Ferdinand joseph lamothe october 20, 1890 july 10, 1941, known professionally as jelly roll morton, was an american ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton, jelly roll, 18901941, american jazz musician, composer, and band leader, originally named ferdinand joseph lamothe, b. The musical record left by jelly roll morton is incomplete, leaving out as it does the first 20 years of his career. Soley read your book antigone folk, pop rock bands, blue leaves, music. Jelly roll morton dead man blues take 1 internet archive. Jelly roll morton jsp by jelly roll morton 788065900328. Jelly roll morton has second bluebird recording date four more new orleans sides waxed by all star band. Jelly roll morton s 11 piano rolls of 1924 which had previously been put out on lp by biograph and everest often had more life than others of the period, but still sounded a bit mechanical. Jelly roll morton piano roll dead man blues youtube. Jelly roll morton 1 pianist, composer, bandleader a colorful character 2. The life, music, and redemption of jelly roll morton.
His composition jelly roll blues, published in 1915, was one of the first published. Plays jelly roll morton by jelly roll morton 76637046728. Ferdinand jelly roll morton 18911941 claimed, against evidence well known even in his day, to have invented jazz. Check out dead man blues by jelly roll morton on amazon music. Jelly roll morton way out west music of the african diaspora book 5 kindle edition by pastras, phil. Gorgeously illustrated by fine artist keith mallett, a newcomer to picture books, this biography will transport readers young and old to the musical, magical. I would have much rather been dead than alive, with so many different pains. Jelly roll morton biography overview biography songs similar artists cds dvds vinyl. He is the inventor of jazz and the protagonists rival throughout the book. Jelly roll morton, in alan lomaxs book mister jelly roll, offers the following personnel. Jelly roll morton may not have invented jazz, but he certainly invented duke. An imaginary memoir was written by ethnomusicologist and folklorist samuel charters in 1984, embellishing mortons early stories about his life.
Mint julep, buddy bolden blues, freakish, seattle hunch 3. Dead man blues by jelly roll morton on amazon music. Its really impossible to pick a single selection when the whole body of work is so profound. Get the best deals on jelly roll morton indiana vinyl records when you shop the. Ferdinand joseph lemott, 20 october 1890, new orleans, louisiana, usa, d. Largely forgotten by the time of his death, morton had pioneered the early new orleans style jazz on record and seemed to be on the comeback trail and to be experimenting with the dominant swing style of the 1930s. New orleans blues new orleans joys grandpas spells.
Jelly roll morton tiger rag original quadrille jelly roll morton p this is one of the recordings made at the library of congress in which alan lomax had jelly roll morton talk about the history of jazz and demonstrate some of the tunes and styles that he had come across. Red hot peppers was a recording jazz band led by jelly roll morton from 19261930. Winter describes the atmosphere of the early 1900s in general terms and often uses rhyming verses to advance the story i thought i heard mister jelly roll toosayin i invented jazz in 1902. Redhotpeppersdeadmanblues scanner internet archive python. Hearing jelly roll mortons mamies blues in 1954 came as a revelation, and he has been a morton devotee ever since. Jelly roll morton, whose first recording date in many years took place two weeks ago, returned to the victor studios on thursday, september 28, to make four more sides for the bluebird label. But jelly roll morton is not your average jazz legend. He collaborated on laurie wrights biodiscography, mr. In his youth, he studied music ranging from plainsong to bach. Jelly roll morton way out west music of the african diaspora book 5.
Dead man blues by jelly roll morton red hot peppers 1926. Mister jelly roll by alan lomax paperback university of. But that would mean the incomparable dead man blues would be left out, or cannonball blues. It was me who invented jazzcause it sure wasnt you. Sidewalk blues, king porter stomp, dead man blues, grandpas spells, doctor jazz, wolverine blues, black bottom stomp and mister jelly lord. However, by the late 1930s, he was nearly forgotten. He recorded it first as a piano solo in richmond, indiana, in 1924, and then with his red hot peppers in chicago two years later, titled as it was originally ed. Blues, dead man blues, grandpas spells, and original jelly roll blues. The story of jelly roll morton without doubt the first jazz giant is so. Buy jelly roll mortons album titled jelly roll blues to enjoy in your home or car, or gift it to another music lover. Provided to youtube by the state51 conspiracy dead man blues jelly roll morton tin roof blues. Morton was jazzs first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential characteristics when notated.
However, all is not lost, and through jelly roll s genius he was able to recreate the piano styles of storyville in the first decade of the twentieth century. A partial discography for the red hot peppers is available from the discography of american historical recordings, a database. The only shortcoming is the absence of eight titles recorded for victors bluebird imprint in 1939 by morton s new orleans jazzmen. Niven collection of jazz history, a cassette recording from the jazz artist jelly roll morton, from the era of 19231926. Recorded with a teac ad500 cassette deck, a desktop computer with a modern soundblaster sound card, and the. One of the very first giants of jazz, jelly roll morton did himself a lot of harm posthumously by exaggerating his worth, claiming to have invented jazz in 1902. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 800 liner notes for cds and over.
