41 The Port of Harlem Jazzmen “Rocking The Blues” 1939

Elijah Wald writes that rock & roll evolved directly from the swing dance music. The same jazz musicians who played in swing dance bands easily transitioned into rock & roll bands. Louis Armstrong said, “There ain’t nothing new. Old soup used over”  (How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll). The Jazzmen “were a tremendous all-star ensemble” that “featured trumpeter Frankie Newton (1906-1954) and trombonist J. C. Higginbotham (1906-1973)” (www.bluenote.com).

Port of Harlem Jazzmen "Rocking the Blues"