Michael Shurtz – Stalebread and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band: An Origin Story of JAZZ in New Orleans (Book)

In the heart of 1890s New Orleans, where music spilled from every street corner, a group of boys with paper-and-comb instruments, a homemade bass fiddle, and more energy than resources began to draw crowds. They called themselves the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band.

At the center was Emile “Stalebread” Lacoume—barefoot, determined, and already a tal-ented musician. After the early death of his father, Emile became a newsboy to help support his family. But it was music that truly carried him. Inspired by the Mexican and Creole rhythms he heard around him, Emile and his friends started making music out of whatever they could find: cigar boxes, stovepipes, tin cans, and dreams.

Stalebread and the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band tells the vivid, often overlooked story of one of jazz’s early pioneers. Drawing on newspaper accounts, archival interviews, and local legends, Michael Shurtz traces Emile’s journey from street performer to respected musi-cian, even playing for high-society parties and at the infamous Mahogany Hall.

Part cultural history, part character study, this is a story about invention, survival, and the beginnings of a new sound in a changing city. Through hard times, segregation, and the un-certain future of early jazz, Emile’s story reminds us how creativity and community can make music out of almost anything.