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Head Rag Hop-Piano Blues 1925-1960 on CD

A search for the roots of blues piano will end up in the same swirling mist that obscures the development of the blues guitar. One belief is that blues piano developed from the rhythms with which guitarists accompanied themselves. The piano's wider musical spectrum then encouraged players to create rhythms and melodies with both hands. When it came to mobility, pianists preferred to rely on residencies. When they travelled, the condition of the pianos they encountered was - to say the least - variable. Also, unlike their guitarist confreres, they had to be equally adept singers and players, needing at least one instrumental and one vocal showpiece to satisfy their audiences. St. Louis, Memphis, Birmingham and New Orleans unsurprisingly had coteries of blues musicians but so did Houston and Dallas in Texas - each with something approaching a regional flavour. The last years of the 1920s saw a proliferation of blues pianists, including Cow Cow Davenport, Pine Top Smith, Will Ezell, Henry Brown and Montana Taylor). Their records - too often overlooked - reveal them as innovators and gifted musicians.