Jelly's Blues

[danasgoodstuff]

I believe it came out about a month ago and the author supposedly had access to some new info, but I really don't know much else about it? Thinking of getting it for my dad who is a huge Morton fan, any help?

[Guest Mnytime]

I haven't read the book but it's by former Chicago Tribune writers Howard Reich & William Gaines. In 1999 they did an excellent 3 part report on Jelly Roll for the Chicago Tribune.

I can't seem to find the link to it anymore on my bookmarks. Maybe they deleted access to the story and I deleted it. It really was excellent. Went into how his manager really robbed Jelly Roll later on in life.

I believe it was called "Jelly Roll:The Great Jazz Swindle". Every link I try to find on Google for it leads to a dead end. If you can find it you will not regret it.

[Guest Mnytime]

I should clarify. I meant I couldn't find a free version. Didn't think anyone would want to pay for the article. Not with the book now available.

I am planning to get the book. If the rest as good as the 3 part article it's going to be a damn good book.

Edited June 12, 2003 by Mnytime

[Simon Weil]

I seem to remember reading something from the Reich/Gaines articles and being impressed. But the couple of reviews I've found aren't so great:

Philadelphia Inquirer/Richard Sudhalter

Mercury News

And, here, Reich replies to Sudhalter:

Blues reviewer had ax to grind

The only worthy criticism is disinterested criticism. The Sun's review of Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton ("Jelly Roll Morton remains ever elusive, enigmatic," May 18) was penned by an author who is not disinterested. He has attacked me in letters to the editor at the Chicago Tribune and on Web sites because of criticisms I had made of his deeply flawed book, Lost Chords: White Musicians and Their Contributions to Jazz, 1915-1945.

In one such diatribe, subsequently published on the Jazz Institute of Chicago's Web site, that reviewer, Richard M. Sudhalter, referred to me as "the Third Reich," a particularly ill-chosen attack, in that I am the son of Holocaust survivors.

In failing to disclose his animosity toward me to readers and, presumably, to his editors, Mr. Sudhalter has offered a less than honest review of Jelly's Blues. Moreover, his assertion that the book has no footnotes is patently untrue (even the reviewer's copy of the book indicated "notes on sources").

And Mr. Sudhalter's assertion that neither author is "musically literate" is also incorrect. I hold a bachelor of music degree from Northwestern University, where I also did my graduate studies in music history and theory.

Most reviews of Jelly's Blues have cited the exceptional clarity and persuasiveness of its music passages.

The readers of The Sun deserve honest, disinterested criticism.

Howard Reich

Chicago

http://www.google.com./search?q=cache:i1cF...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

I have heard some uncomplimentary stuff about Reich.

Simon Weil

P.S. Interview with Reich

Edited June 12, 2003 by Simon Weil

[P.D.]

I believe it came out about a month ago and the author supposedly had access to some new info, but I really don't know much else about it? Thinking of getting it for my dad who is a huge Morton fan, any help?

From the point of view of a Father's Day present, who cares if the book is good or bad ( unless it is absolutely terrible )

There have not been many books on Morton, and if your father is a big Morton follower then any books , no doubt, would be welcome.

The Lomax book was written so long ago, in a time when "journalism" was a bit more sedate .No doubt the newer books reveal much more about the subject

There was recently another Morton book DEAD MAN"S BLUES... JRM way out west by Phil Patras, published 2001

It centers on Morton's experiences on the West Coast 1917 - 1922 and 1940 - 41 which perhaps makes it a bit of a book for the specialist.. mightbe just the thing for your father.

It received very positive reviews.

[John L]

Thanks for this informative thread, people.

I was wondering about this one.

Given its short length and the discussion above, I will probably wait for the paperback...

...to come into my neighborhood used bookstore....

...at a special discount cut-out rate.

[Christiern]

Although I worked on it, I highly recommend Bill Russell's 720-page scrapbook, "Oh, Mister Jelly". It contains many interesting, rare illustrations, a absorbing exchange of letter betwen Morton and his music publisher/friend, Roy Carew. Reminiscences by many, many people who experienced Morton in person; several pages of Morton's orchestrations (his own notations); reproduction of letters writen by Morton, and as much as exists of Morton's unfinished autobiography. Also, Roy Carew's wonderful recollections of early New Orleans, and an interesting article on the 1939 Victor sessions, written by Charles Edward Smith, based on first-hand accounts by Frederick Ramsey, Jr.

I think it can be bought in the U.S., but the publisher is JazzMedia (Copenhagen). The ISBN is 87-88043-26-6

For all things Mortonian, check out Mike Medding's UK site:

http://www.doctorjazz.freeserve.co.uk

Edited June 12, 2003 by Christiern

[danasgoodstuff]

Thanks to all, I think I'll try to find a copy of Jelly's Blues to look at first. "Oh, Mister Jelly" might be a bit much, but if I can find a copy I'll have a look at that too. I enjoyed Lost Chords, does anyone know what it was criticised for (other than just for being about dead white guys)?

[John L]

Thanks for the link to that fascinating site, Chris.

[danasgoodstuff]

So, I got Jelly's Blues for my dad who devowered (sp?) it. I eventually got through it and although it is a bit newspaperish and highly partisan, it was a worthwhile read. A better book might have been done on the battles between Morton's supporters and detractors and/or those claiming to be heirs (literal or otherwise), a sort of post-Morton (sic, very sic). Sudhalter does better close analysis of music but still the "third Reich" remark seems totally uncalled for. It seems odd that no one has recorded the newly rediscorvered late works by Jelly, it would seem a natural for Wynton/JLC, et al.

