Morton, Jelly Roll(actually, Lamothe, Ferdinand Joseph)

Morton, Jelly Roll (actually, Lamothe, Ferdinand Joseph ), one of the greatest and most influential jazz composers and pianists; b. New Orleans, La., Oct. 20, 1890; d. Los Angeles, Calif., July 10, 1941. His family name Lamothe is sometimes wrongly spelled Lemott, as it was on the census of 1890. Morton’s Red Hot Peppers recordings (1926–30), which comprise the bulk of his output, are universally cited as among the greatest jazz recordings for the invention of his writing, the variety of combinations he gets out of his small groups, and the effective structures with which he surrounds their improvisations. His “King Porter Stomp” was one of the most recorded pieces of the swing era, especially in Fletcher Henderson’s arrangements.

Jelly Morton was a proud character, and made many enemies, but when he plays there is undeniable mastery, swing, counterpoint and sometimes amazing independence of the hands. For many years it was thought he was born in 1895; perhaps he encouraged this in order to support his claim, which even appeared on his business card, that he invented jazz in 1902—an unlikely feat for a 12- year-old. Despite this tendency to boasting, his reminiscences of specific events and persons have proven to be generally reliable. Born into a French- speaking family that proudly recalled its former days of wealth and position, Morton grew up surrounded by musical instruments and attended performances at the French Opera House. He played guitar and trombone, before specializing on piano from about age 10. He began playing in New Orleans whorehouses as early as age 12, earning the disapproval of his family but making as much as $100 a night entertaining the patrons of places such as the Hilma Burt House. He drifted to engagements in Biloxi and Meridian, Miss., then returned to New Orleans.

As a young teenager, he doubled at pool hustling and piano through La. and Miss. It has been established that Morton wrote many of his compositions in his teen years, long before they were recorded. His publication of “Original Jelly Roll Blues” (by Melrose Brothers) in 1915 was among the first jazz pieces to be published with parts. Around 1909, he joined a touring show in Memphis. After two years’ extensive touring, he quit the show in Jacksonville; some months later he began another spell of theatrical work, including a gig as comedian-pianist with McCabe’s Minstrel Troubadours. He worked in St. Louis and Kansas City, then moved to Chicago for residencies at the Deluxe and Elite No. 2, where he led his own band. In 1915 Morton went to San Francisco to appear at the Exposition, returned to Chicago, and later played solo piano at the Fairfax Hotel, Detroit. He returned to Calif, (c. 1917) and played at various clubs in and around Los Angeles, including Cadillac Cafe, Baron Long’s in Watts, and the U.S. Grand Hotel. He ran his own club-hotel in Los Angeles, then organized his own small band for a residency at the Regent Hotel, Vancouver. After a vacation in Ark., he worked in Caspar, Wyo., then briefly performed with George Morrison’s Band in Denver.

After returning to Los Angeles, Morton organized a band that toured throughout Calif., reverting to solo piano for a brief sojourn in Tijuana; he worked in San Diego (1921), then gigged at the Jump Steady Club in Los Angeles and led a short-lived career as a boxing promoter. He moved back to Chicago in 1923, recorded with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings (July 1923) for the Gennett label, located in Richmond, Ind. At that time Ind. was the scene for a resurgence of Ku Klux Klan activity and integrated recording sessions were risky business. According to trombonist George Brunis, Jelly was passed off as a Spaniard, and apparently this was accepted without question because of the diamond inlay which the pianist flashed with his broad smile. During the next five years, Morton remained based in Chicago, regularly organizing his own recording sessions, including the first of the Red Hot Peppers, and for a time worked as staff arranger for the Melrose Publishing House. During this period he rarely played in Chicago, although he did regularly tour, usually fronting a band. He very occasionally worked as a sideman under other leaders and toured briefly as second pianist in Fate Marable’s Band (c. 1924) and for one short period worked in the Midwest with W. C. Handy, who fronted Morton’s Band and occasionally played cornet. Later, Morton did regular tours on the M.C.A. circuit, fronting bands led by pianist Gene Anderson, pianist Henry Crowder (summer 1927). Later that year, he fronted the Alabamians on tour.

After moving to N.Y. (c. Feb. 1928), Morton played a residency at the Rose Danceland during the summer of 1928 and recorded extensively. In late 1928 he organized his own big touring band, and toured widely during 1928–29. The band was variously billed as the Red Hot Peppers or Jelly Roll Morton and his Chicago Syncopators. Morton settled in N.Y. during the early 1930s, lost most of his money in an ill-fated cosmetics business, but continued to play regularly. He led his own orch. at the Checker Club, Harlem (April 1931), and headed his “Speeding Along” revue at the Jamaica Theatre, N.Y. (May 1931), led a band at the Lido Ballroom, N.Y. (Oct.1932), accompanied Lillyn Brown in “Headin’ for Harlem,” and played briefly in Laura Prampin’s Orch. at Coney Island. He performed occasionally at Pod’s and Jerry’s, N.Y., then became resident pianist at the Red Apple Club and while working there took part in a recording session organized by Wingy Manone (Aug. 1934). He again led his own touring band from 1935–36, before settling in Washington, D.C.

After a period of musical inactivity that included waiting tables at a shoe- box nightclub called the Band Box, he began playing at the Jungle Club in Washington from late 1936 until a brief return to N.Y. in Sept. 1938. From May until July 1938,, he took part in regular recording sessions for the Library of Congress, where he told his life story and his ideas about music, which he demonstrated brilliantly at the piano. Morton returned to N.Y. in late 1938, organized his publishing company and did several recording sessions and gigs leading own small band until health forced him to restrict his activities. He moved to Calif, in late 1940, formed a new music company and organized his own small group which led to a dispute with the local musicians union. Early in 1941, Morton’s health began to fail rapidly and he entered a private sanatorium in June 1941, but soon returned home. He was subsequently admitted to the Los Angeles County General Hospital shortly before his death.

In 1991 a musical entitled Jelly’s Last Jam opened on Broadway, starring Gregory Hines. It was a fanciful approach to Morton’s life, inexplicably using none of his music and broadly changing details of his life story. Yet it was effective in its own right and helped spark interest in his music.

Discography

New Orleans Blues (1902); Jelly Roll Blues (1905); King Porter Stomp (1906); Grandpa’s Spells (1911); The Pearls (1919); Big Foot Ham (1923); Black Bottom Stomp (1925); Winin’ Boy Blues (1938); Pearls (1938); Kansas City Stomp: The Library of Congress Recordings(1938); Anamule Dance(1938).

Bibliography

A. Lomax, Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes ofj. R.M., New Orleans Creole and “Inventor of Jazz”(N.Y, 1950; 2nd ed., 1973); M. Williams, J. R. M. (London, 1962); J. Davis and I. Wright, Morton’s Music (London, 1968); M. Hood and H. Flint, eds., “J. R.” M.: The Original Mr. Jazz(N.Y., 1975); L. Wright, Mr. Jelly Lord (Chigwell, England, 1980); J. Dapogny, ed., The Collected Piano Music of Ferdinand “J. R.” M.(Washington, D.C, 1982); S. Martin, J. JR. M. (Paris, 1987).

—Lewis Porter