TV REVIEWS : ‘Jammin’ ’ Gets to the Root of Morton

What makes “Jammin’: Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway” (at 9 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28 and KPBS-TV Channel 15) different from other backstage looks at the making of a musical is its focus. Going past the usual sore muscles and personal glimpses, it launches into a discussion of why, when he made “Jelly’s Last Jam,” George C. Wolfe zeroed in on Morton, a man who had rejected his roots and blackness, as a symbol of the African-American struggle with identity.

The terms of that transaction, Wolfe tells us, dictated the form the musical would take. And the complexity of the idea forced a concept that would put danger, intelligence and sexuality on stage.

Narrated by Denzel Washington, “Jammin’ ” incorporates background and archival footage of Morton with cuts from the show itself, along with conversations with performers, Wolfe and other members of the creative team.

Morton, who clung to the illusory European values of the educated, middle-class Creole family that rejected him, was raised on French opera but drawn to the African sounds he heard in the New Orleans streets. These contradictions ideally served Wolfe’s purpose.

But what about putting it all together? “Jammin’ ” tells us more than it shows us, as lyricist Susan Birkenhead and adapter/composer Luther Henderson talk about the process of working with Morton’s music--and the challenge of keeping up with an intrepid director intent on breaking bounds and precedent, but whose ideas were not always clearly articulated.

We see members of the “Jelly’s Last Jam” company being playful with each other but having their struggle, too, embracing the more unsettling aspects of their roles--particularly a satirical “chorus of coons” exploding the minstrel show that “made the actors crazy.”

Those are the asides that humanize this “Great Performances” hour, along with perceptive comments from Gregory Hines, who had his own conflicts about playing the unsavory Morton.

“Wolfe is extraordinarily provocative while at the same time being very entertaining,” says Margo Lion, one of “Jam’s” producers. “Jammin’ ” is an opportunity to better understand what goes into those dynamics.