Music Pick: Louis Jordan

Louis Jordan (1908-1975) is a seminal figure in the transition from jazz and big band swing to rock and roll. He began playing professionally as a child in his father's Brinkley's Brass Band and Rabbit Foot Minstrels in Arkansas. By 1932 he was playing in early big bands under Louis Armstrong and Chick Webb. By 1938 he became so popular as a singer and entertainer that he started recording under his own name. By 1942 he was a star with his Tympany Five, charting 18 hits through 1950 including 4 million sellers. Jordan sang about black life in the black idiom, yet was so talented he was able to cross over to white audiences, a rare feat for a black artist not catering to white sensibilities. He saw the end of big band jazz early, concentrating on a small group of 5 or 6 musicians with a huge sound. He originated a new musical form known as "jump blues"; a swinging, up tempo hybrid of jazz, blues an boogie-woogie, often featuring humorous, fantastic tales. It emphasized a strong rhythm section and experimented with electric guitar and organ. His music eventually morphed into rhythm and blues and finally rock and roll. The feature, 'Saturday Night Fish Fry', a Jordan tune from 1949, showcases the mature Jordan sound and is often cited as one of the first true rock and roll records. Listen and you'll hear elements of future rap and even the Bob Dylan storytelling song styling. Alas, 'Fish Fry' was one of Jordan's last hits. He faded fast in the rock and roll era he presaged. Jordan kept trying comebacks but was still a largely forgotten musical giant when felled by a heart attack at age 66 in 1975.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1QfXQakX2w