ACCORDING to some commentators, Jazz quickly leaped over the racial barriers that divided New Orleans in the early 1900s. These commentators claimed that Jazz was now being exposed to the rest of the world as America’s only original artistic contribution to the culture of the world.To all intents and purposes, Jazz of all music was linked to racial injustice suffered by Black musicians. But Jazz is not a racial music. Since its creation, this genre of music has been influenced by many social factors that enveloped the American way of life and its coming of age in that particular era.
Black musicians considered themselves to be greatly talented individuals. They also thought of themselves as musical spokesmen for a whole era of struggle and revolution.
When Buddy Bolden, “The elusive father of jazz” passed in 1931, Sidney Bechet was 34 years of age. As the evolution of the music continued, Bechet was trying new things. He decided that he would introduce a new instrument into his compositions: The soprano saxophone. Bechet was besides himself at the results of his innovation; he claimed that the sounds emanating from the soprano saxophone were unbelievable.
He was the first Jazz man to be recognized on the instrument; he took the music to England in 1919. He then teamed up with King Oliver and Freddie Keppard Jazz bands.
In the 1920s, Bechet made a series of records with the legendary Clarence Williams, on Blue Five. In 1932, Sidney Bechet and his good friend and recording partner, the trumpeter, Tommy Ladnier, made a semi-retirement announcement. This was after they had collaborated on “I Found a New Baby” and “Maple Leaf Rag”.
They set up a barber and tailor shop in Harlem. Ladnier did the shoe shinning, while Bechet pressed clothes and did repairs. He was, however, enticed to come out of retirement and return to the scene by bandleader, Nobel Sissel. He worked as a side man for Sissel until the bug forced him into forming his own band.
According to Jazz commentators, Bechet’s playing had not declined; by this time his music had come back in favour with Jazz fans. The greatest moment for Bechet was being able to play alongside his greatest admirer, the Duke of Ellington.
During this era of the 1920s, all the musicians were searching for “The New Thing”. In this opening came Jelly Roll Morton, a Creole who was a fixture at “Storyville”, New Orleans ‘Red-Light district’.
At this time, Morton was being hailed as the greatest of New Orleans Jazz pianists and composers. He was also accused of being a blustering loud-mouth, on account of a claim that he invented Jazz in 1901. It was also reported that Morton had a flair for rewriting his biography. He claimed that he was born in 1885, but records prove that he was actually born in 1890 as Ferdinand La Menthe to a very strict Creole family that resisted assimilation with New Orleans’ Black population.
Speaking with Alan Lomax, the pioneering scholar and preserver of African-American music, in several interviews, Morton claimed that he changed his name because of ethnic hostility.
As to acknowledging his African roots, Morton was in life-long denial; he only spoke of his European ancestry. That notwithstanding, Morton’s Red Hot Peppers band elevated the music to another level between 1917 and 1930. Taking advantage of his writing ability, coupled with his improvisation skills, Morton rode his light complexion all the way to popularity.
In 1926, he wrote and recorded “Sidewalk Blues”, “Black Bottom Stomp”, “Dead man Blues”, “Gran-pa Spells”, “Smoke House Blues”, and the “Chant”.
After the Louisiana Code of 1894, proclaiming that anyone with African ancestry is a Negro, Morton expanded. He benefited from playing with talented Black musicians, the likes of Louis Armstrong and King Oliver, even though it was not his greatest desire.
Kid Ory, another Creole and an accomplished trombonist who worked with Morton, released the first New Orleans Jazz recording inb 1922, featuring only Black musicians.

By Milton Bruce