[Dixielandjazz] Alan Lomax

[Anton Crouch]

Hello all

Alan Lomax's death didn't generate a great deal of comment on DJML and
perhaps this is not unexpected. He is mainly known as a folk song and blues
collector. His links with OKOM are however substantial - I refer to his
interviews with, and recording of, Jelly Roll Morton in the Library of
Congress in May, June and December 1938. 

Lomax was only 23 when he recorded Morton and the subsequent book ("Mister
Jelly Roll", 1950) remains one of the most important and influencial
documents in jazz history. A measure of its value is the fact that it has
always been in print and is now available in a new edition, updated to take
into account recent findings. West Coast DJMLers might be surprised to
learn just how much jazz activity there was on the western seabord before
the post-1917 "exodus" from New Orleans.

After almost 50 years I can still remember the way I felt when I first
heard Morton's narrative on a set of third or fourth generation dubs from
the Circle 78s. 

piano chords
Morton: "Ready?"
piano chords
Lomax: "Jelly Roll, tell us about yourself .... "
Morton, with piano chords:
"Well, I'll tell yer...
I as can understand
my folks were in the city of New Orleans
l-o-n-g before the Louisiana purchase ... "

Even now, it sends shivers up my spine. 

Let 'er roll!
Anton