Jelly Roll Morton 1

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This edition is dedicated with love to rny parents,Evelyn and IⅣ ing Dapogny, for their years of unfailing encouragement and practical help with music and everything else. JamesI〕 apogny

lV

The Snlithsonian lnstitution wishes to thank the Estate of Anita Ford and Mrs. Hattic Holloway,Administratrix of the Estate of Anita Ford for their help in the publication of this work。

◎Copyright 1982 by Snlithsonian lnstitution No part ofthis work rnay be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any lneans, ^1l Rights Reserved lnternational Copyright Secured Printed in UoS.A. electronic or rnechanical,lncluding photocopylng or by any information storage and retrieval systeΠ l,without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN O-87474-351-6

RogD No.48303c EC 3257

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Two people have been indispensable in the realization Of this project. The firstis Martin Williams,E)irectOr ofthe J,77 PrOgram ofthe SnlithsOnian lnsti― tution's】 Division of Perfornling Arts.Hc is probably the first persOn tO have written sensitively and accurately,from an enormous aesthetic¨ histOrical backgrOund,abOut Morton's music.This v01ume is aproiect that he initiated,both cOncei宙 ng theidea and doing the basic wOrk necessary to make it pOssible.Not only did he set this prOlect in m° ;s::鯖 S prog∝ s Юwttd cOmpletioL ・・ 犠 :鵠 T翌 電 ∬ :揚 r help l would not have undertaken this pro― :h°

jecto She used her musical ear and years of training in checking every note of every transcriptiOn and in reading every wOrd,spending nearlyas rnuchtilneonthisprojectas l did. Another important cOntributor is Michaclヽ 40ntgOmery,whO lent rnc his cOpies of the original MortOn rons frOm which the piano‐ rOn transcriptions were rnade,and whO also placed at rny disposal the results of his Own rescarches.

if留 綿 lilttTttTttf胤 諸 嶽 ぎ 辮 :l 撃ぶ:le上 認電 講淵cΨ l wish also tO acknowledge gratefully the support of rny research at the Library Of Congress by a Faculty Research crant fronl the Horace H. Rackham Sch001 0f Graduate Studies of the University of Michigan.

薦 覇 ξ 覆 紺 鶴 糧 椰 珈 l薄 拶 欄 轡 齢 撻 Research, Dick Hyman, Wayne JOnes, Rod McDonald, Hal Snlith, and Richard “Butch"ThOmpson.

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FOREWORD

This volume undertakes a task never before undertaken:a sch01arly,complete edi‐

tion ofa body ofaj,7ワ rnuSician's work.It contalns a version Of every piece Jeny Ron Morton ever published or recorded as a piano s01o。 For such a project there is little tradition ofFnethOd or procedure,and so l have ex‐ plained in some detail below what l have done in organization,notation,and other editorial practicc. I began my own music career as a composer,music theorist,and teacher largely because of my early interest――fOrmed when l had already had some musical educa‐ tion――in the handful of MOrton recordingsthatl could then findo My attemptsto cOme to grips with the t∝ hnical problems involved in understanding the rnusic on those re‐ cordings led me to academic training and new musicalinterests,as well as to continued involvement in jazz. The study of rnusic of all types has only increased my admiration fOr MortOn's work;the minor shortcomings newly discOvered have always been more than offset by newly found beauties of detail and structureo Morton's lnusic has vitality,o五 ginality, variety,and― ‐ especially noteworthy in inヮタcOmposition― ― coherence,qualities which are prized in the rnusic of any 800d COmposer.In addition,on his recordings,we hear Morton the ilnprovisOr, with his unique ability to spin out variations that are simultaneously frec and beautifuny disciplinedo Morton'sis a music Of substance,and greater familiarity with it brings sustalned interest and greater adnliration for thetalents of its creator。 J.D.

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CONTENTs ―… ……… 恥?,叩 9S∝・ …… … …… …… …… ……………………………. ……

The Pianist.…

。

5

… … … … … … … … … … .… … … .… … … .:.… … .. 11 The Hお …… … … 1ふ 証 iii::::::::::::::￨::lillli:ill::::

銃I h 薔 肥 朧d t o H d P r o c e d u r e s … …………。 31

TheMuslc

″ ° 滋 お 切。 … … m路 量】 猟 :l彎 曜 ...IIIi:; ……._._li男 踏露1ノIT。 91Ⅲ Iり

ルOore/SN∝ ″ igJθ 。… … … … … 。89 "rtO'Minり け Bル /Sh“ 助 ′ ″θ ″むD″ υ .… .… .… .… 103 ' …… … “ ………………………………… … …H 3

脇筋傷,7∵ ==言 .::::i::i:::::::￨￨:::11: 80B“ akdO″ 〃 .… .… 。… ・… .… 。… .… .… 155 bttθRり 。… 。 .… .… .… … ・… 。… .… 。… 。167 ・・・・・・・・・.・・・..・・・・・・・・..・ ..・ ..。 ・・ ・・ 187

蹄由 ・ …….....::尉 3踏認鵠lT:?物ゴ

CannOnball BIues.…

…………………………………

灘 懲澪:Ⅲ Ⅲあ‐‐‐‐‐::召 … … … .… …219

・・・・・・・・..・・・..・・・・.・・・・.・ ..・ ・・ ・・..。237 BOogaboO.......・ ・・・.・・・・.・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ .・ ・ ・ ・ ・・・.・・・・ 243 Seattle Hunch........・ ・・・.・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・.・ ・・・・・・・・.249

…… ……… … …… 259 謙巫 シ1.71… ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・.・・・・.・・・・.・ .・ … ・・・ ・・・。 273 S“Clirys′ ο切

.… … .… .… .… ・ … … … .・279

縦 :(瞥 fγ ttΨ _III霧 Sweet Peter.__

・・・・・・・・. . ・・・. . ・・・・・・・・. . ・ . ・ ・・・ ・・・。 315 ・・・・・・・・・.。325

Hyena Stomp.....・ ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 335 State and Madison .....・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 345 Bert Williarns。 353 … … … … … … … … ・… … … … ・… … … … … … … ・。 Freakish ........・ ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・:365 Pep… .… … … … 。… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … ・ 379 CreepyF∝ ling … … … … .… … … … … … … ・… … … ・… … … … … ・ 395 Spanish Swat.........・ ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 413 The Pearis.…… 。… … … … … … … … … … … … … ・… … … 。… … …423 Fingerbuster rFingerbκ口んθ 449 〃 … .… … … … .… … … … … … … … … ・・ HonkyTonk Music.… .… 。 ・ … … … … … … … … … … … … ・…465 …… The Crave.… .… .… 。… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… ・… 。 473 Mister JOeβ z//ardBルの … … … … … … … … … … … ・… … … … … 。 485 King Porter Stomp… 495 ………………………………………………。 lossary ......・ ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ C〕 509 Bibliography........・ ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ 513

。 測

LIST OF ILLUSTRAT10NS Fonowing Page 36:

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A selection of NIIorton publication covers vocal shect inusic edition issued at about Wolvenne Blues,1923,Melrose.I)iano― the tirne of Morton's arrival in Chicago. Jelly Roll BIues,1915,Rossiter.I)iano shect― inusic cdition. 1■usic edition. King Porter Stomp,1925,Melrosc.Piano sheet‐ Blues and Stomps,1927(?),MelrOsc.Folio collecting scvcral pieces carlicr pub― lished individuaHy. Fonowing Page 260: Morton wearing his bandleader's clothes at Crystal Bcach,Ontario,August,1927. (PhOtO previously unpublished.) (PhOtO previously unpublished。 ) Morton,tilnc and place unknown。 Can■ onba‖ IBlues,1926,Melroseo Coverofthepianosheet-1■ usic edition。(Library of Congress E645852.) (Library of lnusic edition。 Jungle Blues,1927,Melrosc.Cover ofthe piano sheet‐ Congress E665813.) Grandpa's Spells,1923.Thc Melrosc edition,prepared from this or a similar copy, corrects inisspellings and other irrcgularities but introduces rnistakcs ofits own, including a inistakcn bass linc in[B].MeaSures l and 2 of[AI show MOrtOn's practice,in notating and playing music,of occasionally placing the rnelody as the lowest notes in the right hand.(Library of Congress E570417.) Frog¨I¨ More‐ Rag,1918.The carliest copyright depositin n4ortOn's hand.Itshows the piece very much asヽ 4orton was to record it six years latcr.(Library of Con‐ gress E439269。 ) London Blues,1923.Morton added the ending in pencil,apparently in 1938 when (Library of Congress E569713.) examining these manuscripts with Alan Lomax。 Ha"and Eggs,1928.Morton's manuscript ofBig Fool Ham under a new titlc.The “By Jelly Rollヽlorton"is notin Morton's hand.Alan Lomax's transcription of Morton's commentis at the lower right.(Library of Congrcss E688478。 ) Following Page 292: (PhotO pre¨ Morton,right,and unidentified companion,apparently in California。 viously unpublished.) ヽlorton, right, and unidentified companion, apparcntly in California, 1920. (PhOtO previously unpublished.) Mro Jelly Lord,1923.A voice and piano version ofthe piece with no words provid― ed.This is texturally thinncr than lnost 14orton scores and contains rnorc nota― tional errors.(Library of Congrcss E570415。 )

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弊‖ 購壼 撫鮮‰乳爵

JELLYIIROLL" “ .IMORTON

COMIPOSER

5

THE COMPosER At its simplest,jazz composition is merely the cOnstructiOn Of harmonic patterns that are the bases for ilnprOvisatiOn.At its lnOst cOmplex,itis the con‐ struction of pieces that are specific in details of harmony,instrumentation,tex― ture,melody,and overan forΠ l,and thatin addition prOvide fOr theinclusion of irnprOvisation.

