By Mike Neely
As a traveling musician, Jelly Roll Morton was undoubtedly familiar with the rural world of the delta blues along with the raucous nightlife of urban New Orleans. This was a man whose musical world straddled two centuries, like much of early jazz, but MortonÃÂs music was played in an intricate ensemble style that in its way brought together a world passing and a world to be.
It is significant that in such compositions as ÃÂSidewalk BluesÃÂ and ÃÂSteamboat StompÃÂ Jelly Roll MortonÃÂs band traded quips about mules and automobiles. It is a dialog about going somewhere: consider the blaring of early auto horns, and the slapstick banter about getting out of the way. ItÃÂs striking that much of the humor is directed at a bumpkin bewildered by city life. For MortonÃÂs life straddled the time of bandwagons being pulled through the streets of New Orleans with musicians blowing from the wagon bed, and the time of swing music with big bands rollicking over national radio.
In particular ÃÂBlack Bottom StompÃÂ has an energy that seems to whirl through a kaleidoscopic vision of New Orleans. The bordello, the parlor, the dance hall, the funeral, the street party, the whole lively momentum of everyday life turns like a carnival wheel while Mr. MortonÃÂs wry compositional voice beckons: ÃÂStep Right Up.ÃÂ It doesnÃÂt take much attentive listening to appreciate the subtlety of the masterÃÂs composition, the inspired restraint of the soloists, and the snap of the rhythm section.
It is ironic that ÃÂBlack Bottom StompÃÂ was recorded in Chicago, far north of the great city that was already losing its hold on many of the early greats of jazz, including King Oliver, and Louis Armstrong. Already, in 1926, MortonÃÂs egalitarian style was beginning to give way to the rise of the outstanding small group soloists who later became essential to the larger ensemble conception of big band jazz.
Compare MortonÃÂs piano versions of ÃÂKing Porter StompÃÂ to Benny GoodmanÃÂs big band version of 1935. GoodmanÃÂs version has the uptown Park Avenue feel of Manhattan. While MortonÃÂs evokes a bump and tumble of local neighborhoods, more like Brooklyn, where accents and dialects rub up against each other on a daily basis.
Mr. MortonÃÂs music arose from the unique musical and historical life of New Orleans, epitomizing the best of an ensemble style that will forever be associated with that endlessly diverse city. It would take an Ellington to surpass Morton as a combination musician, bandleader, and ensemble composer: no small tribute to Mr. MortonÃÂs music.