About the time, in 1923, fritz pollard, the famous baseball sic player, introduced me to ink williams who was then a scout for the paramount recording company. Mortons accomplishments as an early innovator are so vast that he did not really need to stretch the truth morton was jazzs first great composer, writing such songs as king porter stomp, grandpas spells, wolverine blues. Original jelly roll blues, usually shortened to and known as jelly roll blues, is an early jazz foxtrot composed by jelly roll morton. Twenty pieces from this popular jazz composer, including titles featured in the tony awardwinning musical jelly s last jam. Jelly roll morton birth of the hot 1926 27 cd ebay. Jelly roll morton way out west by phil pastras john litweiler a great artist, pianist, pool shark, pimp, composer, con man, catholic, voodoo believer, vain, insecure, brave, a transparent liar whom nobody believed when he told. Jelly roll morton and his red hot peppers jelly roll mortons red hot peppers jellyroll mortons red hot peppers ferdinand joseph lamothe october 20, 1890 july 10, 1941, known professionally as jelly roll morton, was an american ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who started his career in new orleans, louisiana.
He began studying piano as a child and in his youth was a pianist in the colorful storyville district of new orleans. Dead man blues on the compositions of jelly roll morton 19231941. A smart and engaging exploration of an inventive jazzmans lost years. When ferdinand jelly roll morton sat at the piano in the library of congress in may of 1938 to begin his monumental series of interviews with alan lomax. King porter stomp the music of jelly roll morton arranged. Jellys blues recounts the tumultuous life of jelly roll morton ca. Preserving the homes of long dead jazz musicians is not a topic that arouses much excitement in the average citizen understandably, for one can hardly toss a trumpet in this town without hitting some priceless bit of musical history. Jelly roll morton way out west, university of california press, 2001. Search the history of over 424 billion web pages on the internet. Jan 24, 2003 it is hard to say which makes for the more compelling narrative. The life, music, and redemption of jelly roll morton, da capo press, 2003. Dec 02, 1997 finally, jelly roll morton may get his due. Roger is an author and translator for the bulletin du hot club of france.
The album peaked at number 7 on the billboard top jazz albums chart. When ferdinand jelly roll morton sat at the piano in the library of congress in may of 1938 to begin his. And the king porter stomp with morton, the inventor of jazz at the piano, remains a fundamental element in the soundscape. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading dead man blues. Jelly roll morton complete recorded work, 19261930. In dead man blues, phil pastras sets the record straight on the two periods 19171923 and. Includes billy goat stomp, jelly roll blues, london blues, queen of spades and shreveport stomp.
Dead man blues tells both these tales admirably, drawing on a treasuretrove of previously unknown material. New orleans, he wrote to the believeitornot radio host robert ripley, is the cradle of jazz, and i, myself, happened to be the creator in the year 1902. Now back in print and updated with a new afterword by lawrence gushee, mister jelly roll will enchant a new generation of readers with the fascinating story of one of the worlds most influential composers of jazz. Jelly roll morton was a towering figure in early jazz, and one with a very large. Piano rolls elektra by jelly roll morton 75597936322 cd. Gr 14this informational picture book covers selfproclaimed inventor of jazz jelly roll morton s contribution to the musical scene. Dead man blues jelly roll morton and his red hot peppers. A virtuoso pianist with a largerthanlife personality, he composed such influential early jazz pieces as king porter stomp and new orleans blues.
Chicago becomes focal point for many new orleans migrants jelly roll morton, armstrong, freddie keppard, king oliver the commercial, sociological, and musical makeup of new york in the 1920s and its influence on jazz in that decade. Legacys 1999 anthology of 11 jelly roll morton piano rolls originally released during the years 19241926 provides a good taste of where piano roll playback engineering was prior to artis wodehouses amazing mid90s restoration that used the computerized yamaha disklavier and a concert grand piano to generate recordings of unprecedented depth. Ferdinand jelly roll morton born ferdinand lamothe new orleans 20 oct. Jelly roll morton also appears in this compilation. Buy jelly roll mortons album titled jelly roll blues to enjoy in your home or car, or. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Ted gioia, author of the history of jazz and west coast jazz.
It is referenced by name in the 1917 shelton brooks. All tracks are written by jelly roll morton except where noted. Jelly roll morton indiana vinyl records for sale ebay. In dead man blues, phil pastras sets the record straight on the two. Jelly lord is an album by jazz trumpeter wynton marsalis that was released in 1999. A great artist, pianist, pool shark, pimp, composer, con man, catholic, voodoo believer, vain, insecure, brave, a transparent liar whom nobody believed when he told read more dead man blues.
Jelly roll morton, the self proclaimed inventor of jazz, remains one of the most complex figures in american music. Dead man blues, form diagram university of virginia. Jelly lord black bottom stomp queen of spades dead man blues. The only shortcoming is the absence of eight titles recorded for victors bluebird imprint in 1939 by mortons new orleans jazzmen. A jelly roll morton scrapbook, published just two years ago, at last offered a wealth of color and new information, and now phil pastras dead man blues has many revelations.
He was considered to be the best musician in jazz history. Dead man blues by jelly roll morton red hot peppers, recorded in 1926 and here reissued c. Jelly roll blues by jelly roll morton 8240460820 cd. Original jelly roll blues by jelly roll mortons red hot. He was a prolific composer and one of the first to capitalize on the. Recorded with a teac ad500 cassette deck, a desktop computer with a modern soundblaster sound card, and the audio recording program goldwave. When it appeared in 1950, this biography of ferdinand jelly roll morton became an instant classic of jazz literature. Jelly roll morton is featured in alessandro bariccos book, novecento. Jelly roll morton is heard as a solo pianist and as leader of his trios, red hot peppers, and orchestra. Stream adfree or purchase cds and mp3s now on amazon. The original jelly roll blues is widely acknowledged as the very first jazz tune, written by jelly roll morton in 1910 and first published in 1915. Jelly roll morton biography at black history now black.
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