© 2007-12 Chris Farnham

In the 1940’s the idea of dancing to anything other than a live band would have been laughed at. Club and Dance Hall owners needed live music to keep the punters on the dance floors. On Saturdays, when the night spots were packed, eighteen piece Big Bands played covers of the latest Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington or Benny Goodman tunes - but what about Wednesday or Thursday when there were less customers to pay for the musicians?

Smaller bands provided music on weekdays. These were often black musicians who could be hired for less. Many of these black Americans had migrated from the rural south to the industrial northern cities to find work. Their background was the blues but the venues were large dance halls and with just a handful of players, they were still expected to make the “joint jump”. Musicians like Wynonie Harris and Big Joe Turner filled the venues with high energy, blues based, swing music, inspiring equally high energy dances like the Lindy Hop.

The most successful Jump Blues artist, Louis Jordan, was an influence on subsequent musicians as diverse as Ray Charles, BB King, Joe Jackson and Jamaican ska bands, and Wynonie Harris’ singing style was a strong influence on Elvis Presley. In 1953 Louis Jordan was dropped by his record company in favour of Bill Haley and the Comets - white musicians playing cleaned up versions of Jump Blues songs, and marketed under the name “Rock n Roll”.  

Jump Blues is the lost art form and the ancestor of everything that has followed. And if you play those scratchy recordings from the 40s or early 50s you still can’t help but jump, jive and wail!