Bebop's fast tempo and complex rhythms were embraced by modern-jazz fans when the jazz style emerged in the mid-1940s. But bop also provided jump blues with an opening. Bebop was spectacular and electrifying, but it wasn't for dancing. It was mostly for sitting and listening. As a result, jump blues, with its horn-driven dance beat made major inroads in Black neighborhoods and in the record market in general. By 1949, R&B was so popular that Billboard started an official R&B chart. Hundreds of R&B artists on small independent labels began having major hits. Jazz labels such as Blue Note took notice. [Photo above, of Blue Note founders Alfred Lion, left, and Francis Wolff (c) Mosaic Images]
During the late 1940s, Blue Note had begun to feature modern jazz artists such as Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. But to remain in business, Blue Note founders Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff also needed to remain competitive. By 1952, they began recording jazz groups fronted by two and four horn players who were backed by a stronger, consistent beat. The music eventually became known as hard bop. Blue Note called this jazz-R&B fusion series New Faces, New Sounds.
Among the earliest 10-inch hard bop/R&B recordings were Blue Note's Lou Donaldson Quintet (1952), Lou Donaldson/Clifford Brown Quintet (1952) and Horace Silver Quintet with Lou Donaldson (1953).
What's interesting about the artists who pioneered hard bop is that many had came up through R&B. For example, Lou Donaldson had begun recording with Charlie Singleton, Blue Mitchell started with Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams, and Clifford Brown first recorded with Chris Powell and the Five Blue Flames. Many jazz musicians who recorded for other labels started out the same way. As noted in my post yesterday, Elmo Hope began in the Joe Morris Orchestra. The same goes for Johnny Griffin, Percy Heath and Philly Joe Jones.
Morris was a jazz trumpeter who started in Lionel Hampton's band in the 1940s as a player and arranger, and recorded with both jazz and blues players. In 1946, he left Hampton's band to form his own orchestra, which leaned heavily on the blues with a beat. In 1949, he had top R&B hits, including Drinkin' Wine, Spo-Dee-O-Dee, with Wynonie Harris; Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere; and Don't Take Your Love Away From Me. What they all had in common was Hope on piano.
What's fascinating is that as horn-centric hard-bop groups became R&B flavored, R&B groups became more jazzy. The cross-pollination is unmistakable. Morris is a prime example of a crossover artist who played jazz in a jump-blues band only to leave and form an R&B band that became jazzier over time. Many of these R&B bands swished back and forth between genres, with jazz influencing the blues and blues artists influencing jazz. Nothing in post-war music is pure, especially jazz.
Joe Morris died in 1958 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 36.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find collections of Joe Morris here and here.
JazzWax clips: Here are clips of the Joe Morris Orchestra with Elmo Hope on piano:
Here's Lowdown Baby (1949), with Morris on trumpet and vocal...
Here's Jump Everybody Jump (1951), with Jimmy "Baby Face" Lewis on vocal...
Here's That's What Makes My Baby Fat (1952), with the great Faye Adams on vocal...
And here's Midnight Grinder (1951)...
