Jazz Gillum
One of the pre-eminent Chicago harpists of the pre-war era, Bill "Jazz" Gillum was born September 11, 1904 in Indianola, Mississippi. He picked up the harmonica at the age of six, and five years later ran away from home to live with relatives in nearby Charleston. After spending his formative years playing street corners and house parties for spare change, Gillum moved to Chicago in 1923, and before long he hooked up with guitarist Big Bill Broonzy, who often played together as a duo in area clubs. Following a few sideman dates for ARC, he signed with RCA Victor's Bluebird imprint in 1934 to record as a solo artist. His strong relationship with producer Lester Melrose also resulted in a steady stream of session work, and he was a fixture of the "Bluebird Beat" house band. Gillum was drafted into the Army in 1942, and when he returned from duty, his high, reedy harmonica sound had been largely eclipsed by the harder-edged style of John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He recorded a few more sides for Bluebird, but drifted into obscurity by the '50s, dying after a gunshot wound to the head on March 29, 1966.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
Discography
15 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Jazz Gillum Vol. 4 1946-1949
Blues - Released by Document Records on 10 May 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Gillum Vol. 2 1938-1941
Blues - Released by Document Records on 10 May 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harmonica and washboard blues 1937-1940
Jazz - Released by Disques Black & Blue on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Blues by Jazz Gillum Singing and Playing His Harmonica: With Arbee Stidham and Memphis Slim
Blues - Released by Folkways Records on 1 Jan 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Harmonica Blues Explosion
Blues - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Mar 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Take One More Chance With Me
Blues - Released by Acrobat on 10 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Gillum: Harmonica Chicago Blues (1934-1947) (The Blues)
Blues - Released by Fremeaux Heritage on 30 Jul 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Gillum Vol. 1 1936-1938
Blues - Released by Document Records on 10 May 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Gillum Vol. 3 1941-1946
Blues - Released by Document Records on 10 May 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I'm Still Walking The Highway - Treasury Of Jazz No. 4 (Recordings of 1938 & 1941)
Jazz - Released by Jazz Classics on 26 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Jazz Gillum 1935 - 1946
Blues - Released by Wolf Records International GmbH on 19 Jun 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Blues by Jazz Gillum (Hd Remastered)
Jazz Gillum, Arbee Stidham, Memphis Slim
R&B - Released by Reborn recordings on 4 Jul 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Little Woman
Blues - Released by Milestones Records on 26 Jun 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo