| The Mississippi Rag™ Jelly Roll Morton: The Piano
Rolls 1924-1936 (Masters of Jazz/Media 7 CD MJCD34) Reviewed by Butch Thompson Since it was Artis Wodehouse's intention on this Nonesuch CD to "realize" the piano rolls of Jelly Roll Morton - that is, to use computer technology to make them sound more like Morton the pianist and less like a machine -- it seems right to compare her results with another recent release which didn't have the benefit of such treatment. Morton's are among the most satisfying rolls by any jazz pianist, because seven of the 12 currently held to be authentic seem to represent closely what he actually sat down and played. The seven are "Grandpa's Spells," "Shreveport Stomp," "The 'Jelly Roll' Blues," "Stratford Huntch (sic)," "Mr. Jelly Lord," "King Porter (sic)," and "London Blues." Made in 1924 for the Vocalstyle company of Cincinnati, these performances could not have come from anyone else; the unique harmonic voicings and other Morton hallmarks are all there. In fact, Morton seems to have been in extremely creative form when these were made, apparently during a quick side trip from Richmond, Indiana, where he was recording some of the same material for Gennett. The inspiration heard on these rolls is at a very high level, and these versions are markedly different from the Gennetts. In fact, these piano roll performances give the lie to any notion that Morton's playing of these pieces became gradually less circumscribed over the years, culminating in the so-called "mature" style of his 1938 playing at the Library of Congress. The evidence here is that he was capable of extremely adventurous playing all along. Unfortunately, even these unusually true-to-life piano rolls of Morton's don't capture the subtleties of his playing. The rhythm is foursquare and inflexible, and dynamics are out of the question. What we have are the notes, but not the music. For the fanatic, it is possible to listen creatively enough to hear what lies behind the machine, of course, but it just isn't the real thing. Inevitably, we return again and again to the acoustically recorded Gennetts, preferring the real man, however dimly perceived, to the machine, no matter how high the fi. The Media 7 CD, produced in 1992, is a labor of love from start to finish, produced by the eminent Morton authority Roger Richard, who also provides superb annotation. By using a 1923 French pianola (an external player mechanism, housed in its own cabinet, which is rolled up to a conventional piano and installed over its keyboard), the producers were able to play the rolls on a superb Hamburg Steinway. They also tried to introduce subtleties, varying the dynamics and carefully selecting the tempos, all of this, of course, done mechanically. All in all, it is a wonderful effort, and prior to Artis Wodehouse, this was certainly the definitive version of the Morton rolls. With similar intent, Wodehouse has gone Richard one better, using computer technology to generate her "realized" performances. She began by creating computer files of Morton's acoustic recordings, then comparing them to computer data from the rolls. Working by analogy from the live data, Wodehouse applied dynamics, rhythm, pedaling and other "humanizing" subtleties to the roll data. It should be emphasized that this process required much creative oversight, since no live performance is exactly the same as its piano roll counterpart; in effect, Wodehouse had to apply what she could isolate of Morton's personal touch to the mechanical performances. The enhanced rolls were then played back on a 9-foot Disklavier, essentially a modern version of the player piano, which is connected to and played by a computer. Recorded in the auditorium of the Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, the playback has a satisfying, warm concert-hall ambience. Wodehouse's CD is certainly the most pleasing to hear of any earlier incarnation these rolls have had on record. To say that it sounds exactly like a live Morton performance would be stretching things, but it is the most musically satisfying recording of the Morton rolls I have heard. If you have avoided acquiring this music because of an aversion to piano rolls, this release ought to make you reconsider. Both these CDs should be available in local record stores. Media 7
"Masters of Jazz" CDs can be ordered direct by calling 1-800-888-8574.
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