[chitownjazz]

I'm reviving this because I happened to stumble on a copy of Jelly's Blues in a local record store and am enjoying it tremendously.

The 3-part Tribune series referenced above, which indeed is a very worthwhle read, along with some associated articles, can be found (for free) at Chicago Tribune Jelly articles.

I'm not finished with Jelly's Blues yet, but the one issue that clearly, to me, required a better analysis and discussion was how Jelly could be riding high in Chicago in 1926 - apparently very well off, recording jazz masterpieces, and having tons of well-paying jobs according to the authors - and a mere year later in New York be able to do no better than lead a second or third rate band in a taxi dance hall. They do discuss the issue, but don't provide a convincing explanation for such a precipitous fall.

I wasn't aware before just now of the Reich/Sudhalter debate. I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Lost Chord even though convincing me of its premise would be akin to proving that the sun doesn't set in the west. I believe it was in Art Taylor's Notes and Tones that there's a reference to the day coming when whites would be trying to steal credit for the development of jazz, and that day has arrived in the works of authors like Sudhalter and Lees. Reich's and Gaines's work is a welcome antidote to that reactionary trend in jazz analysis.

Edited December 26, 2006 by chitownjazz

[Lazaro Vega]

"It seems odd that no one has recorded the newly rediscorvered late works by Jelly, it would seem a natural for Wynton/JLC, et al."

Randy Sandke recorded "Ganjam" and issued two versions of it last year...can't recall the CD right now....

[chitownjazz]

Finished the book, and I have to say the it is an entertaining and edifying read. I'll leave it to those with more than my scant knowledge of Jelly and his music to comment in detail. Suffice it to say that the chapter on the dispensation of Morton's estate has to be read to be believed and is by itself worth reading the book (or clicking on the link above to read the Tribune articles covering the same themes).

The story is ultimately pretty depressing, but I suppose the upside is that we still do have Morton's music to enjoy even though the royalties it generates are going to heirs of a woman who passed herself off as Morton's wife and cut Morton's actual wife at the time of his death out of his estate. And we aren't talking about pocket change: "By the year 2000, Morton's work had earned more than $1 million in royalties for the composer's estate and at least twice that much for his publishers - over $3 million in all."

And there's the story of one William Russell who spent most of his life chasing down every possible scrap of Morton memorabilia and filling up his small New Orleans apartment with it. That treasure trove, which only came completely to light upon Russell's death in 1992 at age 87, provided much of the information for Jelly's Blues.

Edited December 27, 2006 by chitownjazz

[gmonahan]

Finished the book, and I have to say the it is an entertaining and edifying read. I'll leave it to those with more than my scant knowledge of Jelly and his music to comment in detail. Suffice it to say that the chapter on the dispensation of Morton's estate has to be read to be believed and is by itself worth reading the book (or clicking on the link above to read the Tribune articles covering the same themes).

The story is ultimately pretty depressing, but I suppose the upside is that we still do have Morton's music to enjoy even though the royalties it generates are going to heirs of a woman who passed herself off as Morton's wife and cut Morton's actual wife at the time of his death out of his estate. And we aren't talking about pocket change: "By the year 2000, Morton's work had earned more than $1 million in royalties for the composer's estate and at least twice that much for his publishers - over $3 million in all."

And there's the story of one William Russell who spent most of his life chasing down every possible scrap of Morton memorabilia and filling up his small New Orleans apartment with it. That treasure trove, which only came completely to light upon Russell's death in 1992 at age 87, provided much of the information for Jelly's Blues.

How does it (and others) compare to the Lomax book included in the recently issued box? Apples and oranges?

[Harold_Z]

Yeah......it's apples and oranges.

Lomax's book is a transcription of Jelly's LOC "rap" between and during tunes. If yuu have the records you can hear Jelly doing it.

"Jelly's Blues" is a researched reference work with findings and conclusions you can either agree with or disagree with....but well done.

[Larry Kart]

Yeah......it's apples and oranges.

Lomax's book is a transcription of Jelly's LOC "rap" between and during tunes. If yuu have the records you can hear Jelly doing it.

"Jelly's Blues" is a researched reference work with findings and conclusions you can either agree with or disagree with....but well done.

Not "well done" according to a number of people who have extensive prior knowwledge of the subject -- Dan Morgenstern of The Institute of Jazz Studies, for one, John Litweiler, for another. A very good recent book on Morton is Phil Pastras's "Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West" (U. of California Press, 2001), which focuses on the two periods (1917-22 and 1940-1) that Morton spent on the West Coast.

[Harold_Z]

Yeah......it's apples and oranges.

Lomax's book is a transcription of Jelly's LOC "rap" between and during tunes. If yuu have the records you can hear Jelly doing it.

"Jelly's Blues" is a researched reference work with findings and conclusions you can either agree with or disagree with....but well done.

Not "well done" according to a number of people who have extensive prior knowwledge of the subject -- Dan Morgenstern of The Institute of Jazz Studies, for one, John Litweiler, for another. A very good recent book on Morton is Phil Pastras's "Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West" (U. of California Press, 2001), which focuses on the two periods (1917-22 and 1940-1) that Morton spent on the West Coast.

Egg on my face. "Dead Man Blues" is the one I read.