Jump blues
Jump blues | |
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Stylistic origins | |
Cultural origins | Late 1930s, U.S. |
Fusion genres | |
Jump blues is an
Origins
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Jump blues evolved from the music of
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Louis_Jordan%27s_Typany_Five%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_between_1946_and_1948_%28William_P._Gottlieb_04751%29.jpg/220px-Louis_Jordan%27s_Typany_Five%2C_New_York%2C_N.Y.%2C_between_1946_and_1948_%28William_P._Gottlieb_04751%29.jpg)
One important stylistic prototype in the development of R&B was jump blues, pioneered by Louis Jordan, with ... His Tympany Five ... three horns and a rhythm section, while stylistically his music melded elements of swing and blues, incorporating the shuffle rhythm, boogie-woogie bass lines, and short horn patterns or riffs. The songs featured the use of African American vernacular language, humor, and vocal call-and-response sections between Jordan and the band. Jordan’s music appealed to both African American and white audiences, and he had broad success with hit songs like "Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby" (1944).[5]
Blues and jazz were part of the same musical world, with many musicians straddling both genres.[6] Jump bands such as the Tympany Five, which came into being at the same time as the boogie-woogie revival, achieved maximum effect with an eight-to-the-bar boogie-woogie style.[7]
Jordan's "raucous recordings" with the Tympany Five like "Saturday Night Fish Fry", one of the first to feature a distorted electric guitar,[8] "literally made its listeners jump to its pulsing beat".[9] At least two other Jordan records are viewed as jump blues, Caldonia and Choo Choo Ch'Boogie.[10]
Jordan's jump blues combined good-natured novelty lyrics (some with suggestive double meanings); pushing the tempo; strengthening the beat; layering the sound with his bluesy saxophone and playful melodies.[11]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Drummer-and-Vibrafonist-Lionel-Hampton-during-a-show-in-Stockholm-consert-hall-142452987990.jpg/220px-Drummer-and-Vibrafonist-Lionel-Hampton-during-a-show-in-Stockholm-consert-hall-142452987990.jpg)
Both Hampton and Jordan combined the popular boogie-woogie rhythm, a grittier version of swing-era saxophone styles as exemplified by
As this urban, jazz-based music became more popular, musicians who wanted to "play for the people" began favoring a heavy, insistent beat. which appealed to black listeners who no longer wished to be identified with "life down home".[13]
Jump groups, employed to play for jitterbug dances at a much lower cost than big bands, became popular with agents and ballroom owners. The saxophonist Art Chaney said "[w]e were insulted when an audience wouldn't dance".[7]
Jump was especially popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s, through artists such as
By the mid-1950s, jump blues had been all but forgotten, with a few exceptions such as "Five Guys Named Moe" and some songs from the 1980s, by The Honeydrippers.[16]
The term "rock and roll" had a strong sexual connotation in jump blues and R&B, but by the time DJ Alan Freed referred to rock and roll in the mid 50s, "the sexual component had been dialled down enough that it simply became an acceptable term for dancing".[17]
See also
References
- ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. All Music Guide to Country: The Definitive Guide to Country Music. p. 912
- ^ ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
- ^ Dietsche, pp. 9–10.
- ^ a b Considine, J. D. (5 December 1993). "The missing link in the evolution of rock and roll JUMP BLUES". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Tell It Like It is: A History of Rhythm and Blues | Smithsonian Folklife". Archived from the original on 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2021-02-21.
- ^ Wald, p. 198.
- ^ a b Dietsche, p. 9.
- ISBN 0-571-12939-0.
- ^ "Louis Jordan: 'Jukebox King'". NPR. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ Listen to the Blues! Exploring a Musical Genre, James E. Perone, 2019, page 93
- ^ "Jump Blues – Grandfather of Rock 'n' Roll". Ampopmusic.com. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ a b Palmer, p. 134.
- ^ Palmer, p. 146.
- ^ "Big Joe Turner". Blues.org. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Roll Over, Ike Turner". Texas Monthly. December 1, 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
Citing its unmistakable resemblance to Chuck Berry's later work, its lyrical instruction to "rock awhile," and the way the guitar crackled through an overdriven amp
- ^ "The missing link in the evolution of rock and roll JUMP BLUES". The Baltimore Sun. December 5, 1993. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
- ^ "The unexpected origins of music's most well-used terms". BBC. October 12, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
its meaning covering both sex and dancing
Further reading
- Cohn, Lawrence; Humphrey, Mark A. (1993). Nothing but the Blues: The Music and the Musicians. Abbeville Press. ISBN 1-55859-271-7.
- Dietsche, Robert (2005). Jumptown: The Golden Years of Portland Jazz, 1942–1957. Oregon State University Press. ISBN 0-87071-114-8.
- ISBN 978-0-670-49511-5.
- ISBN 0-06-052423-5.
External links
- Richie Unterberger: Jump Blues at AllMusic Archived 2011-08-29 at the Wayback Machine