Some of Ellis' best work, in my opinion, was with the early incarnation of the Oscar Peterson Trio from 1953 to 1958. The line-up was Herb, Oscar and Ray Brown. An excellent recording from that era is At Zardi's.
When I think of Ellis the adjective great always comes to mind. One of his greatest albums after leaving the Trio is Thank You Charlie Christian, a tribute to one of his greatest influences. Another excellent album is Nothing But The Blues, which featured two of my favorite drummers, Stan Levey and Gus Johnson, as well as Roy Eldridge, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown. Ellis was also a member of the Verve Records house rhythm section and a mainstay of Jazz at the Philharmonic, both of which were managed and promoted by the great Norman Granz.
Here are a few videos that show what a wonderful guitarist Ellis was. He will be missed.
Louis Jordan's influence on American music giants such as Ray Charles, James Brown, Little Richard and Chuck Berry is responsible for the direction of popular music after the Big Band era. More importantly, he laid the foundation for rock and roll, which has been acknowledged by his 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Probably the two icons who were most influenced by Jordan - by their own accounts - were James Brown and Chuck Berry. James Brown carried the mantle of Godfather of Soul (and funk), while Chuck Berry was one of the early rock pioneers.
It would not be a stretch to claim that Jordan is one of the most important artists in popular music history.
Jordan started, like every musician of his era, in the big bands. Not just any big band, but Chick Webb's Savoy Orchestra. He didn't last long with Chick, who fired him for trying to poach Ella Fitzgerald and other musicians.
Chick must have influenced Louis, however, because after working for the world's greatest drummer, Jordan's future drummers included Chris Columbus (Sonny Payne's father), and Shadow Wilson.
The best way to know Jordan is to watch and listen - in these clips you can clearly hear how his small combo - Tympany Five - was the prototype for what was to become R&B, as well as the foundation of what was to become soul via James Brown and Ray Charles, and rock via Chuck Berry and others Jordan heavily influenced such as Bill Halley.
Here is one of his signature songs
And another for which he is known
Another signature song!
Fun, energetic and danceable. I am not sure that his early audiences realized that these were groundbreaking songs because Jordan's style was as much visual as it was musical. They probably viewed it as sheer dancing and foot-tapping joy. There was a reason his music was referred to as jump blues. Here are a few more clips that are notable. The first because it is pure R&B, and the second because the great Shadow Wilson has the drum chair and the performance epitomizes Jordan's showmanship:
NPR's Jazz Profiles, hosted by Nancy Wilson, has this 53 minute segment that digs deeply into Jordan, the man and musician, and gives insights into his career and accomplishments as told by a number of guest on the show who knew and played with him:
While researching my next post about Louis Jordan I came across some interesting articles about blues.
Jazz would have been merely syncopated brass band music without the infusion of blues, and there are other ramifications. American popular music genres that were offshoots of blues, such as R&B, rock and even country would probably not have been created.
Lindgren's article traces the influence via the Spanish, who were influenced by the Moors, to the New World. His assertion that Spanish-Arabic culture survived best in the New World rings true, and he also provides evidence of the disconnect between Africa and the development of blues (and jazz) as independent art forms in the US as a black American achievement.
Having lived in the Middle East I can attest to the similarities between Muslim song and prayer, and forms of US blues music. In fact, since I heard the athaan - call to prayer - five times a day, every day, while living in the Middle East I often wonder why that connection escaped me.
One final article by John Petters observed the influence of the Catholic Church on the development of jazz and blues in his convincing article, The History of Spirituals in Jazz. Here is an excerpt:
Although this music had its foundations in the Catholic Church, it was not long before other Christian denominations found this music influencing their services. Today when one thinks of Black Gospel music it is usually in the context of southern Baptists or other Protestant denominations.
The above are not the last (or even the definitive) words on the origin of blues and jazz. Those origins will be debated long after I have departed this Earth. However, they add unique perspectives and insights to the debate and body of knowledge.
