Jelly Roll Morton
Pioneering New Orleans pianist-composer
Jelly Roll Morton (1890–1941) was an American jazz pianist and composer, one of the earliest jazz arrangers and a key figure in the music's development.
Born Ferdinand LaMothe in New Orleans, he claimed to have invented jazz—an exaggeration, though his compositions like "King Porter Stomp" and "Black Bottom Stomp" were foundational.
His 1938 Library of Congress recordings remain essential documents of early jazz history.
- ragtimeSyncopated piano genre
- Louis ArmstrongPioneering jazz trumpeter, singer
- New OrleansLouisiana's largest city
- stride pianoJazz style, leaping left hand
- pianoKeyed percussion instrument
piano roll · ivory tickler · barrel house · syncopation · Creole culture · cakewalk · composer · Dixieland · swing · stomp · musician · minstrelsy · jazz · blues · Tin Pan Alley · Harlem Renaissance · Bessie Smith · Duke Ellington
- 1920s IconsBabe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, Al Capone, Charles Lindbergh, Duke Ellington
- Pianistspianist, concert pianist, Lang Lang, Thelonious Monk, Franz Liszt
- 1920s Musicjazz, ragtime, Charleston, Dixieland, blues
- Early 20th Century MusiciansLouis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Enrico Caruso, Scott Joplin
- Early JazzNew Orleans jazz, Dixieland, hot jazz, ragtime, Louis Armstrong
- RagtimeScott Joplin, Maple Leaf Rag, The Entertainer, syncopation, rags
Jelly Roll MortonThelonious Monk
Jelly Roll MortonJohn Coltrane
free jazz · bebop · fusion · Miles Davis · cool jazz
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