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John Szwed, the Louis Armstrong Visiting Professor in Jazz Studies, won the 2006 Grammy award for his album notes to the boxed set: "Jelly Roll Morton: the Complete Smithsonian Recordings by Alan Lomax" (Rounder Records). Szwed, who received the award at the Grammy ceremonies on Feb. 8, also is the John M. Musser Professor of Anthropology, African-American studies, music, and film studies at Yale University, where he has taught since 1982.
Szwed's 80-page grammy-winning insert, titled "Doctor Jazz," documents the relationship between New Orleans composer, pianist and pool shark Jelly Roll Morton -- one of the key figures in the creation of jazz -- and Alan Lomax, the visionary folklorist who created a legacy that illuminated roots music sounds from around the world. Together, they made the first recorded oral history in jazz in 1938 at the Library of Congress.
Szwed, who is at work on a biography of Alan Lomax, found himself drawn to Jelly Roll Morton's story as well.
"What fascinated me about Morton," said Szwed, "was that he is a character from another era, a time before public relations and mass media, but he had a story to tell and refused to have his work buried. He went straight to the Library of Congress to argue his case and to tell what he said was the true story of his and New Orleans' roles in American culture."
"Jelly Roll Morton: the Complete Smithsonian Recordings by Alan Lomax," is
available to order through http://www.rounder.com/. |
