Louis Jordan-Sure Cure For The Blues

Over the last couple of days I've been listening to the JSP Box Set of Louis Jordan material, 5 CD's, 131 tracks. I've heard some of this stuff before, owning a couple of greatest hits discs, but never seriously listened to the bulk of his music.

All I can say is, WOW. This guy really had it all. He's never gotten the respect and/or veneration of the likes of Ellington, Basie, or Goodman, but, to my mind, he deserves to be in their class. Maybe the problem is that he genre hopped way more than any of the above, indeed probably more than any of his contemporaries. Listening to these tracks I hear great jazz, blues, boogie woogie, novelty songs, straight pop, proto rock 'n roll (Chuck Berry surely was listening, check out Carl Hogan's opening riff on "Ain't That Just Like a Woman"), calypso ("Stone Cold Dead In The Market", "Run Joe") proto Dylan (some of the lyrics are supremely clever, and often very funny), and proto Rap (Check out "Friendship" and "Look Out"). He was a great singer, more than competent sax player, and pretty damn fine composer.

This stuff just can't help but put a smile on your face no matter how bad you might feel, and how many things in life can you say that about? It's the perfect antidote to living in our current tense times. This is one of the things that music is supposed to do. Five CD's is a lot of music but I'd gladly listen to more if it was available.

Sorry for all the raving but I'm just enjoying the Hell out of this stuff, and highly recommend it to any music lover looking to lift their spirits, plus the box is cheap, I got it for $24.99.

Jeff

 

It really is a crime that Jordan isn't better known than he is. I've got the Bear set, which is great from start to finish, but everybody should pick up the JSP box at least. You can't go wrong for the price and some of the music is as close to timeless as you can get.

Ray

 

I agree !
LJ's music is great but very overlooked in comparison to some others.