Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton
(1890-1941)
Looking for a memorable Jazz composer, I came across Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton… the name hooked me in! Some say he has “just about the most flamboyant, colorful and exasperating personality imaginable” which I think the above picture and name shows!
Morton was born 1890 is Louisana and lived until 1941. He had been playing piano from the young age of 10 years old. No one knows if he had any formal training but it is said Tony Jackson had been his childhood inspiration that motivated him.
In only 6 years between 1923 and 1929, he composed 175 “sides and piano rolls. The jazz music he composed falls mostly under Ragtime and French quadrilles and become well liked dance songs. Jelly Roll lived a legend as the true first important jazz composer. His most popular pieces include “The Pearls” and “Grandpa’s Spells” among others. Youtube clips featuring his music are featured at the end of the post.
Although most known for his piano work, he also contributed a great deal to the jazz era as a composer, arranger and bandleader; his marches were also popular. Orrin Keepnews, a jazz historian said in reference to Jelly Roll “called “one of the handful of Atlases upon whose shoulders rests the entire structure of our music”
Jelly Roll’s roots lie in New Orleans where he grew up in the “honky-tonks” and developed Jazz music. The well known “red light district” as known as Storyville is the true hometown location of the birth of jazz. Although he preformed alone, he also was a part of the Red Hot Peppers, an all man jazz group. In the group included other famous musicians including Kid Ory (cornet), Johnn Dodds (clarinet) and Baby Dodds (drummer).
During the recession, Jelly Roll earned a living bar tending where in his spare time he would also play piano and tell stories. He became very popular this way. In addition he would travel around participating in minstrel shows, all the way to New York and Los Angeles! The minstrel shows he preformed in contributed to the evolution of jazz encompassing Hispanic music, religious hymns and white popular songs.
Los Angeles became Jelly Roll’s new home until he decided to move to a more jazzy city, Chicago. There he recorded many different albums as solo and also with the Red Hot Peppers.
Later in life he moved again to Washington DC where he layed low but still managed a jazz club. Eventually Morton became very ill and passed in 1941.
Morton is amongst many musicians who become even more popular after his death. “Jelly’s Last Jam” is a tribute to his music and life that was featured in the 90s.
The following works are said to “yield a maximum variety of texture and timbre without sacrificing clarity of form.”
Grandpa’s Spells : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSv-EqtHtEE
Honky Tonk Blues http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmi6dSsi9EA&feature=related
The Pearls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuNxOjFX8oI
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