If you don’t believe me, you could have checked on Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton’s business card that read “Inventor of Jazz”. Ok, so argue with him!
These two boxed sets, each of 3 discs, consisting of 70 and 72 songs respectively, contain just about everything Morton put to record, showing the slow evolution of jazz from ragtime to pre swing and beyond. His piano playing essentially set the stage for swing, as his pieces “King Porter Stomp” “Millenberg Joys” and “Mr. Jelly Lord” became staples of artists ranging from Benny Goodman to Charles Mingus. Mortonis featured in glorious form on a plethora of piano solos, with his “Gennett” solos considered the template for modern jazz piano, as well as various “ Orchestras” and “Jazz Bands” that include Tommy Ladnier/ct, Johnny St. Cyr/bj, Omer Simeon/cl Kid Ory/tb, Johnny Dodds/cl, Baby Dodds/dr and Ben Pollack/dr.
Most of the tunes like “Kansas City Stomp” or “The Chant” are steady two steppers, with some concise soloing that may seem primitive by today’s standards, but were light years ahead of anything else at the time
The second collection features Morton and His Red Hot Peppers for the most part, with pre-swing ideas jumping and thumping on “Harmony Blues” and “Ponchartrain Blues” while a trio with Ellingonian Barny Bigard/cl sizzles on “Smilin’ The Blues Away” . Morton even does a bit of singing when he made a comeback in the late 190s, on “Mamie’s Blues” and “Buddy Bolden’s Blues” while his New Orleans Jazzmen stomp out “Ballin The Jack” with Albert Nicholas/cl in sinewy form. The Rosetta Stone for swing.