“Jelly’s Last Jam” offers a starry showcase of exquisite blues singing, lively jazz playing and energetic tap dancing to tell the fascinating story of an important figure in the history of American music — although not as important as he himself claimed.  In “Jelly’s Last Jam,” the title character has his friend-turned-valet introduce him as “the Jelly Roll Morton: Lover of women, inventor of jazz, and owner of twenty- seven suits.”

When George C. Wolfe made his Broadway debut as the librettist and director of this show three decades ago, using a score of Morton’s instrumental music with newly written lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, the show itself seemed important. It stood out in many ways. It went beyond the usual plotless revues of African-American composers, telling the story of the man and the times in which he lived — and it was willing to present the ugly side of both. If the Encores! concert series revival of the musical no longer feels especially groundbreaking, that’s in part thanks to Wolfe himself, who went even further in such musicals as “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk,” and more recently, “Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed” And yes the Broadway production featured two performers who each has been called the greatest tap dancer of his generation  – Gregory Hines and Savion Glover, respectively as the adult Jelly  and Young Jelly. But the performers in this wonderful production on stage at New York City Center form a powerhouse ensemble…

… including three performers who were in the original cast.

They portray a trio of chorus girls known as the Hunnies — Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Allison M. Williams – who appear on stage even before Jelly Roll Morton, to welcome us to the Jungle Inn, “a lowdown club somewhere’s between Heaven n’ hell” presided over by Billy Porter as the Chimney Man – who turns out to be a kind of celestial gatekeeper. 

It is only then that we meet Jelly Roll Morton himself (Nicholas Christopher, in what may be a star-making performance.) Jelly boasts of how he was ‘made of money,” his hands “dripping with honey” – “in my day.”  

He doesn’t seem to realize at first that his day, and indeed his life, has passed.  He has just died, and Chimney Man is here to guide through his story – and judge him.

Ferdinand Le Menthe Morton was a classically trained musician, son of a  “Creole” family in New Orleans who deny their African-American heritage  — “my ancestors came directly from the shores of France. No coon stock in this Creole” – preferring the relative advantages bestowed on them from their light skin.

But we see Young Jelly (Alaman Diadhiou) drawn to the darker side of town because of its music —   specifically Buddy Bolden (Okierete Onaodowan) who was an actual pioneer of New Orleans-style ragtime as a first-rate cornetist, and Miss Mamie (Tiffany Mann) who was considered (at least in New Orleans for a time) the Queen of the Blues 

His piano-playing as a teenager in “sporting houses” causes a rift with his family. His grandmother who raised him rejects him. Here is the grand dame, known as Gran Mimi, and played by Leslie Uggams:

The show suggests that this rejection by his family helps to break him — or put more bluntly, turns him into a jerk, even with the woman with whom he falls in love, Anita, portrayed by Joaquina Kalukango, here singing: “Play the Music for Me”

Jelly’s life doesn’t end happily, felled by his own arrogance, self-loathing and unkindness, but also destroyed by a virulent racism. He was stabbed, but denied treatment at a whites-only hospital (in Los Angeles!)

But the Jelly Roll Morton in “Jelly’s Last Jam” has (spoiler alert) an upbeat ending. Yes, he’s dead at age 50, but he finally admits his attitude was wrong, singing:

“Creole boy once way back when 
Had the whole world singin’ had this sound in him, hey!
A pain too heavy to say
a pain he started to play inside every note of his 
Is what he came from… Who he is 
Inside every note of his
is what he came from… Who he is “

Jelly’s Last Jam
New York City Center through March 3
Running time: Approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes with one intermission
Tickets: $45 – $165
Written by George C. Wolfe
Music by Jelly Roll Morton,  lyrics by Susan Birkenhead 
Musical Adaptation & Additional Music Composed By Luther Henderson 
Directed by Robert O’Hara
Tap Choreography Dormeshia, choreography by Edgar Godineaux
Music Director Jason Michael Webb 
Scenic design by Clint Ramos, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Adam Honoré, sound design by Megumi Katayama, hair and wig design by J. Jared Janas
Cast: Nicholas Christopher as Jelly, John Clay III as Jack the Bear, Alaman Diadhiou as Young Jelly, Joaquina Kalukango as Anita, Tiffany Mann as Miss Mamie, Okierete Onaodowan as Buddy Bolden, Billy Porter as Chimney Man, Leslie Uggams as Gran Mimi, as well as original Broadway cast members Mamie Duncan-Gibbs, Stephanie Pope Lofgren, and Allison M. Williams who reprise their roles as the Hunnies
Ensemble: Topherj.Babb, Raymond Baynard, Shawn Bowers, Reese Britts, Crystal Burton, Amanda Castro, Joshua Dawson, John Edwards, Ari Groover, Morgan McGhee Charlotte Mckinley, Jodeci Milhouse, Ramone Nelson, Paul Niebanck, James Patterson, Antonia Raye ,Salome Smith, Taylor Mackenzie Smith, Funmi Sofola,  Jordan Simone Stephens, Renell Anthony Taylor, Nasia Thomas, Sir Brock Warren, Chanse Williams