Jelly Roll Morton
a)Jelly Roll Morton transform the ragtime on the Morton’s piano style. He remove the side of the rigid structure to make music more airy, more clear, paving the way for the improvisations of Earl Hines and the great pianists who would follow.
-In 1904, he became a itinerant pianist, working in many cities.
-From 1915 to 1920, he has lived in Los Angeles with the famous Spike Brothers.
-In 1922, he moved to Chicago, the new jazz center. He recording two performance with a sextet, Big Foot Ham and Muddy Water Blues.
-In 1926, Morton was recording with his Red Hot Peppers. Bands like Grandpa's Spells, Black Bottom Stomp, and The Pearls are the best examples of Morton's creative talents not only as a composer and arranger, but also as a pianist.
-Jelly Roll Morton wrote "King Porter Stomp," a song he dedicated to a pianist (Porter King) and will be covered by many bands of 30-40 years (Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman) and even by many Gil Evans later.
b)Jelly Roll Morton was very important because he create the Morton’s piano style, which later became the current jazz. He influence many jazzman ( ex. Earl Hines) He create the "transition" between ragtime and actual jazz.
1.People really liked Jelly Roll Morton, he was a great pianist and people liked the Morton’s piano style. He was famous because of the "Spanish tinge" of exotic rhythms and penning such standards as "Wolverine Blues", "Black Bottom Stomp", and "Buddy Bolden's Blues".
2.Now, most people who listen him are jazzman, are jazz fan. For some people, Jelly Roll Morton is an idol.
3.Jelly Roll Morton was very famous during his success, from 1923 to 1929, people say he was the musician of musicians. The jazz popularity was from 1920 to 1960.
4.The Morton style come from ragtime. The ragtime is very similar than jazz, it’s the same rhythm. This is ragtime http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFVBoWKnj4E and this is Morton piano style http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lTAqkIWRAg
5.Jelly Roll Morton was an appreciate black man, one of the first time a black man was accepted. But during the period when he was recording his interviews, Morton was seriously injured by knife wounds when a fight broke out at the Washington, D.C. establishment where he was playing. A nearby whites-only hospital refused to treat him, and he had to be transported to a lower-quality hospital further away.
