The blues is not a progressive form. That's not a criticism, it's a fact. What Hendrix did "differently" was to rock the blues with immense technical skill and virtuosity in solo improvisation (more characteristic of jazz, really). Some more recent blues musicians, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, the late Roy Buchanan, the Aussie David Hole, have built on that. But basically, unlike jazz, which felt the need to reinvent itself every few years (and has rather come a bit of an impasse since Coltrane's death, been a while!), the blues seems happy doing variations on "the same thing" (Howlin Wolf). I live in Chicago, go to a lot of blues, and apart from some escalation in technical skill, most of what you hear could have been played at any time in the last 50 years. The audience, these days in Chicago I'd estimate about 2/3 to 3/4 white, based on who turns up at Buddy Guy's, Koko Taylor's, the Grant Park Blues Festival in the Summer, etc., simply doesn't expect innovation. And the music still sounds and feels fresh in a way that people doing, for example hard bop jazz, or "retro" swing, or Dixieland -- just don't. There's nothing retro about the Chicago blues, it just hasn't changed very much, and despite that it has not acquired a museum or nostalgic feel Curious.
--- John Adams <jadams01 at sprynet.com> wrote:
> On Nov 20, 2007, at 11:20 PM, Eubulides wrote:
>
> >> The blues. Too bad no one has thought of anything
> new to do with it
> >> since him.
> >
> > ============
> >
> > Gawd what a boring cliche.........
>
> Hey, the modern blues ain't _that_ bad.
>
> Seriously, though, have you heard anything--okay,
> maybe R. L.
> Burnside--but aside from him, have you heard
> anything new in the blues
> since Jimi? If so, please hip me to it. I've got
> nothing against people
> playing well in the classic forms, but I'm still
> bored by it.
>
> I think all these one- and two-liners of mine must
> have added up to a
> day's worth of posting, so I'll let it lay for now.
> I've got a Miles
> Davis CD to get back to, anyway.
>
> John A
>
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