Introducing jump blues, the pioneering guitar style that set the scene for rock ’n’ roll by melding swing, jazz and blues

T-Bone Walker.

Jump blues was a style of music that developed in the 1940s and was an offshoot of the big bands of the day. It was essentially an uptempo swing combining jazz, boogie and blues that was popular in dance halls. 

Predating rock and roll by a few years, jump blues bands were smaller than their big band counterparts and tended to consist of vocals, drums, upright bass, piano and a small horn section of saxophones and trumpets. Sometimes there would be an electric guitar, too.