Boogie-woogie

Blues family · 1870s → 1940 · Texas, Chicago · Roots and blues

A genre of piano blues born in Black communities in Texas, recorded as early as the 1910s-1920s and a major hit with Pinetop Smith (1928-1929), revealed to the general public by the Spirituals to Swing concert (1938) with Ammons, Johnson and Lewis, then adopted by the big bands.

What is still debated

Classified here as piano blues, and not as a branch of jazz: it enters jazz by borrowing.

Where it comes from

• Blues, spirituals, work songs

What it gave rise to or influenced

• Swing, big bands
• Jump blues, R&B

Artists

• Professor Longhair (1918–1980, piano, vocals)
• Huey "Piano" Smith (1934–2023, piano)
• Big Joe Turner (1911–1985, vocals)

Tracks to start with

• Pine Top's Boogie Woogie — Pine Top Smith (1928)
• Honky Tonk Train Blues — Meade Lux Lewis (1927)
• Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu — Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns (1957)

Sources

• EN : Boogie-woogie

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