Rounder / Umgd
2005
The Complete Library Of Congress Recordings (Explicit)
About This Album
For years Jelly Roll Morton was described by critics and historians as a frustrated egomaniac who ran around badmouthing other musicians after his own career faltered as a result of a stodgy inability to "change with the times." This caricature has finally begun to dissipate, and a much clearer picture of the man has emerged. Alan Lomax, Morton's biographer, archivist and interviewer, described the late '30s as "...a time in which the music that had been created first by black musicians was being taken away from them by the 'amusement industry'..." Lomax suggested that Morton was speaking not only for himself but also on behalf of jazz, a tradition which by 1938 had been plundered and used as flavoring in trivialized pop music. This puts Morton's words in perspective. As for his over-the-top criticisms of other musicians, that is hardly unusual and is something that many musicians still do on a daily basis. As for Lomax, he was an impassioned archivist who loved people and worked hard to document the glorious diversity of humanity. Each of his research projects yielded recordings that are precious and fascinating, but the Complete Library of Congress Recordings of Jelly Roll Morton are staggering in their depth and magnitude.
Track List

Disc 1

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Disc 2 (try tracks 8,10,15 and 16)

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Disc 3 (try tracks 1,7 and 9)

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Disc 4 (try track 4)

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Disc 5 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9,12,14,15,16 and 17)

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Disc 6 (try tracks 1,3,11,14 and 18)

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Disc 7 (try tracks 2,3 and 4)

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Disc 8

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