Jump blues was presented in show promotions and record packaging of the day as a natural continuation of big band music. Indeed, it evolved from a certain strain of swing, that which was produced by the Midwestern and southwestern territory bands. These were the bands that played the ballrooms of places like Dallas, Oklahoma City, Omaha, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Detroit. They usually reached the peak of their renown when they played Kansas City, the hottest of the mid-American musical hotbeds.
Dancing audiences primarily wanted to hear repeated riffs over a big, solid beat and a simple blues-based progression. Even such west-coast orchestras as those of Les Hite and Lionel Hampton derived much of their identities from soloists that came from the territory bands. Hite’s guitarist Aaron “T-Bone” Walker and Hampton’s tenor sax squealer Illinois Jacquet were both graduates of the Dallas-based Milt Larkin band.
By the late 1940s, black America was listening to what it still saw as an array of dance orchestras, much like those that had provided its entertainment ten and fifteen years before. These new units, however, led by such rhythm-happy maestros as Louis Jordan, Johnny Otis, Joe Liggins, Roy Milton, Big Jay McNeely, Joe Lutcher, Tiny Bradshaw, Earl Bostic and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, had distilled black dance music to an even simpler essence. Chord progressions and scale choices rarely strayed beyond the conventions of the blues. Saxes moaned and growled with a fire previously reserved for muted trumpets and voices. Guitars twanged with the amplified sustain of bending stings.
Many big names in jazz left their marks on rhythm and blues. John Coltrane played with Earl Bostic early in his career. Charles Mingus appeared on early sides by Wynonie Harris. Lester Young played the second tenor sax on Big Jay McNeely’s “Deacon’s Hop.” Dinah Washington could easily maneuver between jazz and r&b in her material choice and delivery.
