Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (né Lemott,[2] later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent.[3] Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential characteristics when notated.[4] His composition "Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was one of the first published jazz compositions. He also claimed to have invented the genre.[5]
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe
c. September 20, 1890[1]
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
July 10, 1941 (aged 50)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Jazz, ragtime
Musician, composer, arranger
Piano
1904–1941
Morton also wrote "King Porter Stomp", "Wolverine Blues", "Black Bottom Stomp", and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say", the last being a tribute to New Orleans musicians from the turn of the 20th century.
Morton's claim to have invented jazz in 1902 was criticized.[3] Music critic Scott Yanow wrote, "Jelly Roll Morton did himself a lot of harm posthumously by exaggerating his worth... Morton's accomplishments as an early innovator are so vast that he did not really need to stretch the truth."[3] Gunther Schuller says of Morton's "hyperbolic assertions" that there is "no proof to the contrary" and that Morton's "considerable accomplishments in themselves provide reasonable substantiation.”[6]
Personal life[edit]
Morton married Mabel Bertrand, a showgirl, in November 1928 in Gary, Indiana.
He was a "very devout Catholic", according to Anita Gonzales, his longtime companion. His gravesite features a large rosary rather than any music imagery.[29]
Form and compositions[edit]
Morton's piano style was formed from early secondary ragtime and "shout", which also evolved separately into the New York school of stride piano. Morton's playing was also close to barrelhouse, which produced boogie-woogie.[30]
Morton often played the melody of a tune with his right thumb, while sounding a harmony above these notes with the fingers of the right hand. This could add a rustic or "out-of-tune" sound due to the playing of a diminished 5th above the melody. This technique may still be recognized as belonging to New Orleans. Morton also walked in major and minor sixths in the bass, instead of tenths or octaves. He played basic swing rhythms with both the left and the right hand.
Several of Morton's compositions were musical tributes to himself, including "Winin' Boy", "The Jelly Roll Blues" (subtitled "The Original Jelly-Roll"); and "Mr. Jelly Lord". In the big-band era, his "King Porter Stomp", which Morton had written decades earlier, was a big hit for Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman; it became a standard covered by most other swing bands of that time. Morton claimed to have written some tunes that were copyrighted by others, including "Alabama Bound"[31] and "Tiger Rag". "Sweet Peter", which Morton recorded in 1926, appears to be the source of the melody of the hit song "All of Me", which was credited to Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931.
His musical influence continues in the work of Dick Hyman[32] and Reginald Robinson.[33]