New York City Blues Music

The best place to find information on upcoming blues shows in NYC, reviews of recent shows, and general information on the NYC blues scene.

The Birth of the Blues in New York City

In the early 1900s, a new type of music called the blues was born in the American South. This music was a mix of African and European musical traditions. The blues soon spread to other parts of the country, including New York City.

The Harlem Renaissance

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of great creativity in the arts, particularly in the field of music. One of the most important genres to emerge during this period was the blues. The blues is a style of music that originated in the southern United States, but it quickly spread to other parts of the country, including New York City.

The blues is a musical style that is characterized by its use of blue notes, which are notes that are played at a slightly lower pitch than other notes in the scale. This gives the music a characteristic sad or mournful sound. The blues is also known for its simple chord progressions and catchy melodies.

The first blues songs were probably created by African American musicians in the late 19th or early 20th century. These early songs were often about personal hardships and tough life experiences. The blues quickly became popular among other groups of people who could relate to these feelings of hardship and despair.

During the Harlem Renaissance, many African American musicians moved to New York City in search of fame and fortune. They brought with them their own unique style of playing the blues. This new style of blues became very popular in nightclubs and speakeasies around the city.

Some of the most famous blues musicians of this period include Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie. They all helped to make the blues an important part of American culture.

The Cotton Club

The Cotton Club was a renowned night club in Harlem, New York City, which was initially created for an all-white audience but eventually became famous for its African American performers and jazz music. The Cotton Club began as a speakeasy during the Prohibition era in the early 1920s and was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue in the heart of Harlem.

As the jazz scene began to develop in Harlem, the Cotton Club became one of the most popular places to hear live music. Some of the most famous jazz musicians of all time, such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway, played at the club on a regular basis. The Cotton Club also helped to launch the careers of many other African American performers, such as singers Billie Holiday and Lena Horne.

In addition to its role in promoting jazz music, the Cotton Club was also significant for helping to spread the blues throughout the United States. Many of the club’s performers, such as Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith, were blues singers who introduced this type of music to new audiences. The popularity of the blues increased greatly during the 1930s and 1940s, partly due to its exposure at the Cotton Club.

The Evolution of the Blues in New York City

The blues has been a part of American music since the early 1900s, when the genre first developed in the South. The blues then made its way up North, to cities like Chicago and New York. In New York City, the blues evolved and changed, incorporating elements of other genres like jazz and gospel. The result was a unique sound that could only be found in New York City.

Bebop

In the 1940s, a new style of jazz known as bebop began to develop in New York City. Jazz musicians such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie started to experiment with a more complex type of music that was based on African American vernacular styles such as blues and gospel. Bebop soon became the dominant style of jazz in New York and continued to evolve throughout the 1950s.

One of the most important figures in the development of bebop was Thelonious Monk, a pianist who played with Parker and Gillespie. Monk’s unique approach to playing the piano influenced many other jazz musicians, and his composition “Round Midnight” became one of the most popular jazz standards.

In the 1960s, another New York-based style of jazz known as free jazz began to develop. This style eschewed traditional song forms and harmonic structures in favor of a more improvisational approach. Free jazz quickly spread throughout the United States and Europe, and its most important early exponent was saxophonist Ornette Coleman.

The British Invasion

The British Invasion of the early 1960s brought a new sound to the American pop charts, and young blues fans were quick to take notice. The Rolling Stones, in particular, were heavily influenced by the work of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and other Chicago-based artists. When the Stones arrived in New York City for their first American tour in 1964, they made a point of stopping by the city’s famed Apollo Theater to catch a performance by Waters.

The British Invasion had a major impact on the New York City blues scene, and many local artists began incorporating elements of the new sound into their own music. This fusion of styles would come to be known as “New York City blues.”

The Resurgence of the Blues in New York City

In the past decade, Blues music has made a comeback in a big way in New York City. Once relegated to small clubs and bars, the genre has now found a place in the mainstream music scene. This resurgence can be attributed to a number of factors, including the influence of social media and the increasing popularity of festivals and events dedicated to the genre.

The Blues Revival of the 1960s

The blues revival of the 1960s was a reaction against the dominant form of popular music at the time, which was rock and roll. Young people who were interested in African American music and culture rediscovered the blues. This new generation of blues musicians combined elements of traditional blues with other genres, such as rock and jazz.

The most famous figure in the blues revival was British musician Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. In 1967, Jagger and Keith Richards wrote “Street Fighting Man,” which included the line “Don’t fuss with us / We’re just trying to be free.” The song was a call for social change and became an anthem for the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

American musician Paul Butterfield was another important figure in the blues revival. He was a white musician who played the harmonica and sang with a deep, guttural voice. Butterfield’s band, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, released their self-titled debut album in 1965. The album featured electric guitars, bass, drums, and keyboards, as well as Butterfield’s unique vocals.

The popularity of the blues revival led to a renewed interest in traditional acoustic blues. Musicians such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf gained a new audience among young people who were interested in this genre of music.

The Blues Today

The Blues has often been called America’s classical music, and for good reason. It is the music that America gave the world, and it has inspired some of the greatest musicians of all time. The Blues is the foundation of Jazz, Rock & Roll, and Country Music. It is the music of struggle, heartache, and triumph. It is the music of Excelsior Springs, Armour Square, Beale Street, and the South Side of Chicago. It is the music of Robert Johnson, Bessie Smith, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf.

Today, the Blues is flourishing in New York City. There are dozens of great venues featuring live Blues 7 nights a week. You can hear everything from traditional Mississippi Delta Blues to Urban Electric Blues to Jazz-influenced Blues. The common thread that binds all of these styles together is the feeling – the soulful expression of emotions that can only be communicated through music.

If you’re looking for a taste of the Blues in New York City, you can’t go wrong with any of these great venues:

-BB King’s Blues Club & Grill
-The Bowery Electric
-The Django
-Fat Cat Music Club & Lounge
-The Iridium Jazz Club
-Smoke Jazz & Supper Club