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music。 )

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〕 rlooked).It embodies these,but makes additiOnal demands Of integratiOn and balance of compOnents and of 10ng_ range cOherence. Although a thOrough analytical discussiOn Ofヽ 40rton's music is nOt possible here,someimportant features should be mentioned.(Basic analytical commen‐ tary on most Of the pieces will be found in the individual essays introducing them。) MortOn had a variety of inelodic styles,ranging frorn the near― traditional blucs style ofノ Vυw O″′ α″s i3′ θ ″as tO the elegant,long―lined melodic style ofthe third strain of ttθ Pcαris. 1「 he differences between these styles illustrate the diversity of in■ uence and cOnception in MOrton's style. In rnuch Ofヽ4orton's wOrk,contrast of rnelodic styles within a piece is used.

For httanc%ぬ e roma面 c mdOdy of机 撫淵_m。 ]∬議躙 Q驚 絲総Jぬ 柵器常::席 1::1『 LivTlhedow∝ 宙 ng mdOdy e ttd sttbnた ittLi憲

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ln his melodies, MOrton Often used a system of interior repetitions Of melodic Or rhythnlic ideas, sometirnes placing them at irregular intervals。 ■This term and al others lnarked、 vith asterisks are defincd in the(31ossary,pagc 507.

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tion.Only a few otherjazz musicians have wOrked On this plane.The Obvious exallnple,and nearesttO Ⅳ10rtOn in time,isthe great Duke EllingtOn。 (One Ofthe many sad facts aboutヽ 4orton'slifeisthat he and EllingtOn found nothing tO ad¨ nlire about each other,probably for reasons that have little to dO directly with

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Repetition of rnotivic lnaterialis obvious throughout such a lnelody as that of the last strain ofFrog‐ 二■石ο″ θRαg.But the interior repetitions of the first strain of倫 ″sas Cliry S′ ο″ηら whose sixteen lneasures contain the same figure in the third,「lfth,seventh,and eleventh ineasures,are less obvious because they are less pervasiveo Morton used a sillnilar systenl among,as well as within,melodies, a s i n 3 な F O ο′勇陶″ ( W h i C h i s d i s c u s s e d i n d e t a i l i n i t s i n t r o d u c t o r y e s s a y ) . H c tended the system to the use of whole phrases as well,asin ″ごLο ο″I〕 ルasp each of whose choruses*ends with the sarne phrasc。 There is hardly a MOrton instrumental piece which dOes not cOntaln con―

rton's cOnllnent 3:計 lξ ∫ :霜 :=:msll:￨』 illli:IIIIIIttnoM°

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n ofsrrar/On〆 ff“″c力),intrOducing bOth composed and ilnprovised breaks,and,Inostiinportant structurally,varying the

柵洵辮簿 撚繊鶴端島嚇 懸脚i■ linear bass line.This is contrasted wlth a

温 ぶ 罐 霊 tttittl躙 器 鸞 芸 掛 1選 綴 種 轟 iance,the last strain Ofsrrar/ardff″ ″c力. 讐 It introduces variety in another way.)

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h:111∫ T龍 1』 ll:器 謂 1普 選:1:::::i ii[lI[寓riIII:‖ ion is that NIIortOn varied these elements lil11鑑 independently of each other and at different rates.It is impOrtant tO recOgnize these varieties of cOmpOsitional procedure in the light Ofthe apparent sameness of formal schemes in his rnusic.

vdll:Ⅷ ぷ 脱 喜 留 譜 ti警 1胤 王r鷺 1譴c貯 鷺 ¨ : L ご 諄 よ 虫: composed variatiOns on One strain―including the blucs*pieces as a subgroup. This is only an apparent lack of variety:within these pOssibilitics,NIIOrtOn's pieces have very different shapes beclull:::littII,1;1:聡 among the strains and the differences i 」』甘1::11111li 胸 ″s a s C l i r yο刀 sり ′, 7 カθル α薦 7 カθ C r a ソ S″ ′ηz a n d B なf b 済 ら 云 g Porrer ο 助 ″7 to see the diversity Of Overall shapes "possible within a realization Of the ″ threc― strain scheme,the scheme MortOtt used most Often。(TWO points cOncern‐ ing fOrrn arise here.First,One should not be surprised that pieces in the same ``forln''are differento Such silnilar pieces inmusic the art‐ tradition are different too,and fOrthe same rcasOn:itisthe cOntent and order,the balance and propor_ tion Of the parts― ―elements that the compOser controls― ―which give piecも

∝ e tte血 叫鈍 rdn,∝ ∝ zメ ∝ も ,ル 掘盤雷ll舞 鍬晋 'ery successful ones,、vhich dO not ha、 c 1認‰盤郡!tぬ convincing overall shapes.The threc―

strain scheme MOrton used so often is neither a barrier tO nor a guarantee of success.) The strains Of twO― strain pieces often have relative structural signi「 lcance like that of the verse■ and chOrus*of rnany popular‐ music pieces:that is,one strain is distinctly less ilnpOrtant than the other;often itis played Only once in a

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posed variatiOns and whOse second strains,according tO MOrtOn's recordings Of thenl,are designed fOr ilnprOvisation.In these pieces each strain is distincti、 e and important。

胤 h飢踏柵 譜饉r撫 輩l徘驚 Thge鋭 出織 Morton referred toFⅥ ″Or:cαsI〕 θ ′ ″as as“ o neofthefirstbluesasaplayable composition。 “ "His concept ofturning jn77 1nuSic's blues fron1 0nly a standard twelve-1■ easure pattern for a player's improvisation intO a composition with ordered parts and content is the idea behind this work,Jellジ Rο〃B′ as and Lο″do″ Bra∝ . These pieces are siinilarly constructed, cach with “ composed variations and interior repetitions,and each using the twelve‐ Incasure blues as its only chorus structure.The rernalning two blues picces,Deadハ イタ 」 B′as and O n ″ ο″b a r J B ル b a r e n o t a s w e l l d e v e l o p e d a s c o m p o s i t i“ o n s“ (at least in their published forms).Perhapsthisis because 2αグЛ′レ″βルas originated as a song, “ alrnost a novelty piece,and because ″ Cα ″ο″bα〃IP′ ″asis a collaborative compo‐ sition.But both pieces made fine vehicles for band perfOrmances on recordings because of Morton's expansion and ordering of their inaterials. (ThiSInight bethe placeto mention Morton's notational skill.One occasion‐ ally reads or hears that n4orton could not read or notate rnusic.That this is not soisshownbyaniternascarlyashis 1918copyrightdepositmanuscriptofFrag‐ J‐ ハイb″θRαgo lt is cornplete and accurate even with the rough‐ and¨ready

