Jelly Roll Morton

Ferdinand Joseph LaMonthe (1890-1941) was from a strict New Orleans Creole family and began playing piano when he was young. Disowned by his relatives as he slipped into the jazz scene, he created the name for himself: Jelly Roll Morton. Jelly Roll would establish himself as a nightly pianist in the brothels of Storyville. Blues singer and pianist Marie Desdumes had him run errands and he learned the ways of the scene. Through his piano music, Jelly Roll emphasized the importance of dynamics and improvisation to express feeling and reflected the entire orchestra in his compositions. He was known to add habanera beats, a Latin and Spanish tinge, or flourish, to his songs along with quadrilles and operetic elements which shaped New Orleans music.

Jelly Roll existed and traveled as a jack of various trades, everything from vaudville performer, hustler, to pool shark, and finally moved to Chicago to establish a solid music career in 1922, during the Age of Jazz he was to shape. He created piano rolls and his first records with wood block rhythm at his home studio. The next year in 1923, he recorded with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in Indiana for the Gennett label, having to hide his heritage to pass safely through the area. Jelly Roll invented the stomp, and the last section of “King Porter Stomp” which he debuted at this session, became a major anthem of the Swing Era.

In 1924 he recorded with King Oliver. He then formed the great Red Hot Peppers including Omer Simeon, Kid Ory, Johnny St. Cyr, Louis Armstrong, John Lindsay, Barney Bigard, Darnell Howard, George Mitchell, Andrew Hilaire and later Johnny and Baby Dodds. They first recorded in 1926, combining the essence of New Orleans with the Chicago modern. He formed another group of Red Hot Peppers musicians in New York to record for the Victor label in 1927, including Paul Barbarin and Pops Foster. Jelly Roll also recorded solo piano sessions that year. A premier composer of his time, Jelly Roll worked at Melrose Publishing and toured with the Alabamians, W.C. Handy, and Fate Marable. He was also known to pay his musicians to rehearse. With mastery of ensemble interaction and a distinct musical vision, he brought the most out of everyone. As fast as it came in, jazz was changing and becoming soloist music. The collective aesthetic of Jelly Roll’s finest compositions and ensembles were not in popularity of the big band era. In 1930 his contract with Victor ran out. He wasn’t sure if it was jazz going out of favor or just bad voodoo, but regardless Jelly Roll undoubtedly was the creator of many aspects of jazz, including the anthem of this Swing.  Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman, big band leaders, adapted his King Porter Stomp to fit 1935. Jelly Roll moved to Washington D.C. and ran a nightclub, with a rotation of names, on U street. During this time his true effort was to try and revive his music career.

Jelly’s promotions, however extravagant, made his presence known and he was soon in contact with Alan Lomax about a series of interviews for the Library of Congress on the Jazz Age in which Jelly also sang and illustrated on the piano. Jelly Roll more than any other of his time conveyed a most lucid account of this era, delving into the creation and meaning of jazz.

Songs
King Porter’s Stomp
Wolverine Blues
New Orleans Joys
Mama Nita
Creepy Feeling
The Crave
Sobbin Blues
Shreveport Stomp
London Blues
The Pearls
Grandpas Spells
Milniburg Joys
Mr. Jelly Lord
Tom Cat Blues
Jungle Blues
Wild Man’s Blues
Midnight Mama
Sidewalk Blues (1926)
Black Bottom Stomp
Finger Buster
Smokehouse Blues
Froggie More
Dead Man Blues
The Chant Low
Gravy Deep Creek
Tank Town Bump
Smilin the Blues Away