Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society

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the Bantu phrase mbuki-mvuki, which means to dance
shuck off all clothing that hinders my performance. 74
Boogie-woogie can certainly inspire dancers to shed some clothing. Because of the
disreputable nature of the dancing inspired by the music, boogie-woogie also became
slang in some parts of the South for a case of syphilis.
Boogie-
ragtime, was so popular in the saloons of Western mining and logging camps. Unlike
ragtime, which was mostly composed, boogie-woogie was largely improvised. The
boogie-woog
-IV-V chord progression as a
twelve-bar blues, while he or she plays chords and improvises melodies with the
right hand.
One of the earliest recorded boogie-
rec
piano and organ in his father's church from his mother, who was the church organist.
Unfortunately for his budding career with the church, Davenport was expelled from the
Alabama Theological Seminary in 1911 for daring to play ragtime at a church function.
Soon this church-raised young man was touring carnivals and playing with vaudeville
acts. He headed north to Chicago, where he played clubs and parties and worked as a
talent scout for Brunswick and Vocalion records in the late 1920s.
Like Davenport, other boogie-woogie pianists migrated to Northern cities such as
Chicago, Detroit, and Kansas City, where so many African Americans found work after
World War I in the slaughterhouses and factories. This first generation of boogie-woogie
players also included Jimmy Blythe, Hersal Thomas, Little Brother Montgomery, Cripple
Clarence Lofton, Jimmy Yancey, and Pinetop Smith. 75
The boogie-woogie pianists were in great demand in bars and brothels, and at parties
Jones (Amiri Baraka) reported in Blues People
boasted for several months, until the law moved in, a rent party promoted by two blues
76
In return for tips and all they could eat and drink, the piano players kept the people
grinding all night long. In
encouraged partygoers:
I want you to pull up on your blouse, let down on your skirt
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