Jeremy Siskind - Jazz Etude Inspirations (Songbook): Eight Piano Etudes Inspired by the Masters

Inspired by Jelly Roll Morton

Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (1885-1941) better known as Jelly Roll Morton , is arguably the first jazz musician. In fact, Morton himself claimed to have invented jazz singlehandedly in 1902! Of Creole origin, Morton began his piano career playing in a brothel in New Orleans at the age of fourteen. As his career progressed, he toured as a soloist and with several vaudeville acts. Many of his compositions, including Jelly Roll Blues and King Porter Stomp, have become standards of the traditional jazz repertoire.

To the Student:

Pedaling is the focal point of this etude. Stride pianists were experts at joining different beats together with the sustain pedal, and this piece challenges the right foot. In the first eight measures, beats one and three should be joined with the pedal to beats two and four; but in the second eight measures, beats two and four need to be linked with beats one and three. Practice this piece without pedal first and add the pedaling once the notes are mastered.

For more, I recommend the following CDs:
Complete Library of Congress Recordings: Jelly Roll Morton (Box Set Rounder Records, 1938)
Jelly Roll Morton: 1926-1930 (JSP Records 2000)
Piano Rolls (Nonesuch 1997; actual piano rolls made in 1924)

The Complete Library of Congress Recordings comprise a first-rate, seven-disc historical record, including both recordings of Morton playing his works and talking about them in interviews with Alan Lomax, his biographer. Morton plays many of his most famous pieces and provides interesting insight into the background and inspiration behind them.