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Jelly Roll Morton

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”.

Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score.

Being considered a Creole in the Crescent City had its advantages in the fact that he was exposed to the fine arts and music as a child. He would undertake formal piano lessons with one Tony Jackson who was considered a wunderkind piano professor with exceptional musical ability, mirrored by the young student, who demonstrated an elevated level of talent, and the confidence to perform it.

We pick up on his trail as he moved to Biloxi, Mississippi to stay with his godmother, and so begins life on the road. He became a professional pianist at this time, playing in the brothels in Biloxi, then back to New Orleans where he played in the red light district of Storyville, learning and absorbing the styles of the famous ‘professors’, who were known for their vast repertoires and dazzling technique. This would prove to be an invaluable experience as he would also absorb classical, vaudevillian, theatrical, opera, marches, blues, stomps, ragtime, French and Spanish music. The Spanish would be a factor as he mentioned in coining the phrase “Latin tinge”. New Orleans was a conduit for the music that was coming out of Cuba since before the turn of the century, and the habaneras were all the rage in the early 1900’s.

Sometime along the way, he changed his name to Morton, and then added Jelly Roll as a stage name. The pianist known as Jelly Roll Morton went on a cross country tour that literally covered most of the U.S. He was quite the bon vivant, and pianist extraordinaire becoming very adept at ‘cutting heads’ where he would boldly challenge the local piano players, and wind up as the house pianist until he moved on, which from what we can gather, was continually. He can be verified as turning up in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Colorado, Missouri, Houston, California, Texas, and in New York. We are privy here to a live witness account by the stride piano player James P. Johnson, who saw him play in New York in 1911, first describing his flamboyant dress and entry with two beautiful women, then his elaborate ritual at the piano before sitting down, striking a first sustained chord then “he’s gone”!

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Radio & Podcasts

Newk, Clarinet Madness & More

Read "Newk, Clarinet Madness & More" reviewed by Marc Cohn


June 2019 was one of those months with 5 Saturdays, so we got to play around with the music more. As usual, a mix of newer music from the likes of Theo Hill, Kate Reid and Anat Cohen--the latter two duos with Fred Hersch on piano. Then we have two, yes two, “compare and contrast": one funky and one 'high brow.' Clarinet work by Don Byron leads to Jelly Roll Morton (trios with Barney Bigard) leads to Air (doing Jelly ...

4
Radio & Podcasts

New Orleans Diaspora - Jelly Roll Morton & Sidney Bechet (1923 - 1928)

Read "New Orleans Diaspora - Jelly Roll Morton & Sidney Bechet (1923 - 1928)" reviewed by Russell Perry


In this hour, we'll explore the music of two more giants of the New Orleans diaspora, pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton, who left Louisiana in 1908 and clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet, who hit the road in 1916. In the complex racial landscape of New Orleans, both Jelly Roll Morton, born Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, and Sidney Bechet, like Kid Ory, were creoles. Creoles were lighter skinned mixed-race people, who brought conservatory musical training to the mélange that became ...

3
New York Beat

Jelly Roll Morton Front and (Lincoln) Center

Read "Jelly Roll Morton Front and (Lincoln) Center" reviewed by Nick Catalano


With a three-night gala celebrating the music of Jelly Roll Morton, the Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra marked its 30th season at Rose Hall. Focusing on Morton's pioneer arranging achievements with amplifications of them from Jazz at Lincoln Center performers, the evening offered a penetrating exploration of the Creole legend's multifarious compositional musings and featured a quintet of sparkling piano soloists who recalled his keyboard wizardry. The full breadth and scope of Morton's talents--his multiple syncopations, latin-textured musical ...

10
Book Review

Jazz. New York in the Roaring Twenties

Read "Jazz. New York in the Roaring Twenties" reviewed by Nenad Georgievski


Jazz. New York in the Roaring Twenties Robert Nippold, Hans-Jürgen Schaal 144 ISBN: 3836545012 Taschen 2013 The period in the 1920's America is known as the Jazz Age, the Golden Twenties or the Roaring Twenties. The history books say that this decade after the WWI was a prosperous one, where the nation's total wealth nearly doubled in between 1920 and 1929 which resulted in an unprecedented expansion in industry, technology and consumerism. ...

375
Album Review

Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax

Read "The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax" reviewed by Ken Dryden


Near the end of his life, Jelly Roll Morton was bitter and in financial straits, feeling overlooked for his contributions as a jazz trailblazer while others got the credit. In 1938, folklorist Alan Lomax began documenting Morton's career and music by conducting private sessions with the pianist in a concert hall, transcribing his comments and performances onto two primitive battery-operated portable disc cutters, which had problems keeping a consistent speed.

Various editions of these historic Library of Congress ...

741
Book Review

Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton

Read "Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton" reviewed by Jim Nelson


Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton Howard Reich and William Gaines DaCapo Press ISBN: 0306812096 2003

Howard Reich and William Gaines make an eye-opening understatement in their preface to Jelly's Blues. Speaking about a treasure trove of long-lost correspondence hoarded by jazz collector William Russell, they note that If a Gulf Coast hurricane had blown into the French Quarter before Russell's death, the documents that reveal ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score. Being considered a Creole in the Crescent City had its advantages in the fact ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score. Being considered a Creole in the Crescent City had its advantages in the fact ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score. Being considered a Creole in the Crescent City had its advantages in the fact ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...

Recording

The Complete Morton Project

The Complete Morton Project

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton is widely considered to be jazz's first arranger. Though jazz was considered exclusively an improvised form early on, Morton proved that jazz could retain its joyous, freewheeling feel even when scored on music paper. He also was jazz's first published composer. His Jelly Roll Blues was published in 1915. As a composer, Morton was a powerful force, writing the standards King Porter Stomp, Wolverine Blues and Black Bottom Stomp. He also was among the ...

Music Industry

New Titles Entering The Public Domain

New Titles Entering The Public Domain

Source: HypeBot

January 1st of 2019 marked the first day on which a plethora of titles originally published in 1923 will finally enter the public domain, (meaning they can be used for free and without permission) after Congress extended the copyright term for an additional twenty years when they were originally supposed to be released in 1999. Here we look at some of the highlights. Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 January 1st was Public Domain Day 2019, the first day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today!

The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jelly Roll Morton

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jelly Roll Morton's birthday today! The city of New Orleans has the distinction of being the ‘birthplace of jazz’ so its appropriate that in New Orleans in or around 1885 to 1890 would be born the self-proclaimed “inventor of jazz”. Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (Lamothe) and his story is one of mystery, legend, genius, with an incredulous outcome, and original musical score... Read more. Place our Musician of the Day widget on your website or blog. ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Chant

Ramboy Recordings
2010

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Hot Piano

Ramboy Recordings
2009

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An Introduction To...

Ramboy Recordings
2006

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Sidewalk Blues

Ramboy Recordings
2005

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The Complete Library...

Rounder Records
2005

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