Also listed as: Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers Jelly-Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (October 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who started his career in New Orleans, Louisiana. Widely recognized as a pivotal figure in early jazz, Morton is perhaps most notable as jazz's first arranger