(1885–1941)
a US jazz piano player who is regarded as the first great writer of jazz music. He helped to develop ragtime into New Orleans jazz. He was born Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe Morton in New Orleans . He formed a band, the Red Hot Peppers, in 1926 and made many recordings with them. His works include Jelly Roll Blues (1905) and Black Bottom Stomp (1925). In 1998 Morton was chosen for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a person who had influenced that type of music.