Real name: FERDINAND JOSEPH LA MENTHE. American
jazz performer and
pianist, lived 1890-1941.
Born into an upper class Creole family in New Orleans, Jelly Roll Morton was a pioneer in jazz band performance. He was the first to use pre-arranged, semi-orchestrated effects in jazz band performance.
Jelly learned to play piano at a young age but perfected his craft on the "wrong side of the tracks" in the bordello section of Storyville.
Although he was prone to exaggeration, Jelly once claimed he invented jazz, he was still a very important figure and innovator especially in ragtime piano playing.
His band "Morton's Red Hot Peppers" gained national acclaim but he was overshadowed by the career of genius Louis Armstrong for much of his life.
As a composer, his best known pieces are "Black Bottom Stomp," "King Porter Stomp," "Shoe Shiner's Drag," and "Dead Man Blues."
He was immortalized by a Broadway musical which chronicled his life and career in the early 90's. The musical, which starred Gregory Hines, was called "Jelly's Last Jam" and was nominated for several Tony Awards.