English instructor Phil Pastras makes discovery of a lifetime

              ·'"·A new biography by
PCC assistant English
. ·professor Phil Pastras
\ -will: feature the life of
j, ·the famous' jazz. piapist
, Jelly Roll Morton· '
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BY RACHEL URANGA
Courier Staff Writer ·
. X. elusive past of an innovat~r
of jazz emerged when Phil Pastras
unearthed the memo~rs ·of ·pianist
Jelly Roll Morton.
"This is one of the greatest mo­ments
in my life. Every biographer
dreams that there' s a dusty suitcase
somewhere," said Pastras, who is an in Oregon, whowerepreservingthese · : Anita' Ford who was in atten­assistantprofessorofEnglishatPCC.
treasures as a part of their faJ1lily's dance 'at a conference· held by
For more than 25 years the me- belongings.' '· · :Pastrasinlieuofhisfindings. As .
mentos ofMorton's life on the West · Morton who died in 1941, spent ·.a child, she would sit atop the
Coast sat tucked away in a family's five years on the West Coast from . 'piano listening to Morton play.
keepsakes. · 1917 to 1922. And in 1940, unaware :"I had no idea as a child how great
While trying to uncover the de- that this was the final phase of his .he was," she said.
tailsofMorton'spast,Pastras,ajazz life,hereturned."' •:; 1 ' .,, Up rintil.now jazz buffs and
pianist himself, traced the keep- I · _ . • ..... . ,, • . . • . · , . ,. . :historians 'knew .: little·; about
·sakes and recovered Mortort' s music A · r 1 • · t Morton's iife on the West Coast.
.~. sheets, scrap books, letters, pictures, · mong the collections most :. A testament to his greatness, these
: tickets and newspaper clippings. 'rhe cherished pieces is a previously un- 'remnants of Morton's life deliver
memorabilia had been kept by known letter written by Morton in _answerstomysteriouspartsofhis
Morton's lover, Anita Ford and 1938 to Robert Ripley of "Ripley's past and unravel unexploredpos­passed
down throughhetfamilywhen Believe it or Not" declaring himself sibilities for jazz historians. And
tlley passed away. · · theinnovatorofjazz. Manythought they will certainly herald a new
Putting together the pieces of . Morton had fallen out and was un- 'debate about some of the pres­Morton'
s past have been laboriou~ · able to keep up with the big bang · ently assumed origins of jazz.
task for Pastras, who is currently swing style. But notes and works of OnMarch 13,Pastrasfurnished
writing a book that chroniCles MortonfoundbyPastras, brings new archivist Floyd Levin with the
Morton's years spent on the West revelations to this argument. · collection for appraisal. It will ·
Coast. Buthisefjo~swererewarded "I've seen the recognition he so· eventually be turned over to the
after contacting the relatives ofF ord deserves," said the granddaughter of Smithsonian Museum.