Morton, Jelly Roll, originally Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe or Lamothe 1890-1941
US jazz pianist, composer and bandleader

Born into a Creole family in New Orleans, he worked as a gambler and pimp as well as a piano entertainer in 'sporting houses'. His status as a jazz pioneer comes from his recordings (1923-27) while living in Chicago, and his unaccompanied piano solos made bestsellers of such tunes as 'King Porter Stomp', 'Wolverine Blues' and 'Jelly Roll Blues'. In 1926 he formed the recording band the 'Red Hot Peppers', a collection of some of the finest New Orleans sidemen of the day, and probably the first in jazz to combine arranged ensemble passages with collective improvisation and improvised solos. In 1938 Morton made a series of recordings, including spoken recollections on his early years, for the American Library of Congress.