Re: defining klezmer (and jazz and rock 'n roll)

[BarMusProd <BarMusProd...>]

Dear Gang,

I haven't been following this much, but the jazz subject caught my eye. 
Marvin >physchem (at) earthlink(dot)net< was responding to Robert Cohen, I 
think.

In a message dated 2/20/00 9:15:40 PM, physchem (at) earthlink(dot)net writes:

>Yes, and knowing the background makes the meaning of some classical jazz
>
>numbers come through.  Did you ever wonder about the lyrics that go:
>
>"Jelly, Jelly, Jelly on my mind.
>
>Jelly roll killed my daddy and left my mammy stone blind"?
>
>Think sex, and the meaning is obvious.

Yes, indeedy. "Jelly" and "Jelly Roll" did not mean only sex, but was often a 
specific reference to the (forgive me, in public) vagina or at least the 
female genitalia. One of the first times that I caught this as a high 
schooler (I didn't know Jelly Roll Morton's music at the time--one of his 
nicknames was "Mr. Jelly Lord" [indeed!]) was a Glenn Miller(!) tune entitled 
"It Must Be Jelly 'Cause Jam Don't Shake Like That." It was a band vocal 
blues, and all of a sudden the little light bulb went off in this 
adolescent's brain, that maybe more than something that comes in a jar was 
being implied here.

One of the great books that I'm afraid is out of print for a long time is 
Robert S. Gold's _A Jazz Lexicon_ (Knopf). If you ever see it in a used 
bookstore (or online) grab it. It's a fascinating resource, with citations 
and dates of first use in print like the OED. 

Just in case, I did check, and it confirmed my suspicions about "Jelly." And 
now I'm hungry for breakfast. I wonder why that is.

Not knowing where this started, where is the Klezmer connection?

Best wishes,
Steve

Steve Barnett
Composer/Arranger/Producer
Barnett Music Productions
BarMusProd (at) aol(dot)com 

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