Styles: Club Blues and Jazz
In the 1940s, what would later become rhythm and blues can be understood by examining the music, its performers, the type of venue where the music was being performed and noted specific styles. For instance, "club" blues and jazz, and "bar band" blues refer to venues, while jump blues and doo-wop describe particular styles. Not all of these terms and categorizations were used in the 1940s. At the time, reviews in trade journals such as Billboard used a different taxonomy. Publications described recordings on a macro level as blues, boogie tunes, novelty recordings, or ballads, the latter term referring to anything with a slow tempo. It was common to refer to up-tempo, blues-based recordings as "jump blues" or "boogie-woogie."
In addition, writers in the 1940s and early 1950s often described a particular vocal style with phrases such as "shout style blues vocal," "rocking blues shout," "blues shout," "stomp shout," etc. In 1949, people would refer to a style of tenor saxophone playing as a "honking sax," "honking tenor," and so on. This lesson will cover club blues and jazz, jump blues (aka, boogie-woogie), bar band blues, urban blues, and doo-wop.
Club Blues and Jazz
Let's begin with club blues and jazz. The term "club" denotes that, for the most part, these artists gigged (a musician term referring to performed) in supper clubs as opposed to bars, ballrooms, theatres, or juke joints.
So-called supper clubs, such as the Club Alabam, Cocoanut Grove, and Dunbar Hotel were in Los Angeles, while Café Society, Copacabana, El Morocco, Rainbow Room, and Blue Angels Supper Club were in New York.
Hazel Scott
These social clubs featured music artists while people dined, listened to the music, or danced. Blues and jazz clubs originated in Los Angeles and New York City. Independent record labels such as Gilt Edge, Aladdin, Modern, Specialty, and Imperial supported these clubs. Some prominent early artists included Charles Brown (1922-1999), Nat King Cole (1919-1965), Martha Davis (1917-1960), and Cecil Gant (1913-1951). These pianist/vocalists worked in a duo or trio format (piano plus some combination of bass, guitar, and drums), singing equal amounts of straight twelve-bar blues and thirty-bar/AABA format.
The music played in these supper clubs was blues (or blues-influenced), jazz (often vocal), or a jazz arrangement of a classical piece. Whether at supper clubs, on TV, or in variety shows, groups that ranged from a small combo to a large orchestra accompanied vocalists, adding flair and excellent musicianship to the performance. Such is the case in this vocal jazz recording of "September in the Rain" (1960) by Dinah Washington, which reached no. 23 on the Billboard Hot chart, and no. 6 on the R & B chart. As heard, especially with the orchestral accompaniment and the absence of the AAB stanza and twelve-bar blues progression, this is not the typical rhythm and blues sound. Regardless, nearly all styles of secular (or non-religious music) music during the 1940s to 1950s were categorized as rhythm and blues.
Dinah Washington - September In The Rain [ 00:00-00:00 ]
Sh-Boom
Oh, life could be a dream
(Sh-boom)
If I could take you up in paradise up above
(Sh-boom)
If you would tell me I'm the only one that you love
Life could be a dream, sweetheart
Sweet Lorraine
Just found joy
I'm as happy as a baby boy,
baby boy
With another brand new
choo-choo choy
When I met my sweet Lorraine, Lorraine, Lorraine