Introduction
Jump Blues, dating from the 1940s, was the fusion of swing jazz with blues which grew out of big band swing to feature small groups. Its most famous promoter was Louis Jordan, with his groovy rhythms and catchy riffs on songs such as Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby (1943); it bridged the gap between both jazz and the early rock ’n’ roll that followed, influencing pretty much every kind of pop music since.
The instrumentation here is key: horn sections of saxophones and trumpets, piano, double bass, drums, and often guitar are all essential parts of the Jump Blues sound, with the horn section layering punchy melodies and syncopation onto the steady rhythm provided by the rhythm section of bass and drums. The piano adds a bluesy spice with its own melodic runs, and where it is accompanied by the guitar, this adds a harmonic and rhythmic texture throughout.
Exploring the role of instruments in Jump Blues reveals how these instruments create the genre’s lively, danceable sound, and why it is so much fun to listen to.
The Saxophone in a Jump Blues Band
The saxophone is a vital element of the distinct sound of Jump Blues. Its bright, brass tenor both animates the song and injects it with a bit of extra energy. The sax is the voice of the music, carrying much of the melody and a fair share of improvised bravado.
Developed in the 1940s, Jump Blues blended jazz and blues inflections, with the saxophone largely serving a function of pushing the pulse of the rhythm and laying melodic lines on top. It could cut through a loud room of dancing and talking, a perfect foil for the hot, high-energy dance-oriented music.
Special mention should be made of Louis Jordan, another key saxophonist on the Jump Blues scene, known as the ‘King of the Jukebox’, who popularised the saxophone in Jump Blues with his exuberant appearances, and catchy tunes; Big Jay McNeely, known for his wild shows on stage and a passionate saxophone style that raised a real frenzy; and Earl Bostic, with his technically sublime playing, which proved influential on many future saxophonists.
Perhaps the most well-known Jump Blues saxophone riffs are Louis Jordan’s ‘Caldonia’ and ‘Choo Choo Ch’Boogie’. ‘Caldonia’ has a dancing, bouncy, saxophone lick. ‘Choo Choo Ch’Boogie’ presents a catchy, driving one.
Big Jay McNeely’s ‘There Is Something on Your Mind’ (1951) is also a classic, with every note of his textured, angst-ridden tenor saxophone scream telling a story. Earl Bostic’s ‘Flamingo’ (1950) displays his technical prowess, with its silky, pyrotechnic saxophone line.
Last thought: the saxophone. Without a doubt, the sax is an important feature of the sound of Jump Blues. At the heart of the swinging Jump Blues beat is the sound of saxophones played by virtuoso players. The distinctive riffs and solo breaks performed on the sax lend the Jump Blues its irrepressibly danceable feel
The Piano in a Jump Blues Band
With its emphasis on the piano as the focal point of the jump blues band, driving the rhythm and the melody of the song, jump blues is highly influenced by the style known as boogie-woogie (meant to sound like a rolling train). It’s fast, fun, and sonically very appealing – and very danceable!
Significant pianists included Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons, and Meade Lux Lewis, whose work with Big Joe Turner is considered a classic of boogie-woogie fused with jump blues, while Ammons’s strong playing brought the style of boogie-woogie to a wider audience, and Lewis’s tricky solos a hint of the technical skill the new style would support.
In jump blues, classic piano solos include ‘Roll ’Em Pete’ by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner, a prototype of boogie-woogie. Albert Ammons’s ‘Boogie Woogie Stomp’ showed the resonant, sonorous qualities of the piano’s potential and its own harmonic elegance, inspiring many pianists; ‘Honky Tonk Train Blues’ by Meade Lux Lewis illustrated the way a piano could propel the band.
Such solos introduce a sense of swinging rhythm and excitement to the genre, demonstrating how the piano can lead the band and shape the feel of a song. These pioneering pianists also influenced jump blues and eventually rock ’n’ rolling R&B piano styles, which relied on a boogie-woogie feel that was now a standard feature in every musical genre from Western swing to soul music and Elvis Presley.
To summarise, jump blues was enabled by boogie-woogie piano and, in turn, inspired some of the most important boogie-woogie keyboard playing we have heard.
