Why is jelly roll morton called jelly roll?

Answer 1

At the age of fourteen, Morton began working as a piano player in a brothel (or, as it was referred to then, a sporting house). While working there, he was living with his religious, church-going great-grandmother; he had her convinced that he worked as a night watchman in a barrel factory.

In that atmosphere, he often sang smutty lyrics; he took the nickname "Jelly Roll", which was black slang for female genitalia.

Answer 2

At the age of fourteen, Morton began working as a piano player in a brothel (or, as it was referred to then, a sporting house). While working there, he was living with his religious, church-going great-grandmother; he had her convinced that he worked as a night watchman in a barrel factory. In that atmosphere, he often sang smutty lyrics; he took the nickname "Jelly Roll", which was black slang for female genitalia.

Answer 3

Jelly Roll's name had sexual connotations. Apparently it was a "male organ" back then.