Jelly Roll Morton

Also listed as: Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers Jelly-Roll Morton's Red Hot PeppersFerdinand Joseph LaMothe (October 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who started his career in New Orleans, Louisiana.Widely recognized as a pivotal figure in early jazz, Morton is perhaps most notable as jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential spirit and characteristics when notated.