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approach to note‐ spelling typical of FnuCh early and some later jazz notation. Morton's later inanuscripts show a greater ease with notation and a greater sophistication in its usc,probably becausc he had bythen written so many piano scores,lead sheets,and jazz‐ band arrangements。 )

ailns ofilnprovisationo lt is clear that the varied always‐ repetitiOn of whole sec‐ tions and smaller segments is a rnaJor organizational principle in Morton's music.This is the reason for his repeated use of only a few compositional schemes thatlend themselves to this compositionallnethod and to his perforrn‐ ing style. In building performances by improvisation based on me10dic variation, NIIorton adhered tO ideas which seemed old‐ fashioned or incomprehensible to New York lnusiciansin the late 1920s and early 1930s.They had developed their own different but equally valid ideas about the nature and role ofilnprovisation injazz.The dominant principle wasthen,andis now,thatimprovisation wasto be based almost entirely on harmony,that a piece's harmonic pattern was all that an ilnprovising player referred to.Thisis a naturalstep in stylesincreasingly dependent upon popular inusic for repertoire;some of it is inelodically undis― tinguished,but all ofit has workable harmonic progressions。 (The new style also placed improvisation differently within a performance,tending to reserve it to only certaln parts within a performance,and often placing it very effectively so as to contrast with or to be accompanied by,obviously arranged,powerful section‐ writing。 )

﹄０∽Ｏ α Ｅ ０ ０

Since so much of the foregoing has to do with compOsition… …what is predeterlnined in a piece― ―the role ofilnprovisation in Morton's rnusic should be consldered. Morton felt that iinprovisation,for the rnost part,shOuld take the fornl of varying the melody,which implies that the melody must be strong enough to warrant such treatment.In his statement, ``R4y theory is to never discard the melody,"Morton has summed up the attitude ofthe carlier New Orleansjazz musician.And he has also expressed his concern as composer for the piece:he did not want the rnelody and larger shape of a piece to be lostto the inllnediate

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NIIorton could and did improvise in the rnodern way whcn it was necessary. Iis compositions with inultiple strains But his ideal was still Fne10dic variation.I・ and his perfornling style pr6vided the variety that rnade this effective:rnelodic …in Morton's statements were perhaps never unadorned,and improvisation… pervasive.Varicty came through the diversity of ―was restricted version of it一 materialin the strains and the textural contrasts which were a composed part of the piece. NIIorton hirnself was capable of improvising remarkable melodic r― variationo Some of his finest,most exciting,recordings,for instance Frog‐ ■石0″ Rαg and Ka″ sas Ci`ッS′ο″η ',ShOW how this could be。 by iinpli‐ The opportunity for irnprovisation,in facteffective the necessity for it,and cation even indications for theた グofilnprovisation to take place,is composed '″ into a rИ ortOn piece.

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Finally,卜√orton's influence as a composer should be considered.His pieces were fairly widely recorded and must have been even more widely played in publico This meant something different fronl the playing of, for example, George Gershwin's musico Morethan lnost compOsers ofpopular music,Gersh― win wrote music with specific,repeatable details(in addition to nlelody and har― mOny),particularly the counterlines which emerge from(or,prObably more interesting harmonyo Even so,the specificity of accurately,generate)hiS always― ″θο″θ7bИ 化″c力0ソ(7勲 、played almost always a piece such as Gershwin's Sο with the descending hnes which clnerge from the harnlony,or hisてα L′ ,with its ascending lines,is not as great as that of,for instancc,Ⅳ lorton's Ki72g Par′θ″ S′ο″′. ″g PO″′ θr S′ 0″ ρ irnposes upon the The difference is that such a piece as J(′ player a rnore particular way ofthinking about repetition and phrase structure. This,in a general way,is how NIIorton'sinfluencecnters themainstreallnofittz: choosing a Morton picce to perform means,automatically,choosing a fornlal scheme,a rather narrow set of possibilities for an arrangement,and a sct of ideasin the assumptions about repetition,phrasing,and key relationships.Thヮ piece itself and the discipline of confornling to the piece's requirements cannot uencing histhinking help entering into a sensitive player's view of music and in■ about what is lnusically possible。 Morton's in■ uence spread in another less direct way,too,by way ofjazz's tradition of rnaking new pieces frorn old oneso Morton hirnself spoke ofttr′ ″g Pοrrer s′ ο″ 's having become the basis for other pieces,which is literally truc. But he nced not have stopped there,for echoes ofother ofhis pieces also appear in iaZZ'S repertoire,even in recent years.

lorton's fine sensc of detail,order,and balance come In a1l ofthese picces,Ⅳ througho ln the best pieces we see why Morton can truly be considered a jazz CO″ OSer,and why heis onc ofso few who can.

PIANIST

１■

１■

THE PIANIST

一 増 目‘一 Ｌ

In developing his own style,Morton altered the ragtime stylistic usages he had inherited,and absorbed other in■ uenceso His departure from the ragtilne style is more radicalthan the surface of his playing might suggest.He certainly made a more decis市 e break with ragtime than many of his eastern contem― poraries:his insistence on a strongly lnelodic style che rne10dy strongly played, very often in octaves),near_total abandonment of eighth‐note figuration,and his rnore elaborate and irregular bass lines show this.In this regard,Morton's playlng is closer conceptuallyto that ofEarl Hines,by rnaking the pianist's Hght hand a strongly accented single voice,at tilnes almost like that of a horn。 Morton was an excellent pianist with a smooth,regular techniquc,a fineness oftouch that was not colnmon among pianists ofthe 1920s,with a strength and a rhythmic grace that was not,and still is not,common. Hedidnothavethesarnekindofbrilliantsurfacetechniquethatcontempor― aries such as Jarnes Po Johnson had,but his music,unlike theirs,did not have a built‐ in requirernent for it.Itis easy to sec how his style,using a narrower span ofthe keyboard,a usually less brilliant― sounding right― hand style,and a compli― cated left― hand style,could seem less accomplished,even more primitive,to the stride pianists.Itis equally easy to see how stride piano,with its strong echoes of ragtilne,would seem retrogressive to Morton who had gone so farin stripping his playing ofragtime's characteristic Hght― hand figuration。(This might also ex― plaln why,in 1938,Morton singled out Bob Zurke as being``on the righttrack"

77pianO:Zurke played an involved,melodic,emphatic non‐ forjЯ ragtime style, one conceptually like Morton's but different in detail。 )Thus MOrton had a simpler,more modern,linear,and distinctly jazz‐ oriented right‐ hand style palred with an elaborate melodic bass style which,to other musicians,was rerniniscent of ragtilne.By contrast,stride had a strongly ragtilne‐ influenced right― hand style dominated by figuration and a very clear,simpler,and more modern left‐ hand style。 In his left hand,Morton inost often used the stridelike technique that he shared with ragtime and with the styles ofmany otherjazz pianists wellinto the 1940so Morton's version of this technique involves a great varietyand of first― third‐ beat sonorities― ―single notes,rlfths,sixths,sevenths,octaves,tenths,and ―a frequent breaking out of a sirnple statement of the pulse into bass triads― melodic rlgures,and a confining ofthe entire hand left‐ activity within arange of about two octaVes and a half below,and a fifth above,Iniddle C。

hand techniquc One effective way in which Morton and others used thisleft¨ was siinply to break off froln it,cither not replacing it,in which case a break results, or using some other device, perhaps an active bass line in octaves. Morton used thislatter device particularly effectivelyto enliven what nlight have hand texture,or to reinforce ilnportant rnelodic features, been too regular a left― or to mark phrase junctures.

12

﹁︼ ”●″ 一

When using the stridelike hand left― technique,Morton either could inake the bass line formed by the lower notes of the first and third beats a traditi one emphasizing,mostcommonly,the root and ifth ofthe chord(asin ι G“ “ atrue 11,mm。 lto 5),or he COuld use thelower registerto shape ′ 規 IAl‐ ραむ5レθ linear part in counterpoint with the melody(as in cra″ 4フαむ』 シelL[Al-11, mm.6to 8)。 A variation ofthe stridelike technique is the one used in,for instance,IC-11 hand style(whiCh iS of srrar/0〃肋 C力。Morton usually perforlned this left― rough―sounding “ register placement of relatively snlall inter‐ because ofthe low‐ ValS)in such a way asto emphasize theline formed by thelong notes played on the first and third beats,and played the afterbeats,by contrast,very short and sharply articulated. The left‐ hand variations reflected Morton's belief thatjazz piano must be orchestralin conceptiono Accordingly,the left hand could be purely rhythnlic‐ harmonicin the commonest sort ofstridelike usc(mostlike aband'srhythm se tiOn),COuld play figures which recall New Orleans―style trombone or bass playing,or could become the lowest voice in a chordal seglnent。 (A left¨ hand usage fairly common in jazz piano but perhaps unfamiliar t some readers should be rnentioned here because it produces rnuSic which,when exanlined out of context,can look or sound as ifit contained lnistakeso Some‐ tilnes a iazZ pianist doubles the bass line with perfect fifths above lor,When octaves are played,perfect fifths above the lower pitchesl irreSpective of har_ mony.The intent,and the effectin a complete texture,is to rnake the doubled― bass line weightier。 ) The variety ofwaysin which Morton used his right hand was also in keeping with hisidea oforchestralstyle pianoo Thisis true not onlybecause ofthe partic―

