Jelly Roll Morton
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Who Was Jelly Roll Morton?
Jelly Roll Morton cut his teeth as a pianist in New Orleans' bordellos. An early innovator in the jazz genre, he rose to fame as the leader of Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers in the s. A series of interviews for the Library of Congress rekindled interest in his music shortly before his death, on July 10, , in Los Angeles, California.
Early Years
Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe was born on October 20, (though some sources say ), in New Orleans, Louisiana. The son of racially mixed Creole parents — he was a mix of African, French and Spanish — he eventually adopted the last name of his stepfather, Morton.
Morton learned to play piano at age 10, and within a few years he was playing in the red-light district bordellos, where he earned the nickname "Jelly Roll." Blending the styles of ragtime and minstrelsy with dance rhythms, he was at the forefront of a movement that would soon be known as "jazz."
National Star
Morton left home as a teenager and toured the country, earning money as a musician, vaudeville comic, gambler and pimp. Brash and confident, he enjoyed telling people that he had "invented jaz
Who Was Jelly Roll Morton? Self-styled “Inventor” of Jazz
Self-styled inventor of jazz, pianist, bandleader, composer, hustler, vaudeville show entertainer, rumored pimp. Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton published the first recognized jazz music, “The Jelly Roll Blues,” in , and with his band Red Hot Peppers, recorded some of the most distinguished music in the history of jazz. In his later years, he ran a nightclub in Washington DC and was stabbed in the neck. In he recorded his life story—and his history of jazz—for the Library of Congress. The story of Jelly Roll Morton is a tall tale of musical genius, the spirit of New Orleans, and the invention of jazz.
Jelly Roll Morton: From Storyville to Vaudeville
Ferdinand Joseph Lemott (LaMothe, or LaMenthe) was born between and in New Orleans, Louisiana. Both his parents were among the free people of color, Creoles, whose ancestors arrived in Louisiana after the Haitian Revolution. His father left when he was three. After his mother remarried, he took his stepfather’s name, anglicized it to “Morton,” and shortened his forename to “Ferd.” He began learning the piano at ten years old.
Before long he was gracing the red ligh
Name originally Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe (some sources cite surname as Lemott or La Mothe); born September 20, (some sources say October 20, ), in Gulfport, LA (some sources say New Orleans, LA); died July 10, , in Los Angeles, CA; son of F.P. "Ed" and Louise (Monette) La Menthe.
When one hears of jazz having its roots in New Orleans, some of the first jazz musicians that come to mind are Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. While jazz historian Gunther Schuller considered Armstrong "the first great soloist," he called Morton "the first great composer" in his book Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development . In addition to being a composer, Morton was a vocalist, pianist, arranger, and ensemble leader. His contributions to the development of jazz were improvisational as well as compositional and his legacy endures in spite of the fact that he didn't make his first commercial recordings until , twenty years after he first appeared on the New Orleans musical scene.
Much of what we know about Morton's early years is the result of contemporary accounts and Morton's own reminiscences, both of which vary in reliability. In his late-in-life Library of Congress Recordings (),
| Jelly Roll Morton | |
|---|---|
Jelly Roll Morton | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe (possibly LaMotte or La Menthe) |
| Also known as | Jelly Roll Morton |
| Born | ca. September 20, or October 20, |
| Origin | New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
| Died | July 10, (aged 51 or 56) |
| Genre(s) | Ragtime, jazz, jazz blues, Dixieland, swing |
| Occupation(s) | Vaudeville comedian bandleader Composer Arranger |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Years active | ca. to |
| Associated acts | Red Hot Peppers New Orleans Rhythm Kings |
Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton (October 20, – July 10, ) was an American virtuoso jazzpianist, bandleader, and songwriter whom many consider the first true composer of jazz music.
A light-skinned Creole, Morton grew up in a respectable family where he was exposed to opera and a rudimentary musical education. He learned a number of instruments, but got his professional start by slipping away to the bordellos of the New Orleans' Storyville District, where he has known as a top young pianist and colorful character. When he family learned of his work, he was kicked out of the house.
Choosing a life in the fledgling new musi
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