Duplex Mystery Hour: Jelly Roll Morton

The Duplex Mystery Jazz Hour (6-7 PM, WZBC 90.3; stream: WZBC.org) is starting a new series  "I Know the Name, but Why Should I care?" If you have any ideas about whom I should feature in upcoming shows, please let me know.

First up: Jelly Roll Morton. 

Playlist

NORK "Sobbin Blues" from "Sobbin Blues" (Single, Jazz, 1923) on Gennett

Jelly Roll Morton "Grandpa's Spells" from "Grandpa's Spells" (Single, Jazz, 1923) on Gennett

Jelly Roll Morton "King Porter’ Stomp" from Library of Congress recordings, 1938 (with Morton talking).

Edmonia Henderson "Jelly Roll Blues" from "Jelly Roll Blues" (Single, Jazz, 1924) on Gennett

Jelly Roll Morton And His Red Hot Peppers "Blackbottom Stomp" from "Blackbottom Stomp" (Single, Jazz, 1926) on Victor

Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers "Sidewalk Blues" from "Sidewalk Blues" (Single, Jazz, 1926) on Victor

Jelly & Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers "Dr. Jazz" from "Dr. Jazz" (Single, Jazz, 1926) on Electrola

Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers "Kansas City Stomp" from "Kansas City Stomp" (Single, Jazz, 1928) on Bluebird

Jelly Roll Morton And His Orchestra "Courthouse Bump" from "Courthouse Bump" (Single, Jazz, 1929) on Victor

Jelly Roll Morton And His Orchestra "Pretty Lil" from "Pretty Lil" (Single, Jazz, 1929) on Victor

Jelly Roll Morton "Finger Buster" from "Finger Buster" (Single, Jazz, 1938) on US Recording

Jelly Roll Morton "Creepy Feeling" from "Creepy Feeling" (Single, Jazz, 1938) on Blue Star

Jelly Roll Morton's New Orleans Jazzmen "Oh Didn't He Ramble" from "Oh Didn't He Ramble" (Single, Jazz, 1939) on RCA

Jelly Roll Morton "Spanish Swat" from "Spanish Swat" (Single, Jazz, 1938) on Library of Congress

"Alan Lomax," briefly reviewed

 Author John Szwed, who has also done bios of Miles Davis and Sun Ra, does an excellent job of delineating the work of Alan Lomax; work which altered the landscape of American music. Lomax doggedly sought out musicians in remote areas and prisons and brought their music to light-live, through radio, film and television. He was an early advocate of the need to provide a socio-political context for the music, which changed the approach of music archivists both in the US and abroad. He championed civil rights and tirelessly promoted the work of unknown musicians. 

Lomax was a driven, complicated man, who seems to have been as busy internally as he was externally. He was a risk-taker who was both inspired by and psychically somewhat intimidated by his father John. His sexual/romantic/family life was extremely complicated. He turned to and championed the talking cure. Despite his many successes and wide cultural acceptance, he remained broke his whole life. While elucidating an inner life is challenging, I would have liked Szwed to have put a little more meat on those particular bones. 

That said, this book does a fine job of showing us the power of Lomax's work. To some of us, more preoccupied with jazz, Alan and John Lomax are names we recognize and associate with folk music, but as this biography shows, Lomax pere et fils played a very important role in the preservation and presentation of several styles of American music-especially African-American music. A highly recommended read.