Jelly's Last Jam

by George C. Wolfe

Dramatizes the life of Jelly Roll Morton, pianist, composer, and self-proclaimed inventor of jazz

Genres: Plays, Musicals, Theatre, Music

99 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1993

Reviews

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the script for the award-winning, 1990s musical play Jelly’s Last Jam, created and written by George C. Wolfe. The story unfolds as Jelly Roll Morton, the inventor of jazz, is reviewing his life in preparation for going to heaven—or hell. Jelly Roll grew up as a Creole in New Orleans, and his grandmother, who raised him, instilled in him that he was better than the dark-skinned Blacks surrounding him. Feeling privileged with his lighter skin, taught the manners of society, and raised on classical music, Jelly is conflicted when he discovers syncopation and thus begins playing this new form of music that became so popular. This is a cautionary tale of how a man cannot shake off his upbringing, even if his livelihood is among those he was brought up to believe were inferior to him. Whether it is light-skinned Blacks lording it over their darker skinned brothers (an historically proven problem among Black culture) or simply the idea that none of us should look down upon any of our fellow humans on their earth, Wolfe makes a powerful point while wildly entertaining us. Having seen the original Broadway production, I can attest to its worthiness as an entertainment as well as a teaching tool. The show is well overdue for a revival, especially in our times now when there is so much renewed turmoil over race relations and hatred of those who are “other.” Meanwhile, there is this published script and an original cast album to help us imagine or re-imagine the show.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked this up w/no idea what it was about other than it was a play. there is a lot of swearing and sex, which i don't like, but the musical is so incredibly written i had to sing the book aloud, couldn't read it silently.