About the Author

Howard Reich is the veteran jazz critic of the Chicago Tribune and the winner of many awards. A longtime correspondent for Downbeat magazine, he is also the author, with William Gaines, of the critically acclaimed biography Jelly's Blues: The Life, Music, and Redemption of Jelly Roll Morton. He lives in suburban Chicago. William Gaines retired from the Chicago Tribune in 2001 and is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. He lives in Munster, Indiana.

Reviews

"A standout achievement...redeems a misunderstood life...an invaluable record of Morton's brilliant rise and bitter fall."

Chicago Tribune journalists Reich, a longtime jazz critic, and Pulitzer Prize winner Gaines, who retired from investigative reporting in 2001, drew on the recently opened archives of a New Orleans memorabilia collector to chronicle the career and music of famed Creole jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941). They bring to life Morton's early career as a brothel pianist and do an outstanding job of exposing the shabby treatment he received at the hands of music publishers and performance licensing agencies. In addition, they go a long way toward explaining why Morton, the darling of the Chicago jazz community through his live performances and recordings of 1926, was viewed as a has-been in New York City less than a year later. Also described are Morton's performance and compositional style, including some of the infrequently heard last compositions of the 1930s, which were found in the archives-though at times the authors could have gone into a bit more musicological detail. Still, through skillful use of their sources, Reich and Gaines offer much insight into their complex subject-in many respects the father of written jazz-which is missing from earlier Morton biographies (e.g., Phil Pastras's recent Dead Man Blues: Jelly Roll Morton Way Out West and Alan Lomax's classic Mister Jelly Roll). Highly recommended for public libraries and for academic libraries with jazz-related collections.-James E. Perone, Mount Union Coll., Alliance, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.