The Blues and Jazz

1.

African retentions 

a.

solo performance of vocals with instrumental accompaniment, akin to West African griots

Bukka White singing Aberdeen Mississippi Blues (1967) 

b.

reliance on pentatonic (five note) scale 

c.

"vocalizations" such as melisma and timbral variation employed by instruments (slide guitar, harmonica slurs, horn multiphonics)

Whistler's Jug Band playing Foldin' Bed (1930) 

2.

plantation and work songs 

3.

minstrel music, spirituals 

4.

popular dance music, rural ballads 

Refers to all the acoustic guitar-driven styles of the blues 

1.

Composer W.C. Handy reports seeing a hobo playing "blues" in a Tutwiler train station in 1903: "A lean, loose-jointed Negro had commenced plunking a guitar beside me while I slept. As he played, he pressed a knife on the strings of the guitar...the effect was unforgettable. His song, too, struck me instantly: 'Goin' where the Southern cross' the Dog,' the singer repeated three times, accompanying himself on guitar with the weirdest music I had ever heard." 

2.

Charlie Patton, arriving at the Dockery Plantation in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta in 1900 at age nine, pursues instruction/inspiration from bluesman Henry Sloan; Patton becomes one of the most influential singer/guitarists in blues history. 

3.

"By 1910, the golden age of the Mississippi Delta Bluesman had cemented itself firmly in the regional culture of African Americans. No Saturday night "juke," barrelhouse, or holiday function was complete without blues musicians. The early bluesmen worked traditional routes throughout the Delta, using trains and dirt roads." - James Miller, The Origins of the Mississippi Delta Blues, historicaltextarchive.com

Skip James singing Crow Jane (1967) 

4.

Traveling African-American bluesmen and "songsters," pianists, as well as soloists with transportable instruments, perform blues, rags, popular songs, and dance music from Virginia to Texas, recording regional "race records" that reach audiences nationwide. 

5.

1960s revival of interest in Delta blues spurred by Columbia Records' release of early bluesman Robert Johnson's two recording sessions from 1936 and '37; rediscovery of aging stars and emergence of unknown semi-professionals.

Bluesman Roy Rogers on Robert Johnson (1999) 

Refers to the first blues songs to be recorded, mostly by female vocalists using jazz accompanists. 

1.

Mamie Smith's recording of Crazy Blues, written by Perry Bradford, issued by Okeh Records on August 10, 1920, sells an estimated 75,000 copies in the first month, one million in the first year, kicking off nationwide craze for female vocalists performing with piano and/or small band accompaniment.

Ida Cox singing Four Day Creep (1939) 

2.

Ma Rainey of the Rabbit Foot Minstrel Show tours Theater Owners' Booking Association (TOBA) circuit in the 1920s. 

3.

Bessie Smith, a Ma Rainey protege, records for Columbia Records from 1923-'33, dies 1937. 

4.

Survivors of the 1920s Classic Blues era, including Alberta Hunter, Victoria Spivey, and Sippie Wallace, enjoy late life career renewal through efforts of 1960s and '70s white folk, country, and rock musicians.

Jerry Reed and Chet Atkins playing Jerry's Breakdown (1976) 

Refers to a more sophisticated, "polished" style of the blues, usually with lyrics depicting city life - its opportunities and dark realities. 

1.

Tampa Red and Georgia Tom Dorsey (later, father of gospel music) join forces in Chicago, 1928, recording bawdy blues as "The Hokum Boys"; Red welcomes southern bluesmen in Chicago into the 1950s. 

2.

T-Bone Walker, first electric blues guitarist, wins spot with Cab Calloway band in 1930.  

3.

jazz pianist Count Basie's big band, inspired by Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, specializes in "head arrangements" featuring blues-to-jazz instrumental soloists and singers in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s such as Jimmy Rushing.

Jimmy Rushing (with the Count Basie Band) singing I Left My Baby (1957)  

4.

Muddy Waters emigrates from Stovall's Plantation to Chicago in 1943 and forms band with two electric guitars (himself and Buddy Guy), drums, bass, sometimes piano (Otis Spann), and/or harmonica (Little Walter Jacobs), establishing enduring format, circa 1950.

Otis Spann singing and playing Spann's Blues (1963)

Howlin' Wolf singing How Many More Years (1966) 

5.

Crossover to rock 'n' roll. 

a.

South: New Orleans (Fats Domino), Memphis (Elvis Presley, B.B. King)

Elvis Presley singing Jailhouse Rock (1957) 

b.

Midwest: Kansas City (Big Joe Turner)

Big Joe Turner singing Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1967) 

c.

Chess Records' artists Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

Chuck Berry singing and playing Johnny B. Goode (1958) 

d.

Atlantic Records artist Ruth Brown. 

e.

Ray Charles' gospel infusion.

Ray Charles singing What I'd Say (1963)

Etta James singing Something Got a Hold On Me (1962) 

6.

Blues Revivals 

a.

1960s folk music movement rediscovers aged blues musicians

Skip James singing Crow Jane (1967)

Bukka White singing Poor Boy (1965) 

b.

1960s folk musicians are influenced by and perform the blues, e.g., Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan (1965) 

c.

1960s British rock invasion influenced by and performs the blues, e.g., John Mayall, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin 

d.

1960s American rock musicians are influenced by and perform the blues, e.g., Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Taj Mahal, Allman Brothers

Jimi Hendrix singing and playing Killing Floor

Janis Joplin singing Ball & Chain (1969) 

e.

1980s: the Blues Brothers combine comedy with the blues

The Blues Brothers Theatrical Trailer (1980) 

f.

1980s and '90s: the blues hits Broadway, e.g., Ruth Brown staring in Black and Tan 

1.

2003: The U.S. Congress declares 2003 the “Year of the Blues” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of W.C. Handy’s first encounter with blues music; renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese produces "The Blues," a seven-film television series of personal and impressionistic films viewed through the lens of seven world-famous directors 

2.

2006: President George W. Bush awards blues icon, B.B. King, the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to American culture 

3.

2008: B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opens in B.B. King’s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi. 

4.

2012: President Barack Obama hosts Red, White, and Blues at the White House, featuring performances by Mick Jagger, B.B. King, and Buddy Guy. 

5.

2016: The National Blues Museum opens in St. Louis, with a mission of being "the Premier Entertainment and Educational Resource Focusing on the Blues as the Foundation of American Music” 

6.

Today: blues continues to develop, fusing the blues sensibility with jazz, hip-hop, alternative rock, neo-soul, and other musics

Chaka Khan and "Rufus" performing Somethin' Good