A review by nerfherder86
How Jelly Roll Morton Invented Jazz by Jonah Winter

4.0

Gorgeous, vibrant, colorful acrylic illustrations with musical notes flowing throughout them, in deep oranges, purples and blacks. Beautifully written, in a jazzy style, incorporating song lyrics and adding to them. It reads like a folk tale: "Let's say you had a godmother...and she was a voodoo queen," describing Morton's childhood, playing piano at an early age in bars, getting arrested with that godmother; his great-grandmother threw him out of the house later because he was making money as a "lowlife musician," but through that he supposedly created a combination of blues that became jazz. Then he traveled and spread jazz to other cities. In the author's note, Winter clarifies how Morton was full of claims that he invented jazz and other things that may or may not have been true. Only lists two sources, adult biographies of Morton.