Author and musician Elijah Wald has written numerous books including works about Robert Johnson, Dave Van Ronk, Bob Dylan and a number of other topics. His latest book is Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories. At the heart of this book is a recording of Jelly Roll Morton from the Library of Congress, recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax in 1938, but the full recording was not released until 2005. KPR’s Tom Parkinson asked Elijah Wald how he felt when he first discovered these recordings.
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Elijah Wald was speaking with Kansas Public Radio’s Tom Parkinson. Wald will be discussing his book, Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories, at the Kansas Book Festival at Washburn University in Topeka tomorrow (SAT) and Sunday afternoon at the Lawrence Public Library. In his role as a performing bluesman, he will be playing a house concert in Kansas City tonight (FRI). Information about all of his appearances and more about his books can be found on his website: elijahwald.com.