VA - A Rhythm & Blues Chronology 1945-46 (2015)

Rhythm & Blues was not recognised as a distinct musical genre until the late 1940s and these CDs from the middle of that decade reflect the musical taste of the black population of the United States as it moved away from country blues towards a commercial, dance-oriented fusion of jazz and blues that came to be known as jump blues. This collection encompasses a wide variety of styles ranging from blues shouters, dance-oriented swing jazz, piano-led boogie-woogie through to blues-influenced pop and jazz vocal music. Critic Roy Bainton of Blues Matters on the first two volumes of this series: 'You might think that when you've been around for a long time and love music as much as we all do at Blues Matters, that we might become a little blasé receiving CDs to review. You'd be wrong...This is a staggering project, a sheer delight...You can stick a pin in anywhere and come up with a gem of a recording. What these records will present to even the most avid R&B aficionado is a revelation... lifting the lid on a buried treasure chest of arcane recordings, all in a style decades ahead of their time... Every one of these tracks is utterly satisfying. If you're a true R&B fan, you will not experience a finer collection this year or any other. Exhilarating, educational, historical, but above all, extremely musical, a complete evening's unforgettable R&B entertainment on 8 packed disks. Think you know your blues history? Think again. As this has taught me, you're never too old to learn.'