ular devices he used(moSt OfWhich are used by otherjazz pianists because of the orderly way in which he used them to derlne,by their textural contrasts,choruses or parts of choruseso Sometirnes he used his right hand to play sharply articulated chords,often wldely spaced and dissonant,but overall his right― hand style was very linear;that is,it almost always projected singa melodic lines.Sometirnes,asin parts ofalinost all ofthe``Spanishtinge"pieces, the rnelody becomes so independentthatit appearsto stine対 a rhythlnic fralne‐ w o r k d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h a t o f t h e b a s s o A t o t h e r t i m e s ,1a1s i0nf PIeCrb/‐ ecrRcg, lguration,and speed create a texture the melodic line's repetitions,ornarnental「 that appro対 mated that of eastern stHde piano'sragtime post― style. Morton played his pHncipal melodic line eitherin single notes(a10ne or wlth harl■ ony pitches above or below)orin Octaves(With Or without harinony pitch‐ ThC harmony notes accompanying the melody have two functions es between)。 more important than just increasing the Hght hand's density or supplylng har‐ mOny(WhiCh in any case is explicitly stated by the left hand)。 The rlrst is rhythnlic:the rnelody pitches which have the accompanllnent of thesc harmony pitches are reinforced and accented,and the rhythm ofthis ac‐ centuation provides the nlaln element of syncopation and rhythnlic counter― point to the left hand's relentlessly stated lneter。 The second function ofright― hand han■ony pitchesisthat ofcontroningthe smallest phrasing spanso Accompanied melody pitches initiate short spans of w melody,that is,slurred phrases oftwo to iVe noteso Mcasure 6 of[a-21 ofAた

Orlcαns」B′ contalns a clear exarnple of this:the effect of the 's D♭being slurred to “ C“is created by the's(〕 D♭ accOmpanilnento When Morton wishes to remove this effect,which depends upon thelistener's hearing the accompanying note as ifit were held through the phrase,he repeats the accompanying notes, creating a less legato,rnore emphatic effect,asin the corresponding place in the chorus before,Ia-11. (Readers should be aware that,when not playing the melody in octaves, Morton often placed his principal me10dic line in the 10wer notes of his right hand,playingthemmorestronglythanthenOtesabOveolnstancesofthisarenot identirled in the edition but they are usually Obvious because the rnain inelody is more active than the other lines and because its direction is sO clear.For in― stance,in IB-11 0fJellソ Rο〃βル the melodyis found in thelower,more act市 e line in inm。 1,2,and 5。 ) “ Morton did not use much pedal.The overa1l legato quality of his playing, more ob宙 ous in the technically better,later r∝ ordings,was achieved almost en‐ tirely by the way he used his hands,holding down the keys fOr the rnaxirnum tiine possible before releasing thenl and lnoving his fingers tO the new keys.The resulting ampleness Of individual nOtes is responsible for the essential smoothness and unhurried rhythmic quality ofhis playing,cven at fasttempos, and shows MOrton's considerable control. The steady quarter―note clicking in the Library of COngress recordings is Morton's foot On the pedal,a kind oftapping which he apparently did all ofhis life and which he and Others have identirled as his trademark。 (ItiS also present, butless obvious,On some earlier recordings。 )ThiS tapping reveals an ilnportant

The transcriptiOns here give a good survey of MOrtOn's style:there are transcriptions of eleven perfOrmances frOln 1923 and 1924,a pianO s010 chOrus fromabandrecordingof1926,two ofthe 1929 solos,twelveso10sfrOmthe1938 Library ofCOngress seHes,three others from Morton's Washington period,and three ofthe 1939 General so10s。 The early performances were well planned and well played,and already showmostoftherangeofMOrton's cOmpOsition and style which rnarked hirn as a unique pianist,In these,he plays his pieces rather fornlally fOr the rnost part, with little extended impro宙 sation。(The COntemporaneous piano r01lsshowthat when Morton was not confined by the usualrecording― tilne linlit,he could and did impro宙 se beautifully。 )COnf011lling tO the style Of the period,MOrton played swungホ eighth notes with relatively long Off_the‐ beat noteso As his 1934 recordings with Wingy Manone show,he continued to play this rhythmic style after others had turned to amore pronounced10ng― shOrt divisiOn ofthe quarter‐

note pulse.KThisiS revealed onlyin Morton's solo chOrus:in his ensemble play‐ ing and accompaniments forthe Other solos he followsthe rhythmic style ofthe other players,showing that he knew and could play this newer style.He was responsible enough as an ensemble player not tO try tO impose his ideas on the other inusicians。 )

●”一 “∽¨ Ｌ

aspect Of MOrton's conceptiOn of j,77 meter:he thought in fOur beats per measure,in four‐ fourtilneo Thusitis wrong,despite thetwO― beat iavor ofsome ofhis band records,particularly those of 1928 and 1929,to play MortOn's music with toO strongly emphasized first and third beats。 The reader宙1l notice from the tempo indicatiOns given that MOrton rushed in rnany performances.In FnOSt Cases this is not easily noticeableo ln others it is, particularly where there is not a steady increase in tempO.Fortunately,MOrton does not scem to have had this trouble too Often。 (「 rhis unsteadiness ObviOusly runs counter to thejazz ideal ofa steady tempo,but a stOpwatch willshOw that this ideal is seldom achieved:Other jn77 pianO so10ists― Johnson,Waller, Hines,Tatum――also rushed as much as Morton。 )

13

14

The 1929 Victor solos are not as wen played as his other recordings,nor are his band recordings rnade later in the same week.The records sound as if they dぶ 柵 :ヽ 鰭 冊 1:FttW鴇 ЧI脚 棚 電 ぎ誡 脚 (SOmetimestoo much),ruShes quite abit,and loses his place oncein each take o searrre f誦″cヵ,even lapsing in one ofthem into Frarces atthe reappearance of both recorded at this time,are represented in the rlrst “ strain.FreatisA and P"、 this volume by transcriptions of their superior Library of Congress recordings。 The Library of Congress recordings are an extraordinary addition to the body of Morton recordings,and forthatrnatter to thebodyofrecordedin77in generalo Many of their faults,as well as their great beauties,stenl from the fact that they were not well planned,coIImerciany made recordingso Apparently Morton did not plan inany ofthese performances,as evidence of occasionalin‐ decision seems to show,and he was apparently notin good health。 (Whatever the rnaking ofthese recordings meantto hiln,there was no reason for Morton to b e l i e v e t h a t t h e y w o u l d e v e r b e c o m m e r c i a l l )y a v a i l a b l e 。 On the other hand,these recordings captured Morton playing rnore extend― ed,relaxed performances and show hiin to be an indefatigably inventive ilnpro―

visor.On these recordings,notlimitedtojust overthreeininutesa

・ 慨 :躙却:露 暴 ∬L剛 盤 器躙 誡器 問 器 ;鯛需 d筋 留 勧,狙 助られ″物々 Rο 〃 ル '総 ″ gた t βルesp SW“ 霧 淵 朧 Fictra Fayゝ噂 、J“

piano solo versions of pieces previously known only as band pieces;and the per― ﹁ 一“● ︼∽︹

1習 』 霞 譜 留 ま ど嵐 t鑓 露 乱h t t i 翼 ‰ 乳 ;ぷ 靴 観 惚 認 (SOme Ofthis repertoire might scem a curious choiceo Morton in notated form。 離 島 よ: 1 鷺 f F l o l l T 肌 吊 据澱 響 L 器 審 L 鑑 1 毬 箇 l r 盟淵 briefly NIIorton's conllnents on the pieces or onthenotation,which in most cases was not by Mortono Many of these transcribed comments are dated June 6, 1938.Apparently Morton decided to play some ofthe pieces after reviewlng the music,or simply when Lomax asked him to play themo Two performances, ′ θα グ1をadおo″,appear from their details to have those of SИじ′fセrer and Srα “ deposits themselves. The Library's reading been played“fronl the copyright room where Morton and Lomax exalnined the lnusic is only a short distance f r o m t h e b u i l d i n g ' s C o o l i d g e A u d i t o r i u m w h e r e t h)e y r e c o r d e d 。 The Library of Congress recordingsshow that by 1938 Morton had adopted note differ¨ the rhythmic style,with more pronounced long‐short swung eighth― entiation,that he had been resisting in 1934. C)ther changes on these recordings also indicate that Morton was setting a style which he was apparently not to change again.These changes were not great:they merely amplified or continued the evolution of certain features already part ofhis style and heard on earlier recordings.On his 1929 recordings hand octaves(on the first and third beats of lneasures) Morton uses fewer left― than hc had used on earher recordings,and the Library of Congress ordings r∝ continue this trend,showing inore single notes and tenthsinstead.This is also a

reflectionoftrendsinjazzpianoingeneral,which had been evolving away from hand octaves since the carlier 1920s and,for that Fnatter,even the use of left― hand style。 away from the stridelike left― hand style also took On an added dilnensiono His earlier Morton's right‐ dolninated style was not abandoned,but now he often contrasted it with octave―

p“ Of ttO mdOdc .Ⅲ s瀧hn“ ‐ nedy ttpro対 "n∝ mated the ensemble texture he saw as i 島 :S° 守陽出

