Louis Jordan: The Birth of Jump Blues

No other artist did more for post-war pop than the alto saxophonist and his Tympany Five

Before post-punk, grunge rock, new wave, punk rock, rap, disco, hard rock, British blues, the Beatles, Motown, rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly, R&B and vocal harmony groups of the late 1940s, there was jump blues. [Photo above of Louis Jordan]

Jump blues—the merging of jazz, blues and boogie-woogie—would become the primary influence for nearly all of the style…