jazz: Blues

The heart of jazz, the blues is a musical form now standardized as 12 bars, based on the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords. The “blue notes” are the flatted third and seventh. A statement is made in the first four bars, repeated (sometimes with slight variation) in the next four, and answered or commented on in the last four. In vocal blues the lyrics are earthy and direct and are mostly concerned with basic human problems—love and sex, poverty, and death. The tempo may vary, and the mood ranges from total despair to cynicism and satire.

Basing his songs on traditional blues, W. C. Handy greatly increased the popularity of the idiom. Important vocal blues stylists include Blind Lemon Jefferson, Leadbelly, Lightnin' Sam Hopkins, Robert Johnson, Gertrude ("Ma") Rainey, Bertha (Chippie) Hill, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Muddy Waters.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Jazz Since the 1990s
• Jazz Goes International
• The 1970-'80s: From Smooth Jazz to the Neo-Cons
• The 1960s: From Free Jazz to Jazz-Rock Fusion
• Jazz in the '50s
• Bop
• Swing
• New Orleans Jazz
• Ragtime
• Blues
• Origins of Jazz

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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