鰐1麟 翻麟聯蠍鷺

海

″暉ら are well‐ planned perf01.1lances of

ぽ∬ 鶉 辮 獣 熙 冨 縄 I湾 騰 掘 1 期 )ニ ュ ■ ■ a10utlines l鷺 Of his cOmpOsitiOns,but they are rhythmically looser,closertotliffIユ show a lighter rlligree of embellishmenl li:::W:11器 :;χttilildthey

15

走 ホ螺脚蜃 陽 1鶴 i 豫聾轟

mance Of his own pieces.But when hel New York,Morton set standards fOr a cornplexity in solo piano which up tO then had been represented only in New York,and then in a style much less Oriented toward improvisation than his was。 The occaslonal clailln that Morton was onlyamarginally cOmpetent pianistis completely refuted by the recordings:he was a remarkably strong pianist as m a n y o f h i s r e c O r d i n g″ s S( a陥s C i r y S r a, ″ fOr instance)shOw.He was also an d ∝ a 正 画 ■, お 山e n h t t y o f c o n g t t s m 盟 others,demonstrateso MOreover,there i :澪ぶ 紹 留 招 [器 断 viltuOsity in his ability to establish and inaintain a complete,active texture with striking independence OfcOmponents― ―his band ideal一 in which he has never been surpassed. ∽¨口”一 ︺ α

LIFE

19

THE L」

｀ L

I・ Iis recorded recollections of his early life,as well as statements about his grandmother and his aunt and uncle wereinlarge relatives,suggestthat his great― measure responsible for raising hiln.His father was apparently absent from about 1902,and his rnother died when he was about fifteen years old。 Morton also reminisced,in his Library of Congress interview with Alan Lomax,about a childhood in which rnusic played alarge part.He tells ofexperi‐ ences as a participantin New Orleans'legendary parades,asamemberoftheau‐ dience atthe French Opera,and as a performer― ―guitarist,singer,trombonist, drunllner,and sporting―house pianist.Itis obvious that at an early age Morton was above all an attentive and impressionable listener.Hc appreciated and ab‐ sorbed the beauties of all kinds of lnusic,French and ltalian opera― ―he later recalled specifically Verdi's f7 Troソ α′ ο″ and Gounod'sB、 ぉ′ and other art 一 music,the unsophisticated blues,the parade music,the gambling songs,the quadrilles and other dance rnusic,the piano styles,the``Spanish"music,and

the instrumental ragtime and jazzo ln later years,when recalling for Lomax these sources ofhis own style,he could recreate thenl,treating them with respect and understanding even while identifying what he felt to be their respective weaknesses. When Morton was aboutseventeen years old,his great‐ grandmother,want― ing to removehis potentiallybad influence on histwo sisters,drove hiln fromthe

どコ

In spite of his lengthy recorded reminiscences,Jelly Roll Morton did not leave rnuch precise biography.Only recently has Lawrence Gushee discovered, through imaginative research,the rnost basic facts of Morton's life,that he was born Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe,October 20,1890. Although Morton later explained that hc had changed his nalne to avoid be¨ ing called``Frenchy,''the name Morton did not come out ofthe blue.Again from Gushee's research,we know that Morton's mother,Louise Monette,mar― ried Willialn Mouton,later known as Morton,when Ferdinand wasthree years old. Morton was a New Orleans Creole――ofnlixed black and European ancestry ――a inember of a group whose pride,pretensions,and prejudices,which he in… herited,could be a source of strength.But these attitudes also caused hurt and isolation,asthey did to Morton.During his childhood he wasintroduced to the still flourishing practice ofvoodoo by his godmother.Although he wasraised a Roman Catholic,14orton early acquired a fear of voodoo which he apparently never lost.

house pianisto Hc thus began house after learning that he worked as a sporting― traveling at an early age,evidently never returning to New Orleans after about 1907. Hc earned aliving in a variety ofways:in addition to being a solo pianist and entertalner,he became a band leader,produced night club revues,Inanaged

20

f寵 龍 織認蹴 l府 葛: 織 猟[ 群 糧鮮軍ξギ

︻一 ﹁ ｏ

practice to settle somewhere such as M( for a short while and then to rnove on.For about five ycars,untilay,1923,his l√ headquarters was in Los Angeles where he was involved in a variety of enter‐ prises,including band…leadingo This was apparently a very prosperous period for hiln during which he was in partnership with and lived with Anita Johnson Gonzales,whom he sometimes referred to as his Wife(thOugh it has not been dence suggeststhey were not)。 established that they were legally married,and e宙 she rlgures in the titles of two of his pieces and was the author of the lyrics of Dθαグ磁 ″Bル ●. In 1923,Morton returned to Chicago(fOr probably his third stay)withOut Anita and began his recording career and his association with the Melrose Иゐルerれθβルの 。 Brothers Music Company(sec the introductory essay for band ver¨ Walter and Lester Melrose published solo piano and dance― or jazz¨ sions of Morton's pieces,issuing thern after Morton had recorded them.Un‐ doubtedly the brothers helped in securing the recording contracts for OKeh, Gennett, Pararnount, and still‐snlaller labels. In September, 1926, Morton began to record for Victor.His 1926 and 1927 Victor records apparently sold very well:Victor bined MOrton's Red Hot Peppers as their best‐selling``hot" bando Melrose continued to issue single―copy and folio editions of his piano usic editions of the vocal pieces,and orchestrations based on the music,shect‐1■ records.In 1929 thc Melrose brothersissued theirlast orchestration ofa Morton 品 ∬ 器 漁 鵠 脚 撻」 鶴 撫 twenty‐three ofthesc arrangements ofI齢 pieces which Morton had recorded but did not compose.

t鮒

鱗

Early in 1928,at the peak of hiS success,MOrton moved to New York.Hc had become increasingly aware of the business,as Well as the performance,

噸 榊 撮椰鮮 ! 轟慕 轟 ∬ i絆 w h i l e t t e w t t HW鴫 ∝ 郎 a ttow J■ Morton's recordings after his arri

i躙淵 漁 脚Ⅷ 登 鱗∬ 難騨捕 器 脚 脚 : 鶴 郡富&:l』 器I∬ 1席蹂壼 縦憮 構 胸薔欝 榊浮 Ⅷ 瀾 : 電 :認 よ 離粘棚鏃I::出 計 里 ∫ 熱協TI鶏 露11:詰 T濾 ore like that of the contemp( music l■

IЖ

w Y o r k t t p t t m l y a c h Ⅳd

Bennic MOten band of]Kansas city,rather than that of such innovative or mainstrealn New York groups as Duke EllingtOn's,Fletcher HendersOn's,Luis

R厖 釧、∝ch」 e bhttm、 ぬ eg騨 Morton had a highly developed sen 盤i問盤淵』 器 ‰ hs music meant and hOw it wasto wOrk.At that tilne,his rnusicalideas were better

realized by snlall groups,and in late 1929 when he returned to recording with groups Ofseven or eight piecesthat were not so dependent upOn the section con‐ cept tte results were genertty moresttx嘗 nearer the stylistic mainstream than hi 五翌 ∬ 蝋 品 よ 概 鋼よ less,snlaller,freer groups ran counter tO the prevailing trends,and his VictOr

棚鑑 鵬

l盤 塾 rl絆

21

∞d鴫Sh hd 肥謂淵 出 FhК

棚 黎聾 糊撼蠅鸞鸞I鷲 職

)man,or accompanisto MOrtOn alsO had business troubles unrelated to inusic,and in addition spent a substantial amount of rnoney going to a v00d00 practitioner trylng to remove a v00d00 curse. Most Of the stories Of 14orton's abrasive personality and inOnumental self‐

