Customer Reviews

Jelly Roll Morton: 1926-1930

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jelly Roll Morton made a lot of exaggerated claims in his life, taking credit for the birth of jazz. No one really believes these claims, but it's amazing how much truth there is to them. For one thing, Jelly Roll Morton revolutionized the form, more than Charlie Parker did and maybe even Louis Armstrong. His early RCA Victor recordings laid much of the music's foundation, particularly the Chicago "Red Hot Peppers" recordings, and Morton himself has been hailed as the first great jazz composer in a long tradition of composers that include Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and Wayne Shorter. Simply put, you can't say enough about the greatness and the importance of Morton's music.

This collection by JSP is an absolute godsend. Originally a British import that received poor circulation in the U.S., it went out of print for many years when JSP was bought by another company that went on to re-issue all of their CD's. As any jazz collector can tell you, these CD's are famous for the meticulous remastering done by jazz archivist/sound expert, John T. R. Davies, and this Jelly Roll Morton box set is one of THE gems of the JSP catalog. It covers pretty much the same recording as the RCA Victor box set, "Centennial," including every track of Morton's best and most famous work with his Red Hot Peppers. JSP's box set is much more preferable than the RCA Victor set for many reasons. First, alternate takes are place on separate discs (RCA stacks them on top of the master take), which makes for better listening. Second, the JSP box is much less expensive. Third and most important of all is sound quality. RCA's box set was released in 1990, and like all it's reissues of that era, it was heavily processed with NoNoise, leaving a squeaky clean sound, but with the high and low end frequencies lopped off. Furthermore, good sources weren't always secured by RCA, so many tracks on their set were taken from analogue tape copies of old source material. The overall result was a muffled, heavily compressed sound that squeezed the life out of the music. It was all the more depressing considering that the music was recorded extraordinarily well for their time. With this JSP box set, Davies secured superior sources, including some rare 78 rpm records from private collections. Furthermore, noise reduction was very minimal, which means there's more surface noise on these CD's, but the liveliness of the sound is simply amazing. Simply put, there's absolutely no reason to buy "The Centennial" box set when you have this beauty available.

Much of this music is essential to any jazz collection, and this box set from JSP is absolutely the best way to attain it. Great music, amazing sound quality, and a great bargain.

Gotta agree with the other reviewer: I've heard both the RCA Victor set and the JSP set, and there is simply no comparison: the JSP set is far superior in terms of remasterd sound quality. Plus, the alternate takes for a particular recording are spread out across the set, which makes listening a lot easier. And 'nuff said about the music: except for a handful of embarrassing novelty numbers, this is some of the most vital and inspired jazz ever recorded. If you like Louis Armstrong's Hot Fives and Sevens, you're going to like this.

Provided you can read the microscopic printing on the CD booklet notes, they're serviceable. But if you're really interested in "Mr. Jelly Lord," there are some good books available that will probably serve you better.

The CD booklet covers leave a lot to be desired; this is definitely a "budget" set. But if you listen to the music instead of look at the packaging, this set has it all over the RCA set -- and at a bargain box price, at that.

Get it now before it goes out of print again.

If you want your CD collection to contain only the greatest recordings of the 20th century, then in the field of Jazz this is one collection you should have (along with Armstrong, Bechet, Ellington, Basie, Parker, Miles Davis, and Coltrane).
The music played by Morton in the 20's ranked 2nd to none, although there was no soloist of Armstrong's calibre in his bands (there was only ONE Armstrong !). Morton skills as an arranger, composer and pianist were above everyone else during this period.

The first CD is from 09/26 to 06/27. There are the all time classics such as Doctor Jazz, Dead Man blues, and the tracks with the great clarinettist Johnny Dodds (the last eight tracks). Dodds presence added something extra to what was already great music. The last two tracks offer a chance to hear Morton the pianist - as he is joined only by the Dodds brothers.

The 2nd CD offers anything from piano solos to a semi big band, recorded in 1929. Instead of Dodds we have the opportunity to hear Barney Bigard and Zutty Singleton, two other New Orleans giants, join Morton for a trio on the last four tracks. There are also highlights featuring a band with Henry Allen, J.C Higginbotham, Paul Barbarin and Pops Foster, among others.

The 3rd CD was recorded during 1930, and is actually the last CD of the box set, as the remaing two CD's contain alternative takes of songs that appear in the first three. It contains swinging music, and such names as Wilbur De Paris, Bubber Miley and Albert Nicholas. I love "Harmony Blues", "Ponchatrain" - to me this is just outstanding music.

CD's 4 and 5 are alternative takes of some of the best songs. They offer a chance to see how much of the music was actually improvised and how much was written down.

Overall - for its musical depths, it historic value, its great remastering, and the very reasonable price - this is HIGHLY recommended.

The reviewer of Nov. 1, 2002, who complained about the sound quality of disc one's cuts is missing a crucial problem about the U.S. CD-issue of those songs. As Gary Giddins noted in his book "Visions of Jazz," while the Bluebird tracks were produced to eliminate surface noise--static and scratchiness--they also wound up losing a lot of treble and bass, the high and low ends of the sonic spectrum. The JSP disc restores that dimension to the sound, albeit with the noise returned to the mix. But the vigor and pulse of the playing, the depth of the resonance of the sounds being created by the band, is of far greater value to listeners than an artificially "cleaned up" sound. It's not a question of the songs sounding bass-heavy; of course you want to be able to HEAR the bass, as you can't with so many other jazz recordings of the era. Give these tunes another listen and see if you don't agree.

