Jelly Roll Morton was one of the most colorful of all jazz musicians. Historian Alan Lomax has captured the braggadocio of the pianist/composer in personal commentary and in extensive interviews with his contemporaries. This is an entertaining read for everyone, not just jazz fans. Lomax recreates Morton’s times--the birth of jazz, the Creole culture of New Orleans, the rise and fall of his career--with wit and intelligence.

Legendary folklorist Alan Lomax began his field recordings in the 1930s. His anthologies, radio shows and concerts now form the Alan Lomax Collection at the Smithsonian. He has published numerous books, journal articles, recordings, films, teaching materials, and television programs. His most recent project is a multimedia interactive database, The Global Jukebox. His book about the South in the 1940s, The Land Where the Blues Began, won the National Book Critics Award. His four-CD set, Sounds of the South, was reissued in 1993.