欄評 駐 撫聾 鵜 撚 響淵憾押鮮轟

br hiln than thOse wh0 0nly knew hiln s u p e r r l c i a l l y i n N e w) Y o r k 。 Morton's days as a band leader on records were temporarily over.Between hislastVictorsessionin 1930andtheLibraryOfcOngressrecordingsin 1938,he

撚 k話∬I器 鋼 lギ 蠅蝕 鑑1・ 鵡 攣lttl撫ヽ常 wh江 hOm面 αThoughtte嚇 刺 “ :vlir脱 雰 税1膜1盤w slll薔じI:::hI勇‖IFttti:『 11:::鶏 n,the l〕 orsey brothers,the Casalし

Oma Orchestra,Bennie MOten,BOb Crosby,Harry James,(〕 len Miller,Bennie Goodman,and a few others.But nomusic ne■ ofhis was published until 1938。

蟹 ど 戯1鸞 #鶴醤櫛 事 熙犠i盤 栞:

踊ふ:闘 χ 胤鳳綿:躙 ‖ 席混I:LHI常 鳳盤nttl点

incident aggravated his health problems,which sOmetilnes incapacitated hiln

難 11掛 熊運撃 脳 柵 欄 柵 ‖蓄

be ofpractical help by publishing some of his lnusic. In December, 1938,partly at Mabel's urging,he left the night club,even though he was still optimistic about its success,and returned with her to New Yorko Hc hOped to revive his career and had reason fOr hOpe:starting with his

罐 誓 I 篤縦ざ`訛器熙 濾 害[職駕脚錢絆 Pttl∬'

と コ

2

He IIlade a feW Of hiS fmest S01o recor

饉柵 撤 鼎 J漁

粗踏 酬 鷺IF盤:譜 to“ Wお Cept『 狙d he brCed succesゝ

誌

.vembσ Chariti∝ ,1940,drMnghsunI翼 讐観簿ユ審 ‰器 淵 酬獄棚 轟織

1酎 )hold voodOo evidently had on MOrton. his efforts to rid hiinself OfitS inttuence

M

諜 朧 辮 撚 鐵 撚 撒 #轟 義 d so to0 1ate。

ho survived hiino When he died,not yet

聰 硼 警 辮 genre,is b∝onling known。

CHRONOLOGY OF COM[POSITIONS

25

CHRONOLOGY OF COMPOSITIONS

[ 1 9 0 5 : J e lRlο ソ″B r y e s c O m p o s e d i n t h i s y c a r , a c c o r d i n g t o R o y C a r e w a n d M O r t o n ' s letter to Ripley.James P.Johnson recaned having heard MOrtOn playitin New York in 1911.l [1906: King Parrar S′ο″′cOmpOsed,according to Carew.] _ M a ″ R αg c o m p o s e d , a c c o r d i n g t o C a r e w . ] [ 1 9 0 8 : F r a gr‐ ICa。1910‐1911:

rhe craソθcomposed(?).SCe introductory essay for the piece.]

[1911 0r earlicr:

Berr Filrigtts compOsed.See introductory essay.〕

ッ erinθ B′ω cOmpOsed in Detroit,according tO MOrton。 ICa.1915-1916: %′ 1 “ September 15,1915: Jellッ entry for 1905.)

Rο″Br“ω copyrighted by Will Rossiter,Chicago。 (Sec

May 15,1918: F「 og― r_MO″ Rαg copyrighted by Ferd MOrton,Los Angeles.(Sce entry for 1908。 )

[1919: Kottos Ciν Srο ″′and 7助θPaarrs cOmpOsed,according to MOrton.〕

∞ｏ 一 ｏ Ｅｏ ﹄〓 ０

セッ O r r e a ″ sBル composcd in this ycar,according to MOrton's recorded [1902: ′ conversation with “ Lomax. But accOrding to MOrton's letter to Ripley and Dοw″bect the ycar of compOsition was 1905.]

、

A chronology of the actual composition of the pieces in this volume is im¨ possible to establish with certainty.Although dates of first recordings and cOpy― rights for the pieces are casy to establish through current discOgraphical reference works and copyright records,less reliable data, such as MortOn's statements and thosc of others,and speculations based upon known coniunc_ tions oftilne and place,can be used only with cautiOn to establish chronology。 The chronology for the pieces in the volume,listed below,is as accurate as the data will a1low. Material within brackets comes from recollections of musicians,hearsay,and historical reconstruction and cannot be substantiated. Material not in brackets lists the rlrst documented evidence,a copyright or recording,ofthe c対 stence of a composition,but rnany ofthem had probably been composed years earlier.Additional historicalinforlnation for many ofthe pieces lnay be found in the introductory essay to the rnusic.

m a l ″ 沼I : 1:留 Fめ Ъぶ挽。 樅 僣 li:ユ 器 富晩i 蹴滞l t ¥ 響 ′月ワ″ first recorded,by Jelly Ron MortOn and his Orchestra. June,1923: Brig Foο 'y This was Morton's first known recording sesslon. mけ口 '轟:b涼 .灘 鷲 鵬驚 露=窯よ 儡糠諾:肌:り総ざ 26

the New Orleans Rhythm Kings with MOrton atthe piano.

θ な 偽勧沼肌」 Jdy掟 シ ″α ,陽 Gra“ 攪淵硼 驚 訛ま 郷i篇

Pcarrs(sec entry for 1919)firSt rec recorded,by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings with MOrton at the piano.

eth江 estsぬ me鉗 apianoThdα 五 ・ 鮒t,郎 附篤柵群 iL協 ““til■ “ alifornia days with Anita Gonzalez.

0“sc Rag in 1939), ″ッ″ ο″ S′ο″′,PttS∝ ′Rag(retitled Spο″れg月 「

June 9,1924: S力

″c力rlrst recorded,as plano solos. 〆17“ 7o溜 Cα′Bracsp and srrarfo■

tratitt .by MdrO ghed,m h∝ anOК Se,mb鴇 . S′ ο Bο′ ′ 0″ Bracた :ガ ュ 亀 龍 ″′ 滋 ξ 」 lλ 疑∬ 襟ar寵 Mり2脇 d溜鮒 濡蹴t聴讐l側 piano.The picce was later(19301

J 」y ■ 助

物

r拗

B亀

f棚 :f淵 競嚇 卜

宙ぬ

“ Melrose.Anita's authorship of th驚 t i F s t t l ￡

: F t t Ъ 躍 習計 1 盤

been composed three to nine ycars earliero Morton's QRS roll also dates ０ 〓﹃ｏ●ｏ︼ｏ”К

this year,perhaps even from before the copyright. August 7,1926: Srarg α σハイadおo″ cOpyrighted by Charles Raymond,Chicago,onc “ oftwo co― compOsers. 0“bα〃Br“as cOpyrighted by Melrose. ““ February 5, 1927: redLθ wぉ B′ esp about ten wecks later to be retitledⅣ■d拗 “ “ β′as9 copyrighted by Melrose. “ r S r O ″, a n d J “g た B ル ω f i r s t r e c o r d e d , b y ο ο″ , 3 ′r r y cα J u n e 4 , 1 9 2 7 : 夏ンθ″αS ′ the Red Hot Peppers,Morton's recording group。“

December 10,1926:

Cα

Jo B′as first recorded,by Johnny Dunn and his band with March 13,1928: 3中 “ later recorded the piece,solo,as Mtt Joo WhiCh Morton atthe piano.Morton may have been the original title.See the introductory essay for this piece.Ac‐ cording to Charles Edward Smith,the piece dates from Morton's New Orlea days,that is, 1907 or earlier,and it was played by King C)liver's Creolc Jazz Band,which would mean thatit had been heard as early as 1923. αSw′″g and Bοοgαbοο rlrstrecorded,bythe Red Hot Peppers。 June ll,1928: Gθ Org′ Later,in his lctter to Ripley,Morton lnaintains,in the course of clailning the g had been first use of the word``swing''applied to jazz,thatοrgた Gθ Sw″ written in 1907. July 8, 1929:

P",Sθ

″cヵ, Fra″躍 , and Jレ?αにヽ力 first recorded, as piano αrrra ff“

p and Frcaた な力probably were composed at aboutthistime,since they solos.Fセ date"pieces.Frarces to‐ both appear to be what lnight be thought Of as``up― α. ′ イa“α″′ strongly resembles the carlierハ

November 13,1929:

Swθ

ar first recorded,by the Red Hot Peppers. θr rセ′

晦 踊 聯 憮 椰 蹴 脇 臨臨

眈 m磁 鑽 雌騨蝉締柵覇 澪.

