I first met Jelly Roll Morton in Chicago. He was liven' high then. You know, Jelly was a travellin' cat, sharp and good looking' and always bragging about he wrote this and that and the other thing--in fact, everything! And let me tell you this--no one ever won an argument with Jelly either!

Once I was walkin' somewhere with Louis and Lil Armstrong (they were together then), and Lil had got herself a brand new baby grand piano. We all went to Louis' place and Jelly sat down at that piano and really gave us a serenade. He played and played, and after each number he'd turn around on that stool and tell us how he wrote each number and where it came from. It was a real lecture, just for the benefit of me and Lil and Louis.