Morton

[JELLY ROLL MORTON]

FERDINAND JOSEPH LAMOTHE

(1885-1941)

Was born into a Creole community in the Falberg Marigny neighbourhood of
downtown New Orlean Louisiana 1885.
His parents were Edward J. Lamothe and Louise Monette (written as Lemott and Monett on his
baptismal certificate).
Ferdinand's parents were in a common-law marriage and were not legally married. No birth
certificate has been found to date. He took the name MORTON by anglicising the name of his
step-father, Mouton.

He was (along with Tony Jackson) one of the best regarded pianists in the Storyville District
early in the 20th Century.
Tony Jackson was his main influence in his music; according to Morton, Jackson was the only pianist better than him.... Among other occupations, Morton was at one time a pimp.

During the period when he was recording his interviews, Morton was seriously injured by knife
wounds, when a fight broke out at the Washington D.C. dive he was playing in.
His recovery from his wounds was incomplete, and thereafter he was often ill and easily became
short of breath.
Morton made a new series of commercial recordings in New York, several recounting tunes
from his early years that he had been talking about in his Library of Congress Interviews.

He then moved to Los Angeles, California with a series of manuscripts of new tunes and arrangements, planning to form a new band and restart his career.

However, he took seriously ill shortly after his arrival and died on July 10th. 1941, after an
eleven-day stay in Los Angeles County General Hospital.

For the music of "Jelly-Roll" Morton, go to our online store at:

http://klavarskribo.com/