Jelly Roll Morton | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Morton c. 1927 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe |
| Born | c. September 20, 1890[1] New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 10, 1941 (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, ragtime |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, arranger |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Years active | 1904–1941 |
| Labels | Victor, Gennett |
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (né Lemott,[2] later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American blues 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]
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]
- ^ Other dates of birth attributed to Morton include October 20, 1890 Archived November 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine and September 13, 1884, the latter of which Morton gave on his WWI draft registration, making him six years older than he is believed to have actually been. Archived February 10, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Biography Archived November 21, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, doctorjazz.co.uk. Accessed July 18, 2023.
- ^ a b c Yanow, Scott. "Jelly Roll Morton". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
- ^ Giddins, Gary; DeVeaux, Scott (2009). Jazz. New York City: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-06861-0.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NYT-20240222was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Schuller, Gunther (1986). The History of Jazz. Volume 2. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 136. ISBN 0-19-504043-0.