Basie blues

In the 19th century the English phrase blue devils referred to the upsetting hallucinations brought on by severe alcohol withdrawal. This was later shortened to the blues, which described states of depression and upset, and it was later adopted as the name for the melancholic songs that the musical genre encapsulates.

The term classic blues really refers to a family of genres including delta blues and country blues, but the term classic blues really refers to the earliest recorded versions of African-American blues music that were preserved in the 1920s and 1930s.

He was the arbiter of the big-band swing sound and his unique style of fusing blues and jazz established swing as a predominant music style. Basie changed the jazz landscape and shaped mid-20th century popular music, duly earning the title “King of Swing” because he made the world want to dance.

Over a sixty-plus year career, William “Count” Basie helped to establish jazz as a serious art form played not just in clubs but in theaters and concert halls. He established swing as one of jazz's predominant styles, and solidified the link between jazz and the blues.

blues in British English 1. a feeling of depression or deep unhappiness. 2. a type of folk song devised by Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century, usually employing a basic 12- bar chorus, the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, frequent minor intervals, and blue notes.

the blues, (used with a plural verb) depressed spirits; despondency; melancholy: This rainy spell is giving me the blues. (used with a singular verb)Jazz.

The social significance of Blues music resides in the revolutionary element of African Americans creating their own aesthetics. Blues music represented the opposing voice that refused to be silenced by oppression and segregation. The Blues expressed this with unprecedented clarity, honesty and simplicity.

Metre, rhythm and tempo If asked to discuss these elements remember that: blues is usually in 4/4 time. there is syncopation to emphasise the weak beats.

He was the arbiter of the big-band swing sound and his unique style of fusing blues and jazz established swing as a predominant music style. Basie changed the jazz landscape and shaped mid-20th century popular music, duly earning the title “King of Swing” because he made the world want to dance.

Basie's music was characterized by his trademark "jumping" beat and the contrapuntal accents of his own piano. Basie also showcased some of the best blues singers of the era: Billie Holiday, Helen Humes, and later Big Joe Turner and Joe Williams. Most congenial to the band was Jimmy Rushing, called “Mr.

With a swinging rhythm section and topnotch soloists in the horn section, Basie's band became one of the most popular between 1937- 49, scoring such swing hits as "One O'Clock Jump" and "Jumpin' at the Woodside." Lester Young's tenor saxophone playing during this period, in particular on such recordings as "Lester ...

1. : low spirits : melancholy. suffering a case of the blues. 2. : a song often of lamentation characterized by usually 12-bar phrases, 3-line stanzas in which the words of the second line usually repeat those of the first, and continual occurrence of blue notes in melody and harmony.