Jump Blues
Jump Blues evolved out of the up-tempo blues or “stomp blues”, influenced by the big band sounds of Lionel Hampton, Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Count Basie (just to name a few). In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the sounds were tied to the big band versions of styles in Jazz, the Boogie Woogie revival and Urban Blues (updated and related to the country acoustic blues from the south). Jump Blues is now considered part of the 40s/50s R&B label, as is the Boogie Woogie revival, Urban Blues, Gospel and folk Blues (which was previously labeled “Race Records”.
The Jump Blues style relies upon the brass and rhythm sections, that were experimenting with a newer shuffle or “8 to the bar” style rhythms which goes hand in hand with Boogie Woogie. In Jump Blues, the drums and rhythm sections were changing the beat up drastically, as opposed to the older (1920s & 1930s) swing rhythms or the contemporary swinging rhythms of the Big Bands and Sweet Bands of the and 1940s. The brass phrases were becoming more rhythmic and acted more as an accompaniment to the beat (which had hints of the back-beat, so defining of the 1950s R&B and Rock & Roll genres to come later).
This new style was very danceable and caught on quickly after its incubation period during World War II. New bands started having success with the genre headed by Louis Jordan, Jack McVea, Earl Bostic and Arnett Cob and their respective bands, especially in the late 1940s. The music was hot, fast, and humorous and made you “jump”, hence the name – Jump Blues.
The Pioneers of Jump Blues and R&B
It is generally accepted (with varying opinions), that the first Jump Blues, and for that matter, the first R&B record was recorded by Lionel Hampton’s big band song “Flying Home (No. 1)”, featuring tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet’s hot raunchy solo. The music was popular amongst the “Hep Cats” or “Hepsters”, who were young and energetic dancers. Lionel Hampton had further success in the new genre with tunes like “Hey Bop a Re-Bop” and “Hamp’s Boogie”.
Cab Calloway (the Hi-De-Ho Man) was a big influence on Jump Blues and the Hepsters, as far back as the early 1930s, with songs like, the famous “Minnie the Moocher”, “St. James Infirmary” and “The Reefer Man”. He was influential in the Hepster culture as being the jive talking Hep-Cat who showed off his gliding back step Hepster dance moves (which predated Michael Jackson’s “moon walking” by 40 years).
Count Basie was another major influence to Jump Blues with “One O’clock Jump”, “Jumpin’ at the Woodside”, “Going To Chicago”, “Sent For You Yesterday” (the last two songs, featuring Jimmy Rushing’s “blues shouting” vocals), and you can hear humorous Jump Blues elements the Count’s version of “Open the Door Richard!”
Other Jump Blues influencers were Jack McVea’s All Stars featuring T-Bone Walker on “Bobby Sox Blues” and McVea’s version of “Open the Door Richard!”; Earl Bostic had an R&B #6 hit with “Sleep” and also an R&B #1 hit with “Flamingo”; and the wild man of the tenor sax, himself, Arnett Cobb blasted a scorching solo on Lionel Hamptons “Flying Home (No. 2)”.
Please see the next post for the Jump Blues as popular music.