Winner of the 2023 Award for Excellence for Best Historical Research in Recorded Jazz from the Association for Recorded Sound Collections During the formative years of jazz (1890-1917), the Creoles of Color--as they were then called--played a significant role in the development of jazz as teachers, bandleaders, instrumentalists, singers, and composers. Indeed, music penetrated all aspects of the life of this tight-knit community, proud of its French heritage and language. They played and/or sang classical, military, and dance music as well as popular songs and cantiques that incorporated African, European, and Caribbean elements decades before early jazz appeared. In Jazz