THE CROSSROADS Pt3 Bluesy Swing Lines

Jazzy blues, or bluesy jazz. Can’t decide? This month, John Wheatcroft discovers that it’s okay to do both, as he examines the cross-pollination of melodic and rhythic ideas between the two related genres.

- John Wheatcroft

ABILITY RATING

Moderate/Advanced

Info

Key C Blues

Tempo 160bpm

CD TRACKS 24-31

Will improve your…

Sense of rhythm and phrasing

Sophisticated note selection

Articulation and dynamic delivery

When asked about which guitarists he admired, the great Jimi Hendrix once replied, “Kenny Burrell, that’s the sound I’m looking for”. Throughout the history of blues and jazz music, both these styles have evolved and expanded with the benefit of the other.

Countless early blues artists were happy to broaden their sound with the addition of jazzy overtones (the mighty Robert Johnson for one, and later on the equally talented T-Bone Walker), while the concept of a jazz musician without a deep understanding and assimilation of the blues was considered an impossibility. To quote the legendary Count Basie, jazz was created as a highly successful attempt at “swinging the blues”. Taking things up to date, consider an undeniably fantastic blues player like Josh Smith, who talks at great length about his jazz influences, makes ‘the changes’ and peppers his playing liberally with phrases that wouldn’t sound out of place on any Blue Note release from any era.