From the Archives - Vanessa Watkins Revisits “The King of the Underworld”
The Invention of Jelly Roll Morton
Hello internet, and welcome to the latest offering from DIG, the Missouri Review Substack that rediscovers stellar material from the TMR archive and catches up with former conributors, interns, and editors. Read on, as Vanessa Watkins (TMR Intern, Spring ’23) introduces an essay about jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton from our Summer 2012 issue.
“The King of the Underworld: The Invention of Jelly Roll Morton” by Kristine Sommerville and Speer Morgan offers exciting material about the man who first took a dive into jazz waters. Being the very first musician to publish a jazz score back in 1915, Jelly Roll precedes pioneers Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong. Charles Mingus has a song in his honor on his ‘59 masterpiece Mingus Ah Hum and Wynton Marsalis put out an entire album of Jelly Roll’s music in ‘99, Standard Time, Vol. 6: Mr. Jelly Lord. Jelly is definitely the king, and he is timeless! But why only king of the Underworld?
Morgan and Sommerville’s careful research reveals the dirty dealings in the music business since the inception of jazz and help us follow the arc in Jelly Roll’s career. This engrossing bio on the trailblazing pianist is a treat, if you’re a music enthusiast. It includes personal letters that illustrate frustrated attempts at recovering the rights and back royalties to his music and even his original will. It’s no surprise that our hero had a sad ending, and we understand how it came about thanks to this detailed piece of writing. While Jelly Roll’s extraordinary music remains etched in the history of jazz, we now have a better notion of why “The King of the Underworld” never enjoyed the acclaim Duke Ellington, Fats Waller and Art Tatum did. But we most heartily thank him, for using his talent and labor to create a whole new genre of music. I wish he could feel the love and know that over a hundred years later we are still in awe of his New Orleans Bump.
Thanks, Vanessa! Read the essay in question below:
