Released by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five in 1945, this jump blues giant combined a walking bass, a bouncy backbeat, and a compact horn section into pure dancehall music. It completed a secular beat system that converted urban Black workers’ frustration into dancing.
Bill Haley & His Comets recorded their rock and roll version in 1959 — the jump blues’ bouncy beat "reinstalled" as the roar of rock and roll aimed at white teenagers.
A dancehall jump blues was transformed into the driving engine of rock and roll.