Red Hot Peppers Session
Jelly Roll Morton was at a creative peak in Chicago in 1926 and '27, surrounded by first-rate fellow New Orleans musicians and with plenty of opportunities to record. Many of the musicians who contributed toLouis Armstrong'sHot Five and Hot Sevenrecordings appear here--trombonist Kid Ory, banjoist Johnny St. Cyr, clarinetistJohnny Dodds, and his drummer brother Baby Dodds--while George Mitchell contributes sterling cornet leads. Each track is a compressed masterpiece, a jigsaw puzzle of written composition, improvised ensembles, solos and duets, often with sound effects and bantering comic patter thrown in. "Black Bottom Stomp" and "The Chant" are brilliant examples of Morton's energized fusion of contrasting elements, while the piquant "Someday Sweetheart," with its combination of violins, guitar, and Omer Simeon's bass clarinet, demonstrates Morton's inventiveness as an orchestrator. From low humor to high mimicry, Morton was an artist of ebullient spirit who brought the whole of his experience to the recording studio: the car horn of "Sidewalk Blues," the forced laughter of "Hyena Stomp," and the barnyard vocals of "Billy Goat Stomp." By contrast, the final Chicago session includes compact trio performances of "Wolverine Blues" and "Mr. Jelly Lord" by Morton and the Dodds brothers that are refined intersections of ragtime and jazz improvisation.--Stuart Broomer