Jelly Roll Morton

Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton (October 20, 1890 - July 10, 1941) was a virtuoso pianist, a bandleader, and a composer who some call the first true composer of Jazz music.

Further Reading

• Mister Jelly Roll by Alan Lomax (1950, 1973, 2001 U. of California Press, ISBN 0-520-22530-9). For decades the only important book on Morton, contains a biography based on Morton's Library of Congress interviews interspersed with interviews with other contemporary musicians. The 2001 edition adds an afterword by Lawrence Gushee focussing largely on Morton's ancestry and other historical questions not fully explored by Lomax.
• Mr. Jelly Lord by Laurie Wright (1980 Storyville Publications). Mostly a detailed discography, focusing on Morton's recordings.
• Oh Mister Jelly! A Jelly Roll Morton Scrapbook by William Russell (1999 Jazz Media ApS, Copenhagen). Jazz historian William Russell spent over 40 years compiling this book, containing interviews with musicans, relatives, and others who knew and worked with Morton, in addition to Morton's own writings and letters. A compendium of source material, with no attempt to weave it into a single narrative.
• Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West by Phil Pastras (2001 University of California Press) Focuses on Morton's previously largely neglected years in California and his relationship with Anita Gonzales
• Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton by Howard Reich & William Gaines, Da Capo Press, 2003. Well organized and articulate biography marred by numerous factual errors. Makes a strong case that Morton was correct when he claimed that he had been cheated out of over a million dollars due him in royalties for his compositions.