"Ferd (Jelly Roll) Morton, which is how he autographed the photo, in Chicago. Circa early 1920's, when he made his first recordings, including, on one day in 1924, now fewer than 120 master recordings of piano solos for the Gennett company." Ferdinand Jos
"Ferd (Jelly Roll) Morton, which is how he autographed the photo, in Chicago. Circa early 1920's, when he made his first recordings, including, on one day in 1924, now fewer than 120 master recordings of piano solos for the Gennett company." Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (October 20, 1890 - July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer. He was born into a Creole of Color family in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of downtown New Orleans, Louisiana. At the age of fourteen, Morton began working as a piano player in a brothel. He took the nickname, Jelly Roll, which was black slang for female genitalia. Around 1904, Morton also started touring in the American South, working with minstrel shows, gambling and composing. In 1915 his "Jelly Roll Blues" was arguably the first jazz composition ever published, recording as sheet music the New Orleans traditions that had been jealously guarded by the musicians. In 1926, he got a contract to record for the largest and most prestigious company in the United States, Victor. These recordings by Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers are regarded as classics of 1920s jazz. With the Great Depression and the near collapse of the record industry, Victor did not renew Morton's recording contract for 1931. Morton continued playing in New York, but struggled financially. He briefly had a radio show in 1934, then took on touring in the band of a traveling burlesque act for some steady income. His compositions were recorded by the musicians Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman and others, but he received no royalties. In 1938 Morton was stabbed by a friend and suffered wounds to the head and chest. After this incident his wife Mabel demanded that they leave Washington. His recovery from his wounds was incomplete, and thereafter he was often ill. Worsening asthma sent him to a New York hospital for three months at one point. He continued to suffer from
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