Jimmy Blythe

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Ma Rainey: Mother of the Blues, The Complete Paramount Recordings, 1923-1928

by C. Michael Bailey
July 18, 2026

Many music writers and historians consider Gertrude “Ma" Rainey the matriarch of American blues. Beginning her career in the dust of Southern tent shows and minstrel circuits, she became one of the first professional entertainers to bridge the raw, rural folk traditions of the deep south with the theatrical polish of vaudeville. Known for her commanding contralto voice, gold-capped teeth, and openly bisexual lyrics--most famously in “Prove It On Me Blues"--Rainey did not just perform the blues; she codified them ...

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Jimmy Blythe: Messin' Around Blues

by Nic Jones
March 22, 2008

The more time passes the sharper the light it shines on this music. Audio restoration has enhanced the quality of these pianola rolls made by a musician who was in right at the very beginnings of jazz. He was recording in Chicago before the end of 1927 in the company of clarinetist Johnny Dodds and others, and his feel for and innate understanding of the music is abundantly obvious here.

An ethical debate could rage over the enhancement of the ...