chris Posted June 28, 2003 Report Share Posted June 28, 2003 Where to get started with some Jelly Roll Morton recordings? Is there a good representative set for Morton like the Hot Fives and Sevens is for Louis Armstrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 (edited) Well, I would suggest the JSP set with J. R. T. Davies transfers. That will have a mass of important recordings by him, and is a great place to start and for many to just stand pat! Really, it's cheap, the sound is very good, and the music is Jelly delux! Edited June 29, 2003 by jazzbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 Agreed on all accounts - do not miss this collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris Posted June 29, 2003 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 Excellent, I'll order it this weekend... gee that was easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 Lon (or whoever knows about this music), should I get the JSP collection when I already have the RCA 5CD set and the Commodore disc? And how about the Library of Congress stuff? What more besides that? thanks! ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted June 29, 2003 Report Share Posted June 29, 2003 Lon (or whoever knows about this music), should I get the JSP collection when I already have the RCA 5CD set and the Commodore disc? And how about the Library of Congress stuff? What more besides that? thanks! ubu If you have the RCA set you won't need the JSP. Unless you want to upgrade on the sound quality. I think the Library of Congress stuff is great! Not just for Jelly Roll's playing but hearing his stories as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 If you already have the RCA set, you really don't need the JSP at all. I actually think the RCA set sounds very good, the JSP sounds a little different. . . the difference between the two is really remastering from the original parts (RCA) and the other from 78s (JSP). I really like the Rounder cds as well. And Retrieval has a good set of solo piano pieces that are well worth having, with Davies transfers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted June 30, 2003 Report Share Posted June 30, 2003 thanks, Mnytime & Lon, appreciate it! I like the sound on the RCA, too, so really no need. And thanks for that solo Jelly Roll recommendation, Lon! And anyone knows the ethymology of the name "Jelly Roll"? Someone I know once thought it does include some sexual allusions? Anyone knows more? ubu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted September 29, 2003 Report Share Posted September 29, 2003 Reviving this thread Ubu: regarding his nickname "Jelly Roll" I remember I read somewhere it was a typical New Orleans cake with a cylindrical shape... and, of course, it has double-sense with a sexual meaning! But I must check this story. I have the RCA/Bluebird "Centennial" box and it´s wonderful music. It´s a bible of that era, IMO. Those Red Peppers´ recordings must be up there in the top-five early jazz recordings. And the sound´s good for me (haven´t heard the JSP release). And for some Jelly Roll solo recordings, there´s a King Jazz release (2 volumes) called "The complete piano heritage 1923-29" with piano rolls... great music! But it may be hard to find... I´ve always been very interested in Jelly Roll as a capital figure in the development of jazz... (did he actually invented jazz??? ) ...and his was an interesting life indeed! I haven´t read his biography but it´s on my next-purchases books list. Maybe some of our more knowledgeable members could give us their opinion about the importance Jelly Roll had as a catalytic figure, as a composer/arranger, as a leader of various ensembles... and as a pianist too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest che Posted March 18, 2005 Report Share Posted March 18, 2005 Just came across this thread Jelly Roll, or my fathers love of his music was one of the factors that got me interested in jazz. I have a number of recordings including: The Complete Victor Recordings - 1926-1939 on RCA Blubird, which is a five disk package. This is fantastic and was produced by Orrin Keenews. Che. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Andresen Posted March 19, 2005 Report Share Posted March 19, 2005 I think the Library of Congress stuff is great! Not just for Jelly Roll's playing but hearing his stories as well. This seems to be the exact thing I'm looking for. Can you give me the exact details of the Library of Congress CD's/LP's which include the interviews with JRM - I understand that in most issues of the LoC material, the interviews were not included... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjluke68 Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 OK, it may not be Jelly Roll but it is his music. I just picked up Dick Hyman's CD, "Jelly & James" and it's phenomenal. The music was recorded in '73 & '75 and is from 2 complete LPs featuring Jelly Roll Morton and James P Johnson music. Some of the other musicians are Urbie Green, Vic Dickenson, Ruby Braff and others! Awesome stuff! The CD is from '92 and is probably long OOP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 IMHO: 1) The Bluebird box, if you can find it - contary to what many people have said, the remastering on this is brilliantly done - the problem was in the final EQ before release - just boost your treble and you have incredible Jelly Roll in great sound - 2) Library of Congress - the Rounder stuff has all the music but has, stupidly, cut out all the talk (Larry Gushee told me a few years ago that plans were afoot to release it complete, but were shelved when Alan Lomax died); get the Rounders, but find, if you can, the Swaggie LPs (though they may be expensive thes days); 3) Commodores - the best are the solo recordings, incredible stuff, in full mature flower, but the small group Comodores are way under-rated - 4) The 1923 solo recordings - really should come first, have been reissued in many forms - best sound is on the old Folkways LP with remastering by the late Carl Seltzer, but John R.T. Davies did a fine job also - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 (edited) So there'll be no reissue of the unedited Library of Congress records! That is a drag! I like the sound on the Bluebird