Search - Jump 'n' Jive :: Jump 'n' Jive

In the euphoric mood of postwar America, the clubs & bars of the big new industrial cities spawned suitably loud electric music to sustain the country's party atmosphere. The previously dominant Big Band format trimmed down to muscular small group size, driven along by boogie piano rhythms, powerhouse percussion & honking horn sections to provide the backdrop for the extrovert lead singers out front. Humour, too, was a key ingredient as hipsters brought their own cool take to the lyrics & the songs celebrated pleasure with wild exuberance. 40 tracks cover well-known Blues shouters Big Joe Turner & Big Maybelle, the screaming sax sounds of Big Jay McNeely & H-Bomb Ferguson, alongside less famous Jump R&B artists Dallas Bartley, Redd Lyte & Tommy Brown through to jazz-influenced singers Billy Eckstine & Helen Humes. Jive humour comes from Slim Gaillard & Babs Gonzales, the Johnny Otis band's stable features Jimmy Rushing & Little Esther, & there are rare early songs by Lavern Baker, Jackie Wilson & hit writer Doc Pomus. The black roots of imminent Rock & Roll course through every vein of this accessible jumping collection, with high quality recordings licensed exclusively from Savoy Records.