Misplaced Pages

#803196

38-683: John Burch (born John Alexander Burchell ; 6 January 1932 – 18 April 2006) was an English pianist, composer and bandleader, equally at home playing traditional jazz , bebop , blues , skiffle , boogie-woogie and rock . Burch was born in London on 6 January 1932. Having started piano lessons at age 12, he played in army bands during his military service stationed in Germany and in the late 1950s toured military bases with his trio. In 1959, he toured France with bassist Jeff Clyne and saxophonist Bobby Wellins . In 1960 Burch joined Allan Ganley 's Jazzmakers. In

76-615: A vaudeville act before living in Chicago for three years. By 1914, he was putting his compositions on paper. In 1915 "Jelly Roll Blues" was one of the first jazz compositions to be published. Jelly Roll Morton was employed by Ben Shook Jr. around 1916. Shook was associated with a Jubilee club led by Mabel Lewis, a contralto singer and former member of the original Fisk University Jubilee Singers . In 1917 he went to California with bandleader William Manuel Johnson and Johnson's sister Anita Gonzalez, born Bessie Julia Johnson. Morton's tango "The Crave"

114-724: A composer, he wrote "Preach and Teach" (1966) which provided the B-side of Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames ' hit " Yeh Yeh " and was also recorded by Buddy Rich . He composed Fame's follow-up, "In the Meantime", and also its B-side, "Telegram". He was also a teacher on the Barry Summer School jazz-education project, which was attended by pianist Keith Tippett . In a performance, John Burch played with Don Rendell, Graham Bond, Tony Archer, and Phil Kinorra. The songs performed were, "Bring Back

152-597: A radio show in 1934, then toured in a burlesque band. In 1935, his 30-year-old composition " King Porter Stomp ", arranged by Fletcher Henderson , became Benny Goodman 's first hit and a swing standard, but Morton received no royalties from the recordings. In 1935, Morton moved to Washington, D.C., to become the manager and piano player at a bar called, at various times, the Music Box, Blue Moon Inn, and Jungle Inn, at 1211 U Street NW in Shaw , an African-American neighborhood . Morton

190-447: A stage to Lonnie Donegan and Alexis Korner , setting off the craze for skiffle and then British rhythm and blues that powered the beat boom of the 1960s Jelly-Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe ( né Lemott , later Morton ; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton , was an American blues and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer of Louisiana Creole descent. Morton

228-534: A tribute to Ronnie Scott called "Just by Chance". The Johnny Burch Trio was active in 1965. It consisted of Johnny Burch on piano, Ron Mathewson on Bass and Alan Green on drums. Burch died from cancer on 18 April 2006. In 2019, the recordings by the Johnny Burch Octet that was recorded in 1963 and 1965 were released on the album, Jazz Beat . Also in 2019, Burch appeared on the compilation So Much, So Quickly: British Modern Jazz Pianists 1948-62 , playing on

266-531: Is "no proof to the contrary" and that Morton's "considerable accomplishments in themselves provide reasonable substantiation.” Morton was born Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (or Lemott), into the Creole community in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans around 1890; he claimed to have been born in 1884 on his WWI draft registration card in 1918. Both parents traced their Creole ancestry four generations to

304-526: The big band era, including Glenn Miller , Gene Krupa and Benny Goodman , had their beginnings in trad jazz. In Britain, where boogie-woogie , "stride" piano and jump blues were popular in the 1940s, George Webb 's Dixielanders pioneered a trad revival during the Second World War, and Ken Colyer 's Crane River band added and maintained a strong thread of New Orleans purism. Humphrey Lyttelton , who played with Webb, formed his own band based on

342-399: The big-band era, his "King Porter Stomp", which Morton had written decades earlier, was a big hit for Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman ; it became a standard covered by most other swing bands of that time. Morton claimed to have written some tunes that were copyrighted by others, including " Alabama Bound " and " Tiger Rag ". "Sweet Peter", which Morton recorded in 1926, appears to be

