# 2986 - 1995 32c Jazz Musicians: Jelly Roll Morton

U.S. #2986
1995 Jelly Roll Morton
Jazz Musicians

• Issued in the Legends of American Music Series

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set:  Legends of American Music Series
Value:  32c First-Class postage rate
First Day of Issue:  September 16, 1995
First Day Cities:  Monterey, California
Quantity Issued:  150,000,000
Printed by:  Sterling Sommer in Tonawanda, NY for Ashton-Potter
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Pane of 20
Perforations:  11.1 x 10.9

Why the stamps were issued:  They were issued as part of the new Legends of American Music Series to honor jazz and the instrumentalist and composers who made it popular.  Each stamp satisfied the First-Class postage rate.

About the stamp design:  The stamp was designed by Thomas Blackshear who designed four of the #2983-2992 Jazz Musicians pane.  Art direction was by Howard Paine. 

About The Set:  The Legends of American Music Series debuted on January 8, 1993 and ran until 1999.  More than 70 artists are represented from all styles of music:  rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country and western, jazz and pop, opera and classical, gospel and folk.  In addition to individual singers and Broadway musicals, subjects include bandleaders, classical composers, Hollywood songwriters and composers, plus conductors and lyricists. 

The Legends of American Music Set was a huge advancement for diversity because it honored many Black and female artists. 

The 29c “young Elvis” – #2721, kicked off the series in a big and very public way.  Its design was voted on by over one million Americans, about 75% of whom favored the young Elvis over the “old Elvis” version. 

History the stamp represents:         

          Jelly Roll Morton was born Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe Morton in Gulfport, Louisiana on September 20, 1885. He began studying guitar at seven, and piano at nine. Within a few years he was playing piano professionally in brothels around New Orleans. Later Morton began traveling; he was heard in Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, and California.
          Morton made his first recording in 1923. From 1926 to 1930 he recorded his definitive works with Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. This band included Kid Ory, Johnny and Baby Dodds, Omer Simeon, and many other notable musicians. Morton enjoyed his greatest success as a performer during the late 1920s. But by 1937 his fame had declined. In 1939 he returned to recording and made a partial comeback.
          Jelly Roll Morton’s career is very well documented – and controversial. Some of this debate was spawned by Morton’s own bragging. He once made the lofty claim to have “invented jazz in 1902.” Most authorities agree that Morton made important contributions to jazz as a composer, arranger, pianist, soloist, and bandleader.  The songs “King Porter Stomp,” “Kansas City Stomp,” and “Dead Man Blues” are among the most popular of his more than 150 jazz classics.