Jelly Roll Morton

Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known as Jelly Roll Morton, claimed to have invented jazz in 1902 (an exaggeration, but one that reflected his genuine importance as one of the first great jazz composers and arrangers. Born in the Creole community of New Orleans, he was a pianist, bandleader, raconteur, and pool hustler whose Red Hot Peppers recordings for Victor in the late 1920s are landmarks of early jazz. His 1938 Library of Congress recordings with Alan Lomax, in which he narrated the history of New Orleans music while performing at the piano, are one of the great oral history documents in American music. His connection to the blues was organic) he grew up hearing it in the streets and sporting houses of New Orleans and incorporated blue notes and blues structures throughout his compositions.