Pan Alley

Various Artists - Classic African American Songsters (2014) {Smithsonian Folkways SFW40211}
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© 2014 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings | SFW40211
Blues / Folk / Jazz / Acoustic Blues / Country Blues / Country-Folk / Ragtime

The 2014 Smithsonian compilation, Classic African American Songsters from Smithsonian Folkways, brings together recordings culled from the museum's vast collection that showcase the stylistic diversity of artists who, though largely known for playing the blues, performed many other genres of music. These are songs that move through such wide-ranging styles as ragtime, country, Tin Pan Alley, and more. Included are songs by Big Bill Broonzy, Lead Belly, Mississippi John Hurt, Peg Leg Sam, and many others.

The first popular jazz singer to move audiences with the intense, personal feeling of classic blues, Billie Holiday changed the art of American pop vocals forever. More than a half-century after her death, it's difficult to believe that prior to her emergence, jazz and pop singers were tied to the Tin Pan Alley tradition and rarely personalized their songs; only blues singers like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey actually gave the impression they had lived through what they were singing.

Deep Blue Organ Trio - Deep Blue Bruise (2004) {Delmark Records DE-556}
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© 2004 Delmark Records | DE-556
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Jazz Blues / Organ / Guitar

Philadelphia jazz singer Lou Lanza had an excellent point when he asserted that jazz improvisers who ignore rock and R&B songs "are cutting themselves off from a lot of worthwhile material." Lanza wasn't suggesting that jazz artists should totally give up the Tin Pan Alley standards they've been performing all these years – actually, he's done plenty of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin gems himself – but he was saying that if you're going to use popular songs as vehicles for jazz expression, there is no reason not to interpret Sting, Billy Joel or Prince along with Harry Warren and George Gershwin.

Various Artists - Let Me Tell You About The Blues - West Coast: The Evolution Of West Coast Blues (2010) {3 CD Box Set}
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© 2010 Fantastic Voyage / Future Noise Music Ltd. | FVTD062
Blues / Regional Blues

California experienced a phenomenal growth in independent recording in the postwar years, after decades of dominance by the major labels. Millions had flocked there during the war years and they needed entertainment.