380-464: The 18th century. Morton's birth date and year of birth are uncertain, given that no birth certificate was ever issued for him. The law requiring birth certificates for citizens was not enforced until 1914. His parents were Martin-Edouard Joseph Lamothe, also known as Edward Joseph Lamothe, a bricklayer and occasional trombonist, and Louise Hermance Monette, a domestic worker. His parents were never legally married and his father left his mother when Morton

418-601: The 1950s a number of provincial amateur bands had strong local followings and occasionally appeared together at "Jazz Jamborees". These bands included the Merseysippi Jazz Band, still active, which toured overseas, Second City Jazzband (Birmingham), Steel City Stompers (Sheffield), Clyde Valley Stompers (Glasgow), the Tranquil Valley Stompers (London) and the Saints Jazzband (Manchester). Chris Barber gave

SECTION 10

#1732855794804

456-760: The Burch", "Manumission", "Blue Monk", "Jeannine", "You Loomed Out of Loch Ness", "So What", and "The Haunt". The performance was recorded, credited to the New Don Rendell Quintet and released as Roarin' on Jazzland JLP 51 in 1961. On 19 September 1962, Burch on piano played in the Don Rendell Quintet at the Paris Cinema. Other musicians included Don Rendell on tenor and soprano saxophone etc., Graham Bond on alto saxophone, Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor saxophone, Tony Archer on bass and Ted Pope on drums. The session

494-933: The District, she told me that I had disgraced the family and forbade me to live at the house. She told me that devil music would surely bring about my downfall..." The cornetist Rex Stewart recalled that Morton had chosen "the nom de plume 'Morton' to protect his family from disgrace if he was identified as a whorehouse 'professor'." Around 1904, Morton started touring in the US South, working in minstrel shows such as Will Benbow 's Chocolate Drops, gambling, and composing. His songs " Jelly Roll Blues ", "New Orleans Blues", "Frog-I-More Rag", "Animule Dance", and " King Porter Stomp " were composed during this period. Stride pianists James P. Johnson and Willie "The Lion" Smith saw him perform in Chicago in 1910 and New York City in 1911. In 1912–14, Morton toured with his girlfriend Rosa Brown as

532-733: The Library of Congress, but the sessions expanded to over eight hours, with Morton talking and playing piano. Lomax conducted longer interviews, taking notes but not recording. Lomax was interested in Morton's days in Storyville , New Orleans, and the ribald songs of the time. Although reluctant to record these, Morton obliged Lomax. Because of the suggestive nature of the songs, some of the Library of Congress recordings were not released until 2005. In these interviews, Morton claimed to have been born in 1885. Morton scholars, such as Lawrence Gushee, say that Morton

570-675: The New Orleans/Louis Armstrong tradition in 1948 but, without losing the Armstrong influence, gradually adopted a more mainstream approach. By 1958 his band included three saxophones. During the 1950s and well into the 1960s the "Three B's" Chris Barber , Acker Bilk , and Kenny Ball were particularly successful, all making hit records. Other successful bands including Terry Lightfoot , George Chisholm , Monty Sunshine , Mick Mulligan , with George Melly , and Mike Cotton – who "went R'n'B" in 1963–1964 – made regular appearances live, on

608-901: The air and occasionally in the British charts, as did Louis Armstrong himself. More light-hearted versions were offered by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band , the Temperance Seven and the New Vaudeville Band . Dixieland stylings can be found here and there on records by the Rolling Stones , the Beatles , the Small Faces and the Kinks , while the Who actually performed trad jazz in their early days. In

646-536: The early and mid-1960s he led a quartet and an octet with Dick Heckstall-Smith , Ray Warleigh, Peter King , Hank Shaw and future Cream founders Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce . In the 1960s, Burch was one of many UK-based musicians who "moved easily between traditional jazz, bebop, blues, skiffle, boogie, and rock". As an accompanist, he played with American musicians who were visiting the UK; in 1966 these included Freddie Hubbard , Rahsaan Roland Kirk , and Red Rodney . As

