It is now exactly one century since what is generally regarded as the first jazz record was recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band on February 26, 1917: "Livery Stable Blues"
and "Dixie Jass Band One Step."
Some have thought it unjust that the first jazz record should be by a white band, but in fact an African American band did have a chance to record earlier (in 1915) and blew it. That was the Original Creole Orchestra, which included Freddie Keppard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Keppard#Original_Creole_Orchestra
Why did the band turn down the Victor Talking Machine's offer?
"Several accounts exist to explain what happened. In a private email historian Lawrence Gushee explained: 'There really is no good way to choose between the various stories. One, from Bill Johnson, is that a test was made, but the string bass overloaded the grooves. Baquet indicates (if you can believe Danny Barker) that the band was offended by the terms of the contract. Like virtually all such contracts, the publisher is favored. Then there's the version that Freddy wouldn't pay (even for a test) without being paid.'
"Whichever story is correct, or whether the oft-quoted tale that Keppard was concerned about other musicians copying what he played (to the extent that he draped a handkerchief over his fingers), there was no recording for the Victor Talking Machine Company." John Robert Brown, *A Concise History Of Jazz,* p. 24.
Actually, there was nothing that unusual about Keppard and the Creole Band turning down the chance to record. According to Richard M. Sudhalter, "It should be noted in this context that white bands, too, missed a chance to record; often it seems less a matter of bias on the part of record firms (who were interested chiefly in making money) than a certain conservatism on the part of the musicians. Most of the southern players were unsophisticated men, who had neither interest nor trust in the emergent wonders of technology. Offers were repeatedly made to, and refused, by bands of both races. As Lawrence Gushee further observes, many vaudeville artists of the day 'were fearful of and resentful about the pirating of their best routines'...The situation only began to change when sales of records by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band proved that money could be made through recording." *Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contribution to Jazz, 1915-1945*, pp. 751-2.
So suppose Keppard and the OCO had accepted Victor's offer? Would jazz played by a black band in 1915 (incidentally, many New Orleans "Creoles of color" did not consider themselves "black"--but of course that made no difference to white people) create the same sensation as that played by a white band in 1917? (One problem is that we don't know just what the band sounded like; Keppard did record in the 1920's but it is widely believed that because of his drinking he was past his prime then.)