The Double Bass in Jump Blues
It’s the double bass that gives jump blues much of its drive, and the centerpiece of this genre is the walk – the walking bass line. The walking bass line was responsible for creating a steady, pulsing sensation of time that was also familiar to most listeners. On its most basic level, it consists of a string of quarter notes played in a steady stream. While there are variations, the simplest phrasing consists of a four-measure pattern of quarter notes. Each is repeated three times, followed by a fourth measure where the line moves up or down a step on the scale. This form of syncopation gave a sense of motion to the music.
Bassists in jump blues have a number of tricks that they use to make their lines more interesting. One is ‘slap bass’. In this technique, the strings are slapped against the image of the neck rather than plucked, giving a percussive sound to the line. Another technique is ‘pizzicato’. This is where the strings are plucked rather than bowed, giving a smooth, resonant tone to the bass line.
Remarkably, some of the best jump blues basslines were played on double bass, and two of the leading exponents were double bassists: Milt Hinton, whose nickname was ‘The Judge’, for his keen ear for a slap bassline; and Willie Dixon. Dixon, at least, was both a bassist and a prolific songwriter, as well as one of the real titans of jump blues.
Bill Johnson was another key figure; he had played with the Cab Calloway Orchestra. His bass lines provided a sound that clarifies the use of the walking bass, a sort of benchmark for jump blues bassists.
In short, jump blues couldn’t be jump blues without the double bass and the walking bass line, and techniques such as the slap bass and pizzicato color the genre’s sound. The contributions of significant bassists in this music include Milt Hinton and Willie Dixon, among many others, and their legacies live in upon the advent of the jump blues genre.
The Electric Guitar in Jump Blues
Jump blues took hold in the 1940s, mixing jazz, blues, and swing. Electric guitars were introduced to the genre. Earlier, acoustic guitars were used in blues, but they weren’t loud enough for bigger bands. Electric guitars came into existence in the 1930s and, in contrast to their acoustic counterparts, they provided the necessary volume and flexibility.
Still, the inventor of the so-called guitar styles we associate with jump blues known under T-Bone Walker was an accomplished showman and a pioneer of the electric guitar. Just think of his breakthrough instrumental ‘Call It Stormy Monday’ (1947) — immediately recognizable by its sexy muted single-note solo, which Walker played employing jazz chords embedded into a blues context.
Another important player was Pee Wee Crayton, whose jump blues tune ‘Blues After Hours’ (1948) includes a two-chorus, upstroked solo that hints at the Hillbilly guitar and becomes an early signature of the style. Crayton’s liberal use of bends and vibrato masked a lot of imperfections of pedal steel.
Gatemouth Brown’s jump blues might have the same steel or reed riff as predecessors but his on-stage performances, with his bruising, finger-tapping, sawing, and strumming of the guitar, combined with touches of his country and jazz roots, made for a striking individual brand.
But the same instrument that allowed a guitarist to procure new and strange sounds — sustain, feedback, effects — helped expand the range of musical expression in jump blues.
Classic jump blues contained memorable electric guitar solos that demonstrated technical ability as well as an emotional quality. They served in part to demarcate the genre’s energetic danceability.
Suffice it to say that the electric guitar made jump blues louder and more dynamic, contributing to the instrument’s eventual iconic status in the hands of blues pioneers such as T-Bone Walker, Pee Wee Crayton, and Gatemouth Brown, whose famous solos at times influenced almost all blues to come.
The Trumpet in Jump Blues
Without [the trumpet], the jump blues sound would lose its brassy punchiness, its perkiness. It can cut through everything else, is ideal for solos, and is constantly adding energy with its brightness.
The hippest trumpeters of all time, such as Louis Jordan and Joe Newman, started the fashion. Louis Jordan played with lots of drive in his own band, the Tympany Five, while Joe Newman played with phrasing in Count Basie’s Orchestra. Both men colored the scene with their own flavors of jump blues.
The trumpet lines in Louis Jordan’s ‘Caldonia’ are exuberant and propel the rhythmic drive: Joe Newman’s soloing in Count Basie’s ‘Jumpin’ at the Woodside’ is spot-on in its intonation and technique: those trumpet sections help to maintain the party-feel that is fundamental to the jump.
The trumpet is thus intrinsically a narrative instrument. In Saturday Night Fish Fry, Jordan’s trumpet compliments the lyrics, contributing to the song’s narrative. Five Guys Named Moe features Jordan’s light, playful, and exuberant trumpet.
In jump blues, the trumpet section leads to call-and-response passages. The interplay between the trumpet and other instruments keeps the music interesting. The trumpet’s improvisation adds spontaneity to the performance.
