Louis Jordan Music

Origin: Brinkley, AR

Decades: 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's

Effervescent saxophonist Louis Jordan was one of the chief architects and prime progenitors of the R&B idiom. His pioneering use of jumping shuffle rhythms in a small combo context was copied far and wide during the 1940s. Jordan's sensational hit-laden run with Decca Records contained a raft of seminal performances, featuring inevitably infectious backing by his band, the Tympany Five, and Jordan's own searing alto sax and street corner jive-loaded sense of humor. Jordan was one of the first black enterta... Read More

T-Bone Walker

Chuck Berry, Hoagy Carmichael, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, James Brown, Ornette Coleman, Joe Jackson, Sonny Rollins, Hugh Masekela, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Little Richard, King Curtis, Joe Liggins, Wynonie Harris, Bo Diddley, Fats Domino, Lowell Fulson, and Squirrel Nut Zippers