| Jump blues | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Blues big band swing Boogie Woogie |
| Cultural origins | Late 1930's |
| Typical instruments | saxophone, brass instruments, rhythm guitar, acoustic bass, drums |
| Mainstream popularity | United States, 1940s to early 1950s |
| Fusion genres | |
| Rock music, Rock and roll, Rhythm & Blues | |
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s and was called "rock and roll" in the 1950s.
Contents |
Origins
Jump evolved from big bands such as those of Lionel Hampton and Lucky Millinder. These early 1940s bands produced musicians such as Louis Jordan, Jack McVea, Earl Bostic, and Arnett Cobb.[1]
Blues and jazz were part of the same musical world, with many accomplished musicians straddling both genres.[2] Jump blues, or simply "jump," was an extension of the boogie craze.[3] 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 style.[4]
An early recording jump blues can be found in Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1941) by The Andrews Sisters.
Lionel Hampton recorded a stomping big band blues, "Flying Home," in 1942. Featuring a choked, screaming tenor sax performance, the song was a hit in the "race" category. Both Hampton and Jordan combined the popular boogie-woogie rhythm, a grittier version of swing-era saxophone styles as exemplified by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, and playful, humorous lyrics or verbal asides laced with jive talk.[5]
As this urban, jazz-based music became more popular, both bluesmen and jazz musicians who wanted to "play for the people" began favoring a heavy, insistent beat. This music appealed to black listeners who no longer wished to be identified with "life down home."[6]
Jump accomplishes with three horns and a rhythm section what a big band does with an ensemble of sixteen. The tenor saxophone is the most prominent instrument in jump.[7] Jump groups, employed to play for jitterbugs at a much lower cost than big bands, became very popular with agents and ballroom owners. Saxophonist Art Chaney said "[w]e were insulted" when an audience wouldn't dance.[4]
Jump was enormously popular in the late Forties and early Fifties through artists such as Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner, Roy Brown, Billy Wright and Wynonie Harris.
Jump blues was relabeled rock and roll in the 1950s.
Revival
It was revived in the 1980s by artists such as Joe Jackson and Brian Setzer and is performed today by bands like "MoPac and The Blue Suburbans" and "Mitch Woods and His Rocket 88s." Contemporary swing bands such as Lavay Smith, Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums Featuring Miss Carmen Getit, Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley and Stompy Jones also include many classic jump blues numbers in their repertoire, writing original songs in this style as well. (See also Swing Revival.)
Further reading
- Cohn, Lawrence; Humphrey, Mark A.. Nothing but the blues: the music and the musicians. Abbeville Press. ISBN 1-5589-271-7.
- Dietsche, Robert (2005). Jumptown: The golden years of Portland jazz, 1942-1957. Oregon State University Press. ISBN 0-87071-114-8.
- Palmer, Robert (1981). Deep Blues: A Musical and Cultural History of the Mississippi Delta. Viking Adult. ISBN 978-0670495115.
- Wald, Elijah (2004). Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues. HarperCollins. ISBN 0060524235.
References
See also
- African American music
- Billy Wright
- Roomful of Blues
- Jackie Brenston
- Jimmy Liggins
- Louis Prima
- Ruth Brown
- LaVern Baker
- Wynonie Harris
- Roy Brown
- Jimmy McCracklin
- Jimmy Nelson
- Joe Liggins
- Smiley Lewis
- Atomic Fireballs
- Lavay Smith
External links
- Lindy Hop Style of Dancing used with Jump Blues
- Swing and Jump Blues Guitar Jump Blues Guitar
- Short History of Jump Blues The Big Heat
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