A rather remarkable thing happened on July 17, 1923 at the studios of Gennett Records in Richmond, Indiana. One of the most popular jazz bands of the previous year, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings, were there to record with “Jelly Roll” Morton, the man who claimed to have “invented jazz in 1902.” That in itself might have been remarkable, but the date was also notable because this may have been the first integrated recording session in jazz history. The Rhythm Kings were an all-white band and Morton was Creole. It was not uncommon at the time for Black musicians to play with their white counterparts in private sessions, but it was not something one saw in professional situations.

Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton was born in New Orleans in 1890 and by the age of 14 was playing piano in a Storyville sporting house. Later he toured with a minstrel show and performed in vaudeville. By his mid-20s Morton was writing down his compositions and in 1915 got one of them, “Jelly Roll Blues,” published. It was one of the first jazz pieces to be published. In 1926 he signed with Victor Records and cut several sides of carefully arranged and rehearsed jazz with his group The Red Hot Peppers. In 1938, while living in Washington, D.C., Morton participated in a series of fascinating recorded interviews with Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress.

Although the New Orleans Rhythm Kings were organized in Chicago and sometimes played under other names, several of the original members were natives to Louisiana who had come north in hopes of finding “better gigs.” In 1921 the group began a 17-month residency at The Friar’s Inn on Chicago’s loop. While there, many aspiring young musicians were frequent members of the audience, including a teen-aged Bix Beiderbecke who occasionally sat in with the band. They were also a tremendous influence on the Austin High Gang, a group of white high school student musicians that included Jimmy McPartland, Bud Freeman and Frank Teschemacher. The Rhythm Kings made their first records just a year before their session with Morton.

Here is a link to one of the tunes they recorded on that July day 103 years ago:

"LONDON BLUES"