Jelly Roll Morton (1885-1941)

Ferdinand La Menthe

Jelly Roll Morton was a consumate braggart who could do almost anything he said he could do. He is best remembered for his body of jazz compositions, arranging techniques, and the introduction of the chord symbol in jazz.

His life and times:-

His father was an itinerant trombone player and carpenter who left the family when the boy was very young.
He said he took his stepfather's name to avoid being called "frenchy", he may have wanted to disown his real father
He experimented with trombone, drums, violin, harmonica, and guitar before settling on piano
Lived with his grandmother after his mother died
His grandmother, a strict Catholic, threw him out when he was fifteen for hanging out in the Storyville district
In addition to his piano playing, Jelly Roll made money by pimping, pool hustling, card sharking, bell hopping and tailoring
He carried a gun and was mistakenly arrested for a train robbery. he escaped from the chain gang
He was light skinned but was not accepted by whites and was suspicious of blacks
After moving to Chicago he assembled one of the first "studio" bands
Morton's musicians were paid to rehearse, an unheard of practice for the time
Morton moved to New York in 1928 - however, swing was on the horizon and dixieland was on the way out
He fell upon hard times after 1930 and even lost the diamond he had in his front tooth
He blamed his declining health on a "voodoo" spell
He died in Los Angeles on July 10, 1941-a disillusioned man

If you have any comments or information to add, E-mail Dr. Mike Day at

daym@aurora.ncat.edu

Return to the Biographical sketches

Music Department Homepage

Return to A&T Homepage

updated 06/24/99

This page created/maintained by Dr. Michael Day