West Coast Jump Blues
tagStarted c. 1945Peak 1945–1953Last big hit c. 1958From US West Coast, United States
Located in 1 route
West Coast Jump Blues is California's horn-powered, dance-floor R&B-blues style with boogie piano, riffing saxophones, shouted or coolly swinging vocals, and a tight backbeat. It is lighter on rural grit and heavier on nightclub propulsion, arrangement polish, and jukebox immediacy.
History
The style developed in Los Angeles and Oakland as wartime migration, independent labels, and thriving Black nightlife converged. Johnny Otis, Roy Milton, Joe Liggins, Amos Milburn, Big Jay McNeely, Wynonie Harris's West Coast recordings, and Big Mama Thornton connected jump blues to early R&B and rock and roll. West Coast Jump Blues influenced rock saxophone, swing revival, rockabilly rhythm, 1950s R&B, and later jump-blues revivalists.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Arnold Shaw, Honkers and Shouters
- Johnny Otis, Listen to the Lambs
- AllMusic
- The Blues Foundation