27

＾ぃ０︼ ０●０﹄〓０

NOmS ON THE MUslc AND EDITORIAL PROCEDURES

31

NOTES ON THE MUSIc AND EDITORIAL PROCEDURES

The forty piecesin this v01ume can l to their sources:(1)editions Of inusi

織

灘 i郡

認 l檄 道縫罵悪

versions Of Morton pieces, Ns′ ッerinθ ヽ 熱 、二ο″dο″Bル (■ ル ″ 0″』 ″sB “

驀鶯鱗籍難 鑑蹄‰ 脩訛

ZO″Jο″β′ ″esp andコ 助θ Paarrs are alm(

thecopyright depOsit versions atthe LibraryOfcOngressin MOrtOn'sOwn hand。

善榊: 塁

暴讐 欅 椰捕

:

λ7蹴 Ⅷ 織∬蹴鰐 僣 喜搬 盤協 躙 鶴 盤 ∞ 智鳳‰服踊 柵 ζ J:∬ 翼 穏Ⅷl:彙 詣盤讚IndbrmJ

撒覇嶽首 鵜 撼搬Gω た s所 md助 ― な れ欧 得 “

∽ｏ﹄●一ｏ９ｏ﹄Ｌ 一 “〓 ０〓 ０国

藻 翼Ⅷ 蓬躙 鰊 鳥 :締 lttli鱗 ざ櫨 期.織 鵡 群織 淵 i庶 themselves,asoppOsedtOtheperfOrmil厭 ::」 も ilJ:lt織 :tfff∫ 駕i,s

″ 0″bα〃B′ esp Which seems to have been published before it was cept for(3α “ “ recorded,theywere probablyissuedto take advantage ofthe factthattherewere Morton Red Hot Peppers recOrdings of the pieces then available.As a group, they were somewhatless successfully notated for piano than the others,not only because of the changed medium and their essentially snlall scale, but also because the arrangers who prepared theln did not have Morton's skin in con_

32

α (MortOn himself showed,with his later versions oftte″ structing variations。 g′ S′ ο″7,and J“″ θB′ as,that pieces rlrst recOrded by eight instruments could ― since faithfultran― make effective piano“solos。 )These versions are rather short― ―and usually scriptions of the band performances for piano are not feasible― BJzes,cach ofthese pieces α 〃 ″ ″ ο ″ わ state only the basic Fnaterial.Except for Cα has only two strains.

国 ０〓 ｏ■ ”︼ ﹁ ﹃ＯｏｏＯ●﹃ｏ∽

4orton'sthan that ofthe ′as already castin a style closer toヽ Ca″″0″bα〃正〕 “ versions,has been edited to rnake it conforrl better to other piano―into― band Morton's piano style and to renect the forrnal recasting of his band version. BiI:ジGοα′S′0″ is reprinted as originally published and is included rnainly for the sake of completeness, since it does not survive so well in its change of medium from band to piano.The edition of И4′グ拗 ″β′as adds only dynanlic “ of the original。 and articulation markings and some corrected nlisspellings ″ o g αb 0 0 m a k e a t t r a c tc市, i f b r i e f , p i a n o s o l o s . I nO r Gg θ G θοr g t t S w 'g″a n d B ο Swing's edition some nlistakesin the melody line are corrected and dynanlic and articulation lnarkings have been added.It closes with a piano reduction of the Iot Peppers recording ofthe piece.Bο οgαbοο's dynanlic last chorus ofthe Red I‐ and articulation Fnarkings are added,some rnisspellings are corrected and some uncharacteristic``modernisms"are removed fronl the harmony.For each of these pieces,examples ofthe editorial changes made are given in notes following the cornplete version of the piece. Ijο だ a n d D e αd ル物″βル a r e e a c h r e p r e s e n t e d p r i n c i p a l l y b y t h e i r ML Jellソ piano―roll performanceso Each was performed “ on a``word roll,''one with the piece'slyrics printed at the side ofthe perforations for those who wished to sing alongo A word roll had to state the lnelody rather explicitly and this imposed

sationo Nevertheless, limits on the performance as a vehicle for jazz impro宙 Morton dealt with these lillnitations quite successfully and,particularly in the Иh J凛ッLO晨ら produCed rolls of considerable interest。 case of』 Piano rolls are uniquely susceptible of alteration before publication:notes can be added or removed silnply by adding or filling in holes in the rnaster roll. Each of these rolls bears aural evidence of having been altered;indeed some of the passages are impossible for a solo player.I have removed obvious stylistic anonlalies and have indicated in the notes following the pieces what the rolls actually play,I have not removed the rnore subtle differences between the style of these rolls and that of the recorded performances. These are differences which probably are the result of editorial change but WhiCh nlight have been introduced by Morton hilnselfo With a little infonnation on the differences,the reader can remove them himself(if he assumes that these changes were added editorially)or he Can play the transcriptionsin orderto produce the music asitis on the rolls. There are two principal differences between the performances on the rolls and Morton's style on his recordings.First,the rolls often seem to include more

harmony nOtes between the notes ofthe octave playing the melody,which gives hand styleo Second,theleft hand often a somewhatless bright,less incisive right‐ register notes― 一usually within a rlfth below lniddle C contains sustained middle¨ ――introduced as the top notes of octaves or tenths. hand While Morton possibly could have introduced the change in his right‐ style,esp∝iallyifhe Fnadethe rolls at a slowtempo,I think itrnore likelythat the

hand texture extra notes were added by an editor.勁e reader can thin the right‐ by remo宙 ng notes,keeping(usually)the thirds or sevenths of chords,and the notes preceded by accidentals。 hand style sometilnes produces inusic that Transcrlption of the rolls'left― cannot actually be played.Long notes一 appearlng as the tops of octaves and are often held fortwo to four beatso With the use tenths on beats one and three一 hand technique,an approxlmation of of the pedal and a rethinking of the left― this effect,a sound conllnon in popular llnusic piano playlng of the 1920s and 1930s,can be produced.I have transcribed the roll'sleft hand aslnuch as possi‐ ble as theroll actuallyplays,even whilequestioningthe authenticity ofthis style。 by cutting short these long The reader can adopt the style or discard silnply it― nOtes―‐ as he sees fit. (BiOgraph BLP 1004Q is an LP recording of a1l of Morton's known rolls。 hand notes arenlissing inthese recordings because Michael Some ofthelongleft― Montgomery,who edited the rolls,Judiciously removed themo Montgomeryls a piano―roll collector and expert as well as a pianist。 ) One further difference between the style of the rolls and that of theord‐ r∝ ings is in the use of repetition oflarge segments of musico Literal repetition of a section is possible through the duplication ofthe appropriate sequence ofholes in the piano roll.Each ofthe perfo.ll.ances transcribed fully here makes some use ofrepetition ofwhole choruses,which accounts forthe use ofrepeat signsin these transcriptions. The renlalning thirty― one compositions are transcribed froln recorded per― formances,beginning with Morton's first solo recording session for Gennett in 1923,and ending with hislastsolo recording session in 1939。 The principle l have

33

The nlain difrlculty in transcribing piano music is that of register: not whether any C's are being played,but which ones are being playedo This arises

from the nature ofthe piano itselt and especially from the large pianos usually found in recording studios,which have rich spectra of overtones.Two rather different problelns emerge.The rlrst problem is thatthe harlnonics generated by ―particularly the twelfth above the lower notes are occasionally strong enough― ―‐ fundalnental‐ to sound as if they had actually been playedo This is especially prevalent on acoustical recordings。 Thes∝ ond problem isthe oppOsite one:notes that actually were played can get lost,particularly when they are very high. Relatively weak upper octave doublings of strongly played lower notes(which describes the way Morton ′ played right― hand octaves)are sOmewhat fainter and“ hid9ν in the upper par‐ (SOme aspects ofMorton's playing suggestthat he con― tials ofthelower pitches。 ceived of the lower pitch of a right― hand octave as the principal one。 ) The notation in this volumeis meant not only to be an accurate recording of what Morton played,but also to be uncomplicated enough to be playable.Thus

∽ｏ﹄●一ｏｏＯ﹄Ｌ ︻ ”〓 ｏ〓 ０国

used for these transcriptions is to notate just what Morton playedo My excep― tions were:(1)miStakes which seem ob宙 ous(for these l have notated what I believe Morton intended and have indicated in a note the inistake he actually played);o)placesin which l cannot be certain what Morton played,for which I have pro宙ded a coniectural s01ution and so identified it;(3)``ripS,"the, two― note ascending scale宙 three‐ se ornaments rising to a principal melody ,or four― pitch,which l have often notated as successions ofgrace notes,in spite of slight register second‐ rhythmic differences;and“ and fourth‐ ) SOme ofthe middle… beat left― hand chords whosc highest pitch is usually audible,but whose precise spacing below and sometimes even pitch content are unclear.Forthese chords I have notated what l know Morton played in other,more audible,instances when he used the same harmonyo Such notations are not identified as conJec‐ tural。