set also. The one hassle is the alternate of one of tunes. I think it's "The Chant". It's really sped up. It's been a while since I listened to this and if I remember correctly it plays back almost a 1/2 tone sharp. Edited April 7, 2005 by Harold_Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John L Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Commodores - the best are the solo recordings, incredible stuff, in full mature flower, but the small group Comodores are way under-rated Yes, the Commodores are superb! I listen to them as much as any other Jelly Roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 I have the French RCA 2 LP sets and they sound good to me. However, I don't have anything else to compare them to. Has anyone listened to both these and the John R.T. Davies JSP set? I should probably just be happy listening to what I have (and I am happy doing that), but I'm curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 I have all three - the LPs, the JSPs and the BMG box reissue - I know a lot of people have said otherwise, but the BMG is the best because of access to many of the actual masters - it was badly EQ'd in the reissue, but that can be easily remedied with a treble boost (assuming you don't have a multi-band EQ) - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted May 16, 2005 Report Share Posted May 16, 2005 The JSP set omits the two 1939 sessions - 12 tracks total, counting the alternates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I finally got 'round to buying the Reich/Gaines Jelly biography and am really looking forward to digging into it over the weekend - with appropriate music spinning! In the apendix dealing with recordings, they give most kudos to a series on the French label Media 7. It's called Jelly Roll Morton: Complete Edition, and so far - at the time of publication - runs to eights separate discs spanning 1923-1934. Apart from rare sides by the likes of Jell Roll Morton's Steamboat Four and Jazz Kids, and even bootlegs, the authors laud also the booklets. Anyone heard these? At most, there would only be one or two more discs to come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 I finally got 'round to buying the Reich/Gaines Jelly biography and am really looking forward to digging into it over the weekend - with appropriate music spinning! In the apendix dealing with recordings, they give most kudos to a series on the French label Media 7. It's called Jelly Roll Morton: Complete Edition, and so far - at the time of publication - runs to eights separate discs spanning 1923-1934. Apart from rare sides by the likes of Jell Roll Morton's Steamboat Four and Jazz Kids, and even bootlegs, the authors laud also the booklets. Anyone heard these? At most, there would only be one or two more discs to come. ← The Media 7 mention refers to a distribution operation. What the authors had in mind was the Masters of Jazz series. The series had indeed 8 discs in their Morton series (there might have been a vol. 9 too) before it went out of business. Unfortunately! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 if you are reading the Reich bio, throw it away - in the words of Larry Gushee (probably the foremost authority on early jazz in the world) that book is " a despicable piece of shit." It is full of inaccuracies and poor judgement - for example, early in the book Reich describes going to William Russell's house - as Larry has told me, the house he describes is NOT Russell's - how can you trust a book that makes this kind of error? Reich is doctrinaire and intent on making the facts fit his pre-assumptions - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 if you are reading the Reich bio, throw it away - in the words of Larry Gushee (probably the foremost authority on early jazz in the world) that book is " a despicable piece of shit." It is full of inaccuracies and poor judgement - for example, early in the book Reich describes going to William Russell's house - as Larry has told me, the house he describes is NOT Russell's - how can you trust a book that makes this kind of error? Reich is doctrinaire and intent on making the facts fit his pre-assumptions - ← I'm well aware of Reich's reputation. Yet while not "trusting" the book, I intend to plow through it. Are you able to pinpoint any other specific instances of innacurary? I'm especially interested in the unrecorded material. Whatever its many flaws, new information about Morton is just too scarce in terms of the public realm for me to ignore this. I've never heard of Larry Gushee, but a Google jaunt tells me he is indeed a remarkable authority. Trouble is, from my perspective, he is virtually unpublished. I'll happily accept your judgment that he is "probably the foremost authority on early jazz in the world", but for the average punter like me such praise is a bit sterile unless I have something to sink my teeth into. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Gushee is a well established "academic" in the US "jazz academic" circles. He has not published much but is/was a very serious observer of early jazz. His pieces in the original "Jazz Review" established his reputation. I agree with Lowe about the Reich book but agree some nuggets can be dug from the "pile", as long as you recognize the pile. I do think it is time for Gushee to "publish or perish" if he cares to keep the reputation. I've heard rumors of books for years but my patience is running very thin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 I agree with Lowe about the Reich book but agree some nuggets can be dug from the "pile", as long as you recognize the pile.← Chuck, Allen - that's precisely the approach I was taking even before this latest discourse. Any help in this regard is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold_Z Posted May 28, 2005 Report Share Posted May 28, 2005 Weren't a lot of the Masters Of Jazz series remastered by JRT Davies ? I have the Bechet cd with the Muggsy/Bechet session on it and it's JRT. I wish I could find those ! WKCR played a segment off of one where Jelly is playing Hammond ! A broadcast recording from 1939 if I remember correctly. I'd LOVE to get that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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