I agree with the two previous reviewers. Morton was the first great genius of jazz and this five discs contain his finest recordings in the best available sound quality.

I have just one proviso. Like RCA, this set omits some of Morton's Victor recordings of the period. Two sessions with the dreadful clarinetist Wilton Crawley, and two sets of accompaniments (to Lizzie Miles and Billie Young) are missing. From outside Victor, the 1928 Johnny Dunn and Levee Serenader sessions are also absent.

None of these sessions can compare with the 1926-30 Red Hot Pepper sides, but Morton fanatics such as me will want them. They are available on the Masters of Jazz set (who have so far issued Morton's complete recordings from 1923 - 1934), and the Victor titles only are available on the French RCA release.

Competists will,by definition, want everything. However, for those who simply want to hear the pick of Morton's recordings, buy this set. You will get a lifetime of pleasure.

Sessions - Disc 1: 9/15/26 - Black Bottom through Chant. 9/21/26 - Sidewalk through Steamboat. 12/16/26 - Someday through Cannonball. 6/4/27 - Hyena through Jungle. 6/10/27 - Beale through Mr. Jelly.

Sessions - Disc 2: 12/6/28 - Red Hot through Freakish. 7/9/29 - Burnin' through Pretty Lil. 7/10/29 - Sweet Anita through New Orleans. 7/12/29 - Down through Tank. 11/13/29 - Sweet through Mint. 12/17/29 - Smilin' through That's Like.

Sessions - Disc 3: 3/5/30 - Each through I'm Looking. 3/19/30 - Little and Harmony. 3/20/30 - Fussy and Ponchatrain. 6/2/30 - Oil through Primrose. 7/14/30 - Low Gravy through Mushmouth. 10/9/30 - Gambling and Fickle.

Sessions - Disc 4: 9/15/26 - Chant. 9/21/26 - Sidewalk and Dead Man. 12/16/26 - Someday through Cannonball. 6/4/27 - Hyena through Jungle. 6/10/27 - Beale through Wolverine. 6/11/28 - Georgia through Mournful.

Sessions - Disc 5: 6/11/28 - Shreveport. 7/8/29 - Seattle and Freakish. 7/9/29 - Burnin' through Tank Town. 11/13/29 - Sweet through Mississippi. 3/5/30 - Each Day. 6/2/30 - Oil Through Primrose. 7/14/30 - Strokin' and Blue Blood. 10/9/30 - Gambling Jack

As far as I know, this box includes Jelly Roll's complete recordings from the years represented here, 1926 - 1930. Master and alternate takes. Of course this means that none of his earlier (acoustic) recordings are here. Neither are his Library of Congress recordings from the late '30s. So what you have here is a fantastic collection of Jelly Roll (and bands) in his prime, with the best possible sound quality!

This was the second JSP box-set I ever bought and in the years since, it seems to only get better. I've been meaning to review this one for ages but just never got around to it. There are smaller groups, larger groups, and solo piano tracks. In a word: Everything.

Obviously you'll have your own favorite tracks just as I have mine, and you'll no doubt feel that some bands were better than others, but there is no better place to hear all this stuff than in this box right here. This box is as valuable to the longtime Morton fan as it is to the person just discovering him. Why? Because it's all here, it sounds great, and the price is so low. You could "check Morton out" by buying one or 2 single discs elsewhere but by that time you'll have already spent the same amount of money as this box costs. Plus you'll only have half (or less) of what is included here, and it won't sound as good as this does.

If his standing as one of the greatest composers in all of jazz ever needs any defense, this box will state his case perfectly. This music stomps and swings like mad, and he had a talent for surrounding himself with many other greatly talented musicians.

This music and this box are essential.

My collection has had a big empty space in it insofar as Jelly Roll goes. I was determined to fill it today but puzzled over which of the numerous discographies to purchase. Than I saw the JSP box on the shelf. From my JSP Django box, I new this collection, if nothing else, would have great sound quality. It certainly does. But it also contains wonderful material from the jazz cradle. With all the hype Louis gets, and justly deserves, this box is quite examplary of why Jelly Roll should be truly appreciated for what he also contributed to the early framework of the music.

This box set is from the earlier days of JSP; before they developed a rather dubious reputation for alleged piracy. It's a great set, mastered for them by John R T Davies. The layout is a little confusing, with alternate takes appearing on opposite discs, rather than in chronological order, but that's a minor issue. Otherwise, the sound quality is superb, another smashing Davies production! The impact of Morton's body of work is incalculable --- what a vital set for any jazz collection!

The music here is simple and sophisticated at the same time. The quality of the recording is excellent especially for music recorded so long ago. It is clean and dynamic. The value is amazing. Great addition to my library.

The box claims "all available recorded work from 1926-1930," - let me suggest that everything is not always a good thing.

There are a number pieces that, though they have different titles, are in effect the same song. These CDs also line up songs of vastly differning quality, forcing listeners to constantly adjust the volume, and in some cases, just advance past the unlistenable cuts.

It is very cool to have this much Jelly Roll, but I would have traded quantity for better quality. Of course, we are talking about five CDs for [$] which is quite the deal.

If you must have everything by Mr. Morton, this package is certainly comprehensive. If you are just looking for some fun listening, the Masters of Jazz discs are a better bet.