Get To Know Jelly Roll Morton

A frequent activity of my obsessive, music-loving nature is to pick a musician I don't know much about, and then dig deep, and try to listen to everything they ever recorded.

Jelly Roll Morton:  an important figure in the early history of jazz, very active in the middle 1920's.  The other day I ran across some graphic novel work of R. Crumb's where he portrayed JRM's own description of the downfall of his career through voodoo.  That made me decide to take the plunge on JRM's music.  JRM was a bit of a 'factory' of endless hits, hours of similar sounding piano rags and New Orleans ensemble pieces.   But I found these great high points.

Beale Street Blues One of his fun-time songs for New Orleans style combo, with crazy trombone glissandi, funny clarinets, everything.
Wild Man Blues One trick of JRM's that brings a smile to my face is in one of his slow pieces when the tempo suddenly goes quadruple-time for a measure or two.  It reminds me of an early Saturday Night Live episode where Steve Martin and Gilda Radner did a suave ballroom dance with occasional moments of frenetic feet movement and insane jazz hands.
The Chant Some wild early jazz, with a degree of frenetic that sounds like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.  My brother Tony, a drummer, gets a kick out of the many choked cymbals.  Also features another early jazz oddity, a saxophone with a very clicky attack sound.
Grandpa's Spells More early jazz fun hi-jinx.
Someday Sweetheart A funny kind of sentimental 1926 pop, featuring a sad basset-hound of a melody, played by the mournful tones of the viola and bass clarinet.
If Someone Would Only Love Me   Another broad, comic portrayal of basset-hound like sadness.
King Porter Stomp   Possibly his most famous number.  Like Scott Joplin's rags, but with its own kind of vibrancy.
Billy Goat Stomp A novelty song featuring a bleating goat, goofy and fun.
Freakish  The title is descriptive of what must been very "progressive sounding" in JRM's time.
Oil Well A musical portrayal of the good life that you'd have if you had an oil well in the 1920's.  Featuring that notorious stereotype of "society music", the broad-vibrato sax and clarinet.

I hope you enjoy JRM as much as I do.