During the nineteenth century, people from all over the World would come to New Orleans, creating a melting pot of different ethnical and cultural origins. A fine example to illustrate this situation is the ‘Créoles’. Descending from French and African families, they had whiter skins than the blacks, but darker skins than the whites; they identified themselves with their European parents and learned the ways of classical music, though they also had a strong attachment with their afro origins.
Jelly Roll Morton, an essential character of the American music history, is a shine example. Born Ferdinand Joseph La Menthe, this proud ‘créole’ of color was claimed an essential name on the origin of Jazz, for he was among the first to create a relevant amount of compositions for the genre. Before him, the piano was basically a lady’s instrument on his environment – but one day, he saw a man playing a beautiful piece of Ragtime, and then he realized piano was not only an instrument for women, but for anyone - as long as this 'anyone' could play 'the keyboards' with excellence. Jelly Roll Morton, whose nickname was a synonym for sexual movements, became an exceptional piano player. After all, knew how to blend the elements of Ragtime, Ministrelcy and Blues together into a new, complex and improvised kind of music. This new-born style of improvising, dynamic and creative patterns would become by the way America's main musical identity on the years to come.