Mark G Meadows (Jelly Roll Morton) with the cast of Jelly’s Last Jam (Christopher Mueller)

When someone dies, obituaries, eulogies, and even conversations among friends tend to be painted with a rosy hue. But in Jelly’s Last Jam, Jelly Roll Morton doesn’t get away so easily.

That’s the high concept driving this musical revue of songs written by the late Morton (Mark G. Meadows), an instrumental figure in the early development of jazz — though perhaps not as instrumental as the self-proclaimed inventor of the genre would like everyone to believe. Morton has just met his maker, and Chimney Man (Cleavant Derricks), the guardian to the gates, is the emcee for one last big night on stage.

But there’s a catch — Morton has to unflinchingly look back at his entire life missteps and all, and this is an exercise he is not inclined to face with open eyes.

A George C. Wolfe musical that first came to the stage in the early ’90s, Jelly’s Last Jam provides a similar warts-and-all look into the conflicted musician’s life. Morton was full of bravado, yet often filled with a sense of shame; he was quick to brag about his Creole roots but denied his black ancestry, and would lash out at his friends of color. Director Matthew Gardiner shows the flawed hero do this again and again, particularly to his most loyal friends, Jack the Bear (Guy Lockard) and Anita (Felicia Boswell), a formidable woman who loved him in spite of his cutting, womanizing ways.

Morton’s ghosts eerily come to life throughout the play, including a chilling matriarch (the majestic Iyona Blake) who threw him out as a child. The theme is further brought to life during a disquieting version of “Dr. Jazz” that closes out Act One, with a chorus of jerky, aggressive performers in blackface surrounding Morton as if part of a bad dream.

The jazz legend can be a less-than-sympathetic figure right up to the end of his life, and his sudden redemption at the show’s conclusion feels abrupt and unearned. Another complication for the production is that while Meadows is truly a remarkable piano player, his stage presence and acting is at times upstaged by a seasoned, sizzling supporting cast. Still, Meadows is a natural, even realistic presence as Morton.

But it’s those around him that bring the most dynamic energy to Jelly’s Last Jam. The tap dancing is incredible (even atop a moving piano), the costumes sparkle, and the vocals soar. The chorus is typically first-rate for a Signature production, with performers like Nova Y. Payton doing double-duty as a background singer and an early friend to Morton working the crowd at every opportunity.

The show’s most emotional numbers are transformed into stunners by singers like Boswell (“Play the Music for Me” is a knockout torch song for the gifted singer). If there’s one argument this Jelly makes with ease, it’s that Morton was surrounded by greatness that he really shouldn’t have taken for granted.

Jelly’s Last Jam runs through September 11 at Signature Theatre. Tickets ($40-$103) are available online.