Author and musician Elijah Wald will present a combination talk and concert at the Woods Hole Public Library on Monday, September 16, at 6:30 pm. Wald’s newest book, “Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories”, is a journey through the censored voices of early blues and jazz, guided by the songs and memories of Jelly Roll Morton. Morton became famous in the 1920s as a composer and bandleader, but got his start as a singer and pianist entertaining customers in the honky-tonks and bordellos of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He recorded an oral history of that time in 1938 for the Library of Congress, but the most distinctive songs were hidden for over fifty years, because the language and themes were as wild and raunchy as anything in today’s most explicit rap lyrics.
Wald says Morton’s songs inspired him to explore how much other history was locked away and censored in the early years of the twentieth century, and “Jelly Roll Blues” is the result. Full of previously unpublished lyrics and stories, it provides an alternate view of the dawn of American popular music, when jazz and blues were still the private, after-hours music of the Black sporting world, and in particular of the women who were that world’s most celebrated figures. For his presentation at the Woods Hole Public Library, Wald will not only talk about his research in writing the book, but will also play some of the music referenced in the history. Despite the racy themes underpinning his research, Wald has assured that he will keep his presentation PG for the library audience!
As the son of two prominent scientists, Elijah Wald grew up visiting Woods Hole in the summer. He began playing music at age 7, and went on to be a touring musician for many years. He was formerly in charge of the Boston Globe’s “world music” coverage, in addition to contributing articles to various other newspapers and magazines. He has an interdisciplinary PhD in ethnomusicology and sociolinguistics, and taught for several years in the musicology department at UCLA. His previous books include “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music” and “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan and the Night That Split the Sixties.”
This talk and concert is free and open to the public, and will take place in the lower level meeting room at the Woods Hole Public Library at 581 Woods Hole Road.