While cornet was by the far the most popular instrument of the New Orleans jazz era, we mustn't forget other instruments did exist.

The most famous and important pianist (and composer) of this time was Jelly Roll Morton. Jelly Roll aimed to take Buddy Boldon's cornet sound and move it to the piano solo. When Jelly Roll was just a youngster he got a job in Storyville (the area of New Orleans with a lot of brothels). From this he gained a lot of experience, both on and away from the piano. Jelly Roll was the first musicians to actually write down and document his own compositions. Because of his fame, Jelly Roll became very cocky and went so far as to claim to have invented jazz. His form of jazz however required what he referred to as the Spanish Tinge.

If you couldn't tell by the photo in the video, Jelly Roll was a Creole of Color (of which we spoke of previously). His family came from Haiti and he tried to keep his heritage in his music. In this, he would incorporate Habenero rhythms in his music all of the time.

Jelly Roll's style of piano playing is said to have bridged the gap between ragtime and jazz. He accomplished this by loosening up rhythms by swinging his 8th notes and associated horn like lines into both his solos and comping style.

Another way Jelly Roll aided in the progression of the music was by how he composed. Before him, collectivized improv was fairly random and sporadic. Jelly Roll wrote out collective improv into his arrangements so that it would balance out with other portions of the music. This arrangement of certain sections of a tune was a fundamental shift from the almost aleatoric style of before.

Another musician deserving some attention was Sidney Bechet. He played clarinet like no one else before him could. He didn't stay in New Orleans for too long though, as he noticed a lack of discrimination in Europe. In 1916, he left for England. It was here he discovered the soprano sax (the sax with the highest register and if I'm not mistaken has very similar if not identical fingerings to clarinet). However, Sidney was a very rowdy man and was deported.

After England he went to Paris to join a musical where he was already a legend. Europeans were enthralled with the jazz of America and treated any jazz musician like royalty unlike the States where they were heavily looked down upon. Sidney couldn't contain his temper though and was kicked out of France for getting in gunfight over a dispute regarding the chord changes of a particular tune.

Stylistically, his vibrato was unparalleled. Nowadays vibrato isn't too important in jazz, but during Sidney's time he was praised for having such a quick precise vibrato. In the video linked as his name, his precision shines through and it's obvious to see that he deserved all the praise he received.

"As I continue to write and study New Orleans music and Duke Ellington, I keep coming to more and more conclusions about all of the things that are here in America for the musician to use. The thing you have to try for is the emotional specificity that only comes from learning the correct techniques for this art form. Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton had the understanding in their music. So did King Oliver." - Wynton Marsalis

I think I might begin to make this a weekly thing as opposed to a daily thing. Thoughts?