| Contents |
Louisiana town. My folks was all Frenchmans ; Really tremendous sports ; Money in the tenderloin -- Interlude one. The family -- Storyville. Where the birth of jazz originated from ; Uptown-downtown ; Sweet, soft, plenty rhythm -- Interlude two. The boys in the bands -- Alabama bound. Half-hand bigshot ; Those battles of music ; The lion broke down the door ; Jack the bear ; Can't remember all those towns ; Jelly Roll blues -- I took California. The Cadillac in bloom ; Diamonds pinned in my underwear ; Mama Nita -- Interlude three. Hello, central, give me Doctor Jazz -- The Bitters with the Sweet. Mabel ; Red hot petter ; It like to broke my heart ; Til the butcher cut him down. |
| Abstract |
Upon its appearance in 1950, this biography of Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton became an instant classic of jazz literature. Now back in print, updated, and with a new afterword, this book will enchant a new generation of readers with the fascinating story of one of the world's most influential composers of jazz. Jelly Roll's voice spins out his life in something close to song, each sentence rich with the sound and atmosphere of the period in which Morton, and jazz, exploded on the American and international scene. This edition includes scores of Jelly Roll's own arrangements, a discography, an updated bibliography, a chronology of his compositions, a new genealogical tree of Jelly Roll's forebears, and the author's preface from the hard-to-find 1993 edition of this work. The afterword provides new factual information and explains the significance of this important work of African-American biography to the study of jazz and American culture. |
| General note | Originally published: New York : Pantheon Books, 1993. Updated with a new afterword by Lawrence Gushee. |
| Bibliography note | Includes discography (pages 341-342) and bibliographical references (pages 343-344). |
| LCCN | 00064430 |
| ISBN | 0520225309 (pbk. : alk. paper) |
