These recordings revived Morton's career, although briefly. He returned to New York in 1939 and started playing in jam sessions, which he abhorred as they ran counter to his approach to music. When he heard that his godmother had died in Los Angeles in November 1940, Morton left New York to care for his godfather. But Morton's own health was failing, and he died in Los Angeles, in July 1941, of complications from heart trouble and asthma.
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