Mister Jelly Roll: The Fortunes of Jelly Roll Morton, New Orleans Creole and "Inventor of Jazz"

The authentic voice of a talented creole musician, coming out of New Orleans, at the birth of Americas only decent export JAZZ. Peter Thomas.

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Mister Jelly Roll is a very unique man, with a great story to tell, the switch between narrative of Jelly's life and Lomax's finding are odd and sometimes hard to follow, but the book itself has a great story and lots of information.

Needed for child's school work

Takes you back to the turn of the century New Orleans

This is one of the rare books for it can be enjoyed by just about anyone who picks it up. Its the amazing account of the life of Jelly Roll Morton, one of the best jazz pianists of all time. Though a braggart and troubled man, he created some of the very best pieces of jazz. The book goes into his life from his childhood and his time working at Storyville to the very troubled end in the early forties. You learn about his family, his troubled relationships with Anita and Mabel and how he went from being wildly successful to dying virtually forgotten. Voodoo, New Orleans, jazz and Creole culture, its all here.Written with flair and never boring, Mr. Jelly Roll is a book that you will read more than once. Its a look at a legend and a glimpse into a world we can only know of through books and music. Get this if you want a good read and a look at Mr. Morton's life. A true classic.

In spite of Jelly's bragadocio and the author's lack of Jazz background (Lomax was a folklorist) it's a very interesting book. Jelly must have felt injusticed when, in the late thirties, Benny Goodman was earning lots of money with "King Porter's Stomp". But the truth is that, exactly like King Oliver, he was outpaced by the revolution started by Satchmo.

Morton's art, his wonderful recordings of the 1920s and 30s, stand as his testament, a perfect balance of syncopated verve and finely-articulated structure. This book is the perfect complement to those recordings, enriching our enjoyment of them, while taking us on a strange and moving journey. Morton's words bubble forth in an irrepressible fountain, full of wild living, and creative joy. Lomax has edited these oral memoirs with great skill and devotion, buttressing them with interviews (conducted after Morton's death in 1941,) with his sister, his first companion Anita, his widow Mabel, and many contemporary New Orleans musicians. The resulting portrait is the finest book on early jazz I have read. Morton's life was a tireless endeavour of musical creation and dissemination. Sadly for him, it turned into an obsessive battle for respect, and for overdue recognition of his contribution. He didn't live long enough to receive what he felt he deserved. Yet the music still moves us, broadcasting his genius. This book is surely the most important accompaniment to his marvellous musical legacy.

The media could not be loaded.  Sicuramente un libro che vale la pena di leggere. Racconta la vita di Jelly Roll Morton dai primi anni di New Orelans, in bilico tra ragtime e prime forme di jazz, fino alla caduta della popolarità e della sua ricchezza.L'autore cerca di trasmettere il fascino di un personaggio controverso, di cui non è ancora ben chiara l'entità. Sicuramente, inventore del jazz o no, Jelly Roll è stato un personaggio molto prolifico.I capitoli che si sussegono non sono altro che interviste alle persone che hanno conosciuto Jelly Roll: i membri della band, la moglie, i personaggi ch condividevano con lui la scena di New Orleans.Dal libro emergono degli interessanti profili di questi "ragazzi" del jazz, oltre che un'ottima fotografia politico/sociale di come New Orleans si suddivideva tra bianchi, neri e creoli.

Opera fondamentale per conoscere le origini del Jazz a New Orleans per bocca di uno dei suoi più importanti musicisti. Peccato che la lingua inglese non consente di apprezzare le molte sfumature del linguaggio di Roll Morton.