684-945: The first of his commercial recordings, first as piano rolls, then on record, both as a piano soloist and with jazz bands. In 1926, Morton signed a contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company , giving him the opportunity to bring a well-rehearsed band to play his arrangements in the Victor recording studios in Chicago. These recordings by Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers included Kid Ory , Omer Simeon , George Mitchell , Johnny St. Cyr , Barney Bigard , Johnny Dodds , Baby Dodds , and Andrew Hilaire . After Morton moved to New York City, he continued to record for Victor. Although he had trouble finding musicians who wanted to play his style of jazz, he recorded with Omer Simeon , George Baquet , Albert Nicholas , Barney Bigard , Russell Procope , Lorenzo Tio and Artie Shaw ,

722-514: The front as soloists, a new form of music emerged. One of the ensemble players in King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong , was by far the most influential of the soloists, creating, in his wake, a demand for this "new" style of jazz, in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Other influential stylists who are still revered in traditional jazz circles today include Sidney Bechet , Bix Beiderbecke , Wingy Manone and Muggsy Spanier . Many artists of

760-454: The last being a tribute to New Orleans musicians from the turn of the 20th century. Morton's claim to have invented jazz in 1902 was criticized. Music critic Scott Yanow wrote, "Jelly Roll Morton did himself a lot of harm posthumously by exaggerating his worth ... Morton's accomplishments as an early innovator are so vast that he did not really need to stretch the truth." Gunther Schuller says of Morton's "hyperbolic assertions" that there

798-462: The playing of a diminished 5th above the melody. This technique may still be recognized as belonging to New Orleans. Morton also walked in major and minor sixths in the bass, instead of tenths or octaves. He played basic swing rhythms with both the left and the right hand. Several of Morton's compositions were musical tributes to himself, including "Winin' Boy", "The Jelly Roll Blues" (subtitled "The Original Jelly-Roll"); and "Mr. Jelly Lord". In

SECTION 20

#1732855794804

836-458: The rhythm sections. A New Orleans –based traditional revival began with the later recordings of Jelly-Roll Morton and the rediscovery of Bunk Johnson in 1942. This revival ultimately led to the founding of Preservation Hall in the French Quarter of New Orleans during the 1960s. Early King Oliver pieces exemplify this style of hot jazz; however, as individual performers began stepping to

874-424: The source of the melody of the hit song " All of Me ", which was credited to Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931. His musical influence continues in the work of Dick Hyman and Reginald Robinson . In 2013, Katy Martin published an article arguing that Alan Lomax 's book of interviews put Morton in a negative light. Martin disagreed that Morton was an egotist. In being called a supreme egotist, Jelly Roll

912-594: The time. Mercer Ellington , Duke Ellington's son, did attend the funeral. The article was reproduced in Mister Jelly Roll , a 1950 biography of Morton by Alan Lomax. Morton married Mabel Bertrand, a showgirl, in November 1928 in Gary, Indiana . He was a "very devout Catholic ", according to Anita Gonzales, his long-term companion. His gravesite features a large rosary rather than any music imagery. Morton's piano style

950-712: The track "Manumission" which was credited to John Burch featured With The New Don Rendell Quintet. Traditional jazz A Dixieland revival began in the United States on the West Coast in the late 1930s as a backlash to the Chicago style, which was close to swing . Lu Watters and the Yerba Buena Jazz Band , and trombonist Turk Murphy , adopted the repertoire of Joe "King" Oliver , Jelly Roll Morton , Louis Armstrong and W. C. Handy : bands included banjo and tuba in

988-535: The trumpeters Ward Pinkett , Bubber Miley , Johnny Dunn and Henry "Red" Allen , Sidney Bechet , Paul Barnes , Bud Freeman , Pops Foster , Paul Barbarin , Cozy Cole , and Zutty Singleton . His New York sessions failed to produce a hit. Due in part to the Great Depression, RCA Victor did not renew Morton's recording contract for 1931. He continued playing in New York but struggled financially. He briefly had

1026-458: Was African-American slang for female genitalia. While working there, he was living with his churchgoing great-grandmother. He convinced her that he worked as a night watchman in a barrel factory. After Morton's grandmother found out he was playing jazz in a brothel, she disowned him for disgracing the Lamothe name. "When my grandmother found out that I was playing jazz in one of the sporting houses in