In sum, the trumpet is definitely an integral part of jump blues. The brassy texture, the legendary trumpet players who contributed to the genre, and the various trumpet styles all make the genre what it is. Jump blues can’t be imagined without its many iconic songs and their characteristic trumpet sections. The trumpet will endure as a staple of jump blues: it adds excitement and energy to the genre.
The Drums in Jump Blues
Jump Blues was developed in the 1940s and is fast, upbeat, and energizing music controlled by the drums. The drummer keeps the beat and excitement of the music with their heavy down-beats on their drums.
The syncopation planted here and there throughout a Jump Blues number is part of what it is that builds tension, and adds a certain momentum to the backbeat; it’s how the music keeps its listeners on their toes or gets them up on their feet for the dancing. Usually, a drum’s backbeats are especially emphasized. The music gets its ‘juice’, the bounce tied to the latest American rhythm, through what the veteran drummer Fess Williams called ‘the symbol on 2 and 4’.
One of the drummers in Jump Blues is ‘Big’ Sid Catlett, who played with Louis Jordan’s Tympany Five, one of the most famous Jump Blues bands. Catlett’s drumming is very agile – highly mobile. It has a good rhythm, with a lot of deep sounds. Panama Francis is another great drummer – he played with the Lionel Hampton band and contributed a lot to the sound of Jump Blues drumming.
Another common rhythmic ingredient in Jump Blues is the shuffle – characteristic of the ‘one’ beat as a syncopated sound, which creates a dancelike swing feel. The drums also complement the bass closely in a tight, driving groove.
Then there are the drum patterns. These function to give the music its driving beat; they keep the music moving forward. In terms of the mood or character of the music, the drum patterns give it its feeling of liveliness and an upbeat character. They give it its ‘feel-good’ quality, which makes it very suitable to new-year parties and other lively occasions.
Therefore, drums are required to play Jump Blues, as this instrument provides the rhythm, energy, and groove for dancers. John B handed down the mantle of jump blues drumming to Charlie Catlett and Elvin Jones In short, drums are the driving force of Jump Blues, as they provide the pulse, energy, and rhythm for dancers. Effort and stylistic bravado are hallmarks of the genre as a result of the influence of drummers such as Catlett and Francis. The drum patterns are an essential component of the genre’s irresistible, foot-stomping, toe-tapping nature.
The Harmonica in Jump Blues
Harmonica plays a critical part in giving the music its unique soulful edge. For example, in some of the jumps blues, its bending notes and phrase fragments contribute to the overall energetic musical style.
The harmonica in jump blues was played by master bluesmen including Junior Wells, Big Walter Horton, and Sonny Terry. Wells played with a rough Street-edged tone. His musical emoting is powerful and nuanced. Horton’s contact tone was smooth and melodic. His harmonica lines flow and make poetic statements. Terry’s playing was dynamic and syncopated. He added more folk and country blues elements to his playing.
Classic jump blues harmonica tunes include Junior Wells’ ‘Messin’ with the Kid’: Wells’ peppy harmonica style is clearly on display; Big Walter Horton’s ‘Hard-Hearted Woman’: his breathy harmonica technique is both soulful and technically accomplished; and Sonny Terry’s ‘Hootin’ Blues’: in this tune the harmonica jumps out of the song and drives the rhythm right away.
The upbeat tempo of jump blues allows the harmonica to add a gritty emotionality, in contrast to the otherwise exuberant tone of the music, and its range enables the harmonica to convey a variety of emotions, adding to the depth and character of jump blues. As a soloing melody instrument, the harmonica responds and intersects with other instruments, functioning variously as the lead and the supporting instrument. Indeed, the harmonica is integral to the jump blues sound, providing an indispensable and infectious tone within the genre.
Conclusion
Jump blues introduced some of the same instrumentation found in the birth of rock and roll. The saxophone takes the lead on the jump blues number, with brassy, bouncing solos. The piano adds rhythm. Guitars contribute riffs and rhythm. The upright bass and drums fill in the rhythm section, driving the beat. The combination of instruments provides a swing rhythm that makes the jump blues track an upbeat and therefore danceable number. Don’t forget to read more about jump blues to learn about the music that influenced today’s music and helped change the landscape of rock and roll. Get into the jump blues sound and learn about its energy and historical influence.