34

notations could sometimes have been lnade still more rhythnlically precise.But every gain in such accuracy calls fOr another rnusical symbol,and the notation would then become progressively rnore complicated and less useful as it begins to bristle with refinementso Nevertheless,the relatively uncomplicated notation in this v01ume,given the assumptions explained below,is quite accurate,and the recordings themselves can answer questions about further refinements. In lnany cases,details ofarticulation or very slnall distinctiOns in rhythm are not re■ ected in the notation.For instance the stridelike left hand,allnOst always notated here with four quarter― note durations,is often played with the second‐ and fourth‐beat chOrds played shOrt and sharply articulated, suggesting a

notation of 」 J. ￨ 」 ,。 ,J

I . I have not used distinctions

magnitude because l wished to avoid complexity and, mOre importantly, because l wished to shOw important silnilarities ratherthan what lthink are fair― ly unilnportant differences.

ｍ ●〓 ｏＬ ”︼﹁ ﹃ｏｏｏＯ●一０∽

The notation ofjЯ77 raiSes the question ofjust what notatiOn can actually represent.It shOuld be bOrne in inind that inodern music notation developed largely as aprescriptive systenl,designed to give perforlners directions on how to realize a piece in perfOrmance.In this v01ume it is being used descriptively,to record performances that have already taken place. Our notational system,with a simple proportionalscheme for rhythm,does notlend itselftO descript市 euseforjazzbecauserhythmsthatthesystemcannOt easily record are commonplace。 (A truly accurate notation of a performance一 as oppOsed to the compositiOn itself一 〇fa Western classical piece with its rubato would be silnilarly difficult tO achieve。 )An explanation,then,ofthe assump‐ tions lnade in lny use of nOtation is necessary. No truly satisfactorily silnple or universany used systenl for the notatiOn of jazz'sswung``eighth"notes exists.Thegeneralprincipleofthisjazzconvention is that two notes played cOnsecutively during a quarter‐ note beat w11l not be equalin duratiOn:the first will be 10nger,producing the characteristic long‐ short rhythmic fee1 0fjazzo whilejazz practice from time to time reestablishes norms ofwhatisacceptableinwhattempoastheproportiOnalrelatiOnshipofthesetwo durations,the proportions are generally governed by the fo1lowing lilnits:the fasterthetempo is,the more nearly equalthe“ eighth"notes are;and the s10wer the tempo is,the more nearly the propOrtion approaches being

「 '3

.In

ｎ ｈ ａ    ｔ ｈ ｃ ｇ

ｅ ♪   ｄ

月 山

ｙ 月 ｌ ｎ

ｅ Ｖ ”    ｅ

Ｓ り ｅ  ﹂

ｅ ｈ

ｇ ・ 獲 Ｃ

ｇ ． ．   ｅ

ｔ ｎ 。   ¨ ｈ ｔ ｈ

Ｃ     ヽ′

ｔ

ｄ   Ｔ

ｂ

ｈ

 

ｓ ・ 鴫 ｆ ａ

ｈ

ｅ σ ｂ

  ¨ ¨

this volume and in much jazz notation elsewhere,ordinary undifferentiated eighth notes are used to represent the swung eighth‐ note rhythmo Almost a11 0f the cighth notesin this volume are to be played swung,as are all syncOpatiOns.

notes are identified by hOrizontal dashes,enclosed within parentheses,above below the noteheads,e.g.{FFFF)Or (JJJJ)・ In the“ Spanish tinge''* pieces or sections of pieces,ノ Vυ″ 0ス』 θαぉ 』〕 ′esp■′″″an′′ B′ esp c,J9θασЛ′″″」 Cン3cρノJセ ″&sン α″お力S“ ち力b″り 物 ″たMお “ ic,and 7■c Craソら the eighth “

notes are`″ swung,but are generally lnOre nearly equalin duratiOno handTheleft― tango Or habttiera rhythm,which is syncopated,is also swung。

= CT.宥 燎T 二慧l l 棚 翼譜1 ■R t 蹴: 書蹴 師 譜 胃

for the sake of simplicity,though Morton often actually plays ttis as ♪き♪7 ・ ♪タツ

In general,the“ Spanish tinge"pieces present the greatest rhythnlic difrlcul… ties.Here again,more discriminant notation could have been used cndeed my working transcriptions were more complicated than the notations in thiS volumo,but l have chosen to represent difrlcult passages as simply as possible。 In the notes following the pieces l have identirled the few segments in which notes of very shghtly different lengths are represented as being equal in time valuc.

35

Ghost notes*in the transcriptions are enclosed within parentheses. At several points in the inusic there are indications for silnultaneous grace notes.These are attacked with,not before,the principal nOtes but are released inllnediately while the principal notes are held. ne only other unconventional notation that l have used is the adding of a stem to the notehead of a note which,as indicated by the stern,is actuany held slightly beyond its duration as represented by the conventional part of the notationo Thus such a segコ nentas

tt representsfoureighthl■

otes withthe

”〓 ｏ〓 ０国 ∽ｏ﹄”一０りｏ﹄﹄ ︻

second held slightly longer than the others,a little beyond the attack ofthe note which follows. A few sinall problerns make absolutely precise deterlnination oftelnpo difrl_ cult or impossible.Although it is known in what key rnost of the pieces were played,a crucial point with the Library of Congress recordings,which were recorded on equipmentthatin some cases slowed thenl down enough to lower the pitch almost a lninor third,there can■ot be absolute certainty about the pitch to which the pianos were tuned.The telnpo indications,which are correct― ed to the proper pitch as nearly as possible,should nevertheless be accurate within very few beats. For the performances which rush, I have given the average tempo for the first and last whole choruses'。 The tempo indications for the reprinted sheet rnusic and the piano― ron transcriptions are those of other perfo....ances of the sarne or similar pi∝ es. ThedesignationofstrainsttalsoneedsexplanationoSincetheeffectofirnme― diate repetition of a straln is not the sarne as the effect ofits reappearance after other inaterial has inteⅣ ened,I have used sttbols which recognize this dif― ference in designating the strains.The representation Al‐ 1;Al-2;Bl‐1;Bl-2;A2; B2_1; B2_2 can be read as: first straln/group one― rlrst appearance; rlrst strain/group one―second appearance;s∝ ond straln/group one― rlrst appear― ance;second straln/group one― second appearance;rlrst straln/group two(One appearance only); Second strain/second group― first appearance; second strain/second group―second appearanceo Where l have used lower‐case letters, in the blues pieces for instance,the strains are identicalin length,very silnilar in harmonic outline,and distinguished by only relatively snlall inelodic and tex― tural differences. The introductory essays give outlines of the pieces' cOpyright histories, showing the dates of cOpyright,the formsin which the pieces were copyrighted (。e。 ,lead sheet,piano solo version,orchestration),and the Original copyright holders.They also give histOries of]40rton recordings of the pieces,showing dates of recording,artists and/or inedia,record label and issue numbers with master numbers in parentheses, and metrononlic tempo indications, which

36

show ranges oftempos unthin which Morton played the pieces. Fouowing each intЮ ductory essay is the music tsdf,a complete version of the piece(fOnOwed,h seVeral cases,by additional notations which transcribe parts ofother performancesto show how Morton played the same material dif― ferently at different times)With notes on the transcription or edition The source which is transcribed in its entirety,either aOrding r∝ or printed ording history with an asterisk.The music,is identirled in the copynght and r∝ source of any additional partial notation is identirled with a+。 ニ ュ .s used in the text. At the end ofthe volume is a glossary ofteュ om Brian Rust's Jaz Racontt f897-r'ク . Discographical info.1.lation is■ y,the reader should be aware that these are not the“corr∝t"or Fina■ d there cannot be such versions “derlnitive"versiOns of Morton's pleces:ind∝ tyis composedo Rather,the complete versions tran― ofpiecesinto which variabi五 ュ ニ .er and Mortontheconl― scribed arethosein which lthought Mortontheperfoニ poser were best balanced and in which the plece as a whole was best realized。

口 ０〓 ｏ”きら ﹁ ﹃ＯＱ只︼“﹃０り

を

―