Ragtime Piano Blues

History

The style grew where ragtime pianists, blues singers, songsters, and theater musicians overlapped before and during the race-record era. Jelly Roll Morton, Cow Cow Davenport, Blind Blake's piano-like guitar approach, Blind Boy Fuller's ragtime blues songs, Little Brother Montgomery, and later Rev. Gary Davis all showed how ragtime syncopation could absorb blues feeling. Ragtime Piano Blues shaped Piedmont blues, early jazz-blues, stride blues, and the acoustic blues revival's affection for technically bright, danceable blues.

Defining artists

• Jelly Roll MortonSpotifyYouTube
• Cow Cow DavenportSpotifyYouTube
• Little Brother MontgomerySpotifyYouTube
• Blind BlakeSpotifyYouTube
• Blind Boy FullerSpotifyYouTube
• Rev. Gary DavisSpotifyYouTube

Essential listening

• Winin' Boy Blues — Jelly Roll MortonSpotifyYouTube
• Cow Cow Blues — Cow Cow DavenportSpotifyYouTube
• Vicksburg Blues — Little Brother MontgomerySpotifyYouTube
• Police Dog Blues — Blind BlakeSpotifyYouTube
• Rag, Mama, Rag — Blind Boy FullerSpotifyYouTube
• Candy Man — Rev. Gary DavisSpotifyYouTube

Sources

• Paul Oliver, The Story of the Blues
• Samuel Charters, The Country Blues
• Elijah Wald, Escaping the Delta
• AllMusic