Frog-i-more rag – Free Jazz Lead Sheet
Bb to Eb Major – Jelly Roll Morton 1918
'Frog-i-More Rag' is an early ragtime composition associated with Jelly Roll Morton. Probably written around 1908, it was later copyrighted by Morton in 1918 and recorded by him in 1924. Its syncopated rhythms and structured ragtime form reflect the musical world from which early jazz developed.
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'Frog-i-More Rag' is an early ragtime composition associated with Jelly Roll Morton, who probably wrote it around 1908 to accompany a vaudeville performer known as 'Frog-i-More', a contortionist who appeared in a frog costume. Morton later deposited the music for copyright in 1918, and the manuscript preserved by the Library of Congress is written in his own hand.
Morton recorded the rag twice in 1924, although only one of those recordings survives. Its history connects the piece with Morton's early piano repertoire and with the development of ragtime into the structured, improvisatory language of early jazz.
About the composer: Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton (1890–1941) was an influential American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader who played a major role in the development of early jazz. He combined ragtime, blues and improvisation with carefully structured compositions, helping establish jazz as a distinctive musical form. His surviving manuscripts and recordings provide important evidence of the development of early jazz during the first decades of the twentieth century.