1064-407: Was around three years old. After his mother married William Mouton in 1894, Ferdinand adopted his stepfather's surname, anglicizing it to Morton, adapting "Ferd" as an unofficial forename. Ferd had two sisters, one of whom, Eugénie, married Ignace Colas, in 1913. At the age of fourteen, Morton began as a piano player in a brothel. He often sang smutty lyrics and used the nickname "Jelly Roll", which

1102-508: Was aware that if he had been born in 1890, he would have been too young to claim to be the inventor of jazz. However, Morton may not have known his actual birthdate, and there remains the possibility that he was telling the truth. He said Buddy Bolden played ragtime but not jazz, a view not accepted by some of Bolden's contemporaries in New Orleans. The contradictions may stem from different definitions of "ragtime" and "jazz". In 1938, Morton

1140-407: Was formed from early secondary ragtime and "shout", which also evolved separately into the New York school of stride piano . Morton's playing was also close to barrelhouse , which produced boogie-woogie . Morton often played the melody of a tune with his right thumb, while sounding a harmony above these notes with the fingers of the right hand. This could add a rustic or "out-of-tune" sound due to

1178-592: Was generally believed to be 50 years old. According to the jazz historian David Gelly in 2000, Morton's arrogance and "bumptious" persona alienated so many musicians that few of them attended his funeral. An article about the funeral in the August 1, 1941, issue of DownBeat reported that his pallbearers were Kid Ory, Mutt Carey , Fred Washington , and Ed Garland . It noted that Duke Ellington and Jimmie Lunceford were absent, though both were appearing in Los Angeles at

John Burch (musician) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-413: Was jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential characteristics when notated. His composition " Jelly Roll Blues ", published in 1915, was one of the first published jazz compositions. He also claimed to have invented the genre. Morton also wrote " King Porter Stomp ", " Wolverine Blues ", " Black Bottom Stomp ", and "I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say",

1254-502: Was master of ceremonies, bouncer, and bartender. The club owner allowed her friends free admission and drinks, which prevented Morton from making the business a success. During Morton's brief residency at the Music Box, the folklorist Alan Lomax heard him play. In May 1938, Lomax invited Morton to record music and interviews for the Library of Congress . The sessions were intended to be a short interview with musical examples for researchers at

1292-401: Was often a victim of loose and lurid reporting. If we read the words that he himself wrote, however, we learn that he almost had an inferiority complex and said that he created his own style of jazz piano because 'All my fellow musicians were much faster in manipulations, I thought than I, and I did not feel as though I was in their class.' So he used a slower tempo to permit flexibility through

1330-485: Was often ill and became short of breath easily. After this incident, his wife Mabel demanded they leave Washington. Worsening asthma sent him to a hospital in New York for three months. He continued to suffer from respiratory problems when he travelled to Los Angeles with the intent to restart his career. He died on July 10, 1941, after an eleven-day stay in Los Angeles County General Hospital . He

1368-575: Was popular in Hollywood. He was invited to perform at the Hotel Patricia nightclub in Vancouver , Canada. Author Mark Miller described his arrival as "an extended period of itinerancy as a pianist, vaudeville performer, gambler, hustler, and, as legend would have it, pimp". Morton returned to Chicago in 1923 to claim authorship of "The Wolverines", which had become popular as " Wolverine Blues ". He released

1406-543: Was recorded. In 1963, Burch, Mike Falana John Mumford, Graham Bond, Stan Robinson, Miff Moule, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker participated in a live broadcast for the BBC. In 1965, Burch, Hank Shaw, Ken Wray, Ray Swinfield, Peter King, Harry Klein, Jeff Clyne and Mike Scott participated in a live broadcast for the BBC in November 1965. In 1984, he re-formed the octet with Dick Morrissey . He dedicated his "Resurrection Ritual Suite" to Dick Morrissey and on his death had just completed

1444-419: Was stabbed by a friend of the Music Box's owner and suffered wounds to the head and chest. A nearby whites-only hospital refused to treat him, as the city had racially segregated facilities. He was transported to a black hospital farther away. When he was in the hospital, doctors left ice on his wounds for several hours before attending to the injury. His recovery from his wounds was incomplete, and thereafter he

#803196