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Review: "Absolutely The Best" | |
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It is most unfortunate when someone doesn't achieve the height of success until they have been long dead. Vincent Van Gogh is a famous case of this, one that a lot of people know about. Another one, although not as famous as Van Gogh but no less undeserving of praise is Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe. While that name is practically unknown, his stage name of Jelly Roll Morton is far better known in the jazz world. Morton claimed during his life that he was in fact, the inventor of jazz, a claim that won him derision among the critics and his peers of the time. Sixty years after his death comes this compilation of some of his best works. It shows that his claim may not have been as far-fetched as it was once considered.
Jelly Roll Morton grew up in New Orleans where he learned how to play the piano by giving background music inside whorehouses. I daresay that he learned his rapid keyboard pace to keep in sync with the activities that took place behind closed doors! He left New Orleans after learning the basics and set about the USA playing piano just about everywhere, fine crafting his style and music. In 1923, he recorded his first record and quickly gained popularity as a person to watch. He then recorded a second and third album in rapid succession. He was at his height of popularity in the later 1920's. It seemed that he could do no wrong. He formed his own band, The Red Hot Peppers and was deemed a master showman with his talent and a diamond studded front tooth.
The 1930's saw jazz trends changing and Morton was cut loose by his record label in October of 1930. Being so popular and then less so proved to be very tough on Morton. He opened his own bar in Washington in 1935 where he became badly hurt during a fight there. While in Washington, his music and interviews were recorded for the Library of Congress, thus ensuring that his talent would not be lost. He moved back to New York in 1938 and attempted to revive his career by releasing albums,
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both solo and with a new band. His health worsened when his career didn't take off again and he died in hospital of asthma in 1941.
This compilation CD pieces all stem from his heyday in the early and mid 1920's. There are five cuts from his first recorded album, the most famous being "King Porter Stomp", the tune that he is perhaps best known for. There are five more cuts from his second album release including "Jelly Roll Blues", his first copyrighted composition, created in 1915. The remaining four songs on the CD are recordings taken from him at the height of his career in 1924-1926.
This CD is for jazz purists or people that take jazz and its history seriously. The tracks on the CD are recorded directly from the albums of the day. This includes all the background noise and scratches that arise from using material this old. Those just starting to appreciate jazz would do best to listen to more contemporary material before tackling this. Those who know jazz and want to listen to its inception are going to like this CD. It assembles all in one place, Jelly Roll material that is hard to get hold of.
Absolutely The Best is a CD for serious jazz enthusiasts. It shows the brilliance of Morton and his skill in tickling the ivories. One can see the musicial genius of Morton in these recordings. It gives one pause to think that maybe Jelly Roll Morton was not shamelessly self-promoting when he said that he was indeed the father of jazz.
By Daniel Sanford, CanEHdian.com 2001
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