Jelly Roll Morton contributed to the birth and progress of jazz as pianist, composer and arranger. His legacy includes a body of original music that delights to this day. Morton’s orchestral style on piano led him to orchestrate his music for groups and he also played remarkable solos and blues. In all cases, his music is very evocative of earlier times and places. Examples are “Black Bottom Stomp”, “King Porter Stomp”, “Dr. Jazz”, and “The Original Jelly Roll Blues”. In his Library of Congress interviews, Morton shows that he knew exactly what he was doing. If you like some of Morton’s music, you will want more. The Red Hot Pepper recordings of the 1920s are a standout, as are his solo recordings.
Adelaide Hall was an early jazz singer with a successful career into the 1990s. Her first big hit was in 1927 with Duke Ellington’s orchestra on “Creole Love Call”.
6:44 am on October 20, 2012
