Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton may have been indulging in typical hyperbole when he advertised himself as the inventor of jazz, but one has to concede his role as the idiom's first important composer. A wonderful pianist who could also sing, he brilliantly distilled the polyglot influences of his native New Orleans into masterpieces of pulsating polyphony on his classic recordings of the 1920s, including "Dead Man Blues" and "Black Bottom Stomp." Morton's later career was short-circuited by ever-shifting musical trends, but his Library of Congress interviews with Alan Lomax provide a unique insight into the nearly vanished musical culture from which he had sprung.
Listen to Jelly Roll Morton
at Finetune.
Albums
- (2007) The Piano Rolls
- (2007) Jelly Roll Morton 1923/24
- (2002) Jazz King Of New Orleans
- (1997) Last Sessions: The Complete General Recordings
- (1996) Greatest Hits
- (1995) Birth Of The Hot - The Classic Chicago "Red Hot Peppers" Sessions 1926-27
- (1993) Anamule Dance
- (1990) The Jelly Roll Morton Centennial: His Complete Victor Recordings
- (1988) Jelly Roll Morton
Top Tracks
- Doctor Jazz
- Michigan Water Blues
- The Crave
- Buddy Bolden's Blues
- Cannon Ball Blues (Take 1)
Related Artists
- Art Tatum
- Louis Armstrong
- Scott Joplin
- Duke Ellington
- Lonnie Johnson
- Kid Ory
- Fats Waller and His Rhythm
- Alberta Hunter
- James P. Johnson
- Original Dixieland Jazz Band
- The Four Blackbirds
- Leroy Carr
- Count Basie
- The Beau Hunks
- Willie "The Lion" Smith
- Gunther Schuller
- Butch Thompson
- Sidney Bechet
- Red Wing Blackbirds Ragtime Jazz Band
- the ragwagon band
Fans