Jazz and Blues Lounge

A Man called Jelly Roll

by balaspa on October 20th, 2007

Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton is a rather controversial figure in the world of jazz.  Why?  Well, because of the legendary status for himself that he, essentially, created all on his own.  Many people who love jazz dismiss the man as a braggart and, quite frankly, a bit of an idiot.  His own arrogance has been the downfall and backlash against him by those who love jazz.  How arrogant was he?  He reportedly carried a business card with his name on it and beneath his name were the words “Originator of Jazz.”

Just like Little Richard likes to walk around calling himself the “Architect of Rock and Roll” so Jelly Roll walked around claiming he had invented the music that we now call jazz.  Of course, this has been disputed and refuted by most scholars of music and jazz in particular.  Like most forms of music, it was not really created in a vacuum and one person cannot really take credit for inventing the music.

What is know, however, was that Jelly Roll Morton certainly was a powerful and influential force over what would become known as jazz.  He did create some of the most famous pieces of music in the jazz canon.  He also was a very good composer and, by all accounts, an outstanding piano player.  Regardless of whether or not you believe he really created jazz, there is no denying that through sheer force of will, the man helped spread jazz music around the country and helped laid the foundation for what is modern day jazz.  Jazz may have existed without Jelly Roll Morton, but it may not have reached the heights it did without him.

Even Jelly Roll’s birthday is a bit controversial.  That’s because it is commonly believed that he changed his birth year to make himself seem older and, therefore, old enough to have been around when the first music to be labeled jazz began to be heard.  He said he was born in 1885, but some believe he was actually born in 1891.  He was born into a Creole community near New Orleans and that is where much of the music we know as jazz was first born.

He began playing piano, and playing it well, at the tender age of 14 in a house of prostitution.  Around 1904 he began traveling in minstrel shows around various southern states.  It was during this time he composed such classics as “Jelly Roll Blues,” “New Orleans Blues,” “Frog-I-More-Rag”, “King Porter Stomp” and more.  He eventually made his way to Chicago and then moved on to New York City.

In 1915 his “Jelly Roll Blues” became, arguably, the first jazz composition ever published and probably why he always claimed to be the Originator of Jazz.

As jazz grew and waned in popularity, so did Jelly Roll.  At one time he was very wealthy and was fond of wearing expensive tailored suits and driving around in expensive cars.  At other times he lived in and around Washington DC as the manager and piano player of a dive bar.

During his time managing that bar, he was invited by a man named Alan Lomax to record music and interviews for the Library of Congress.  Thus, whatever you may think of Jelly Roll and his playing and personality, he has become one of the greatest resources for the history of early jazz and music in this country thanks to these interviews.

Jelly Roll died in 1941 from a constant asthmatic condition he had suffered from for many years.  He left behind a large part of jazz history, an impressive amount of music and more than just a little bit of controversy.

Many of his recordings can be found on compilation CDs and recordings.  If you are lucky, maybe you can even find an old 78 rpm record of his original recordings somewhere.  His playing sounds like what it is…old…maybe even primitive.  He also, to me, sounds a bit like Scott Joplin who was also playing at that time and inventing the close-cousin-to-jazz music known as “Ragtime.”

Again, maybe to some there sounds like no connection between the recordings of Jelly Roll Morton and Miles Davis or John Coltrane, but the connection is there.  Had Jelly Roll not come first and laid what groundwork he did, who knows what would have come and if Miles and John would have played what they did.

POSTED IN: Bands, Chicago, jazz, records