Posts by admin

Mance Lipscomb (April 9, 1895 – January 30, 1976) was an American country blues singer, guitarist, and songster whose repertoire stretched far beyond what many[…]

Mamie Smith (born Mamie Robinson; May 26, 1891) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, and pioneering recording artist whose 1920 recording of “Crazy Blues” helped[…]

Samuel Gene Maghett (1937-1969), known globally as Magic Sam, was a seminal figure in the Chicago blues scene, whose innovative style and electrifying performances left[…]

Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (born Gertrude Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was one of the earliest and most influential professional blues singers in[…]

Luther Sylvester Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was a fiercely passionate and dynamic blues guitarist and singer whose career bridged the electric[…]

Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American alto-saxophonist, singer, songwriter, and bandleader whose witty, tight ensemble recordings and stagecraft[…]

Louis Armstrong (born Louis Daniel Armstrong; August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971) was an American trumpeter, vocalist, bandleader, and one of the most influential[…]

Lonnie Johnson stands at the crossroads of blues and jazz, the rare musician whose single-string guitar leads redefined how both traditions could sound. A refined[…]

Little Walter (born Marion Walter Jacobs) reshaped the sound of postwar Chicago blues. With a bullet mic cupped to his harmonica and a small amp[…]

Leroy Carr (1905–1935) was a singer-pianist whose smooth voice, conversational phrasing, and elegant piano lines helped steer the blues from the rough-hewn country idiom toward[…]