Editing Nick LaRocca (section)

==Later life and controversy==
In the 1950s, he wrote numerous vehement letters to newspapers, radio, and television shows, stating that he was the true and sole inventor of jazz music, damaging his credibility and provoking a backlash against him and his reputation and career.

When [[Tulane University]] established their Archive of New Orleans Jazz, now the [[Hogan Jazz Archive]], in 1958, LaRocca donated his large collection of items related to the O.D.J.B. to Tulane, including several scrapbooks made by LaRocca.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archives.tulane.edu/repositories/3/resources/892|title=Collection: Dominic James "Nick" LaRocca papers {{!}} Archives and Special Collections at Tulane University|website=Archives.tulane.edu|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.offbeat.com/articles/original-dixieland-jazz-band-nick-laroccas-jazz-pioneers/|title=Original Dixieland Jazz Band: Nick LaRocca's Jazz Pioneers|website=OffBeat Magazine|date=September 1989 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-19}}</ref>

At the same time, he worked with writer H.O. Brunn on the book ''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''. In the book, LaRocca claimed that he founded the Original Dixieland Jass Band in 1908. The book was dismissive of the other members of the O.D.J.B. It was perhaps kindest to clarinetist [[Larry Shields]].<ref>Brunn, H.O. ''The Story of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1960. Reprinted by [[Da Capo Press]], 1977. {{ISBN|0-306-70892-2}}</ref>

Musicologists and historians who seek to assess LaRocca's contributions to jazz are hindered by LaRocca's self-aggrandizement.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} A balanced assessment would have to acknowledge that LaRocca was an important figure in taking jazz from a regional style to international popularity, the leader of the most influential jazz band of the period from 1917 to 1921, and a good player in a very early jazz style on records such as "Clarinet Marmalade".<ref>Stewart, Jack. "The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's Place in the Development of Jazz." ''New Orleans International Music Colloquium'', 2005.</ref> LaRocca's playing and recordings were an important early influence on such later jazz trumpeters as [[Red Nichols]], [[Bix Beiderbecke]] and [[Phil Napoleon]]. LaRocca's 1917 composition "[[Tiger Rag]]" was covered by [[Louis Armstrong]] in several different versions throughout his career, while [[Duke Ellington]], [[Art Tatum]], and [[The Mills Brothers]] also recorded important and influential cover versions of the jazz standard.