, but was more noted for his skills at arranging and booking bands. Laine's musicians included individuals from most of New Orleans' many ethnic groups such as African American, English, French, German, Italian, Jewish, Latin American, Scottish etc. Laine started leading bands in 1885 before the Jim Crow codes went into effect in New Orleans. Due to the diverse background of many of his bands members such as their cultural background, socioeconomic status, age variations from young to old as well as musical experience a broad range of ideas were developed and fused together leading to the early beginnings of jazz music.