Louis Jordan's (1908-1975) jazz-based boogie shuffle rhythms laid the foundation for rhythm and blues, modern electric blues, and rockabilly music.

At the height of his career, in the 1940s, bandleader and alto saxophonist Louis Jordan scored 18 Number One hit records. In the tradition of Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller, Jordan exhibited a brilliant sense of showmanship that, as music critic Leonard Feather explained in his book The Jazz Years, brought audiences first-rate entertainment "without any loss of musical integrity." Against the backdrop of house parties, fish fries, and corner grills, Jordan performed songs that appealed to millions of black and white listeners. Able to "straddle the fence" between these two audiences, Jordan emerged as one of the first successful crossover artists of American popular music.

Born on July 8, 1908, in Brinkley, Arkansas, Jordan was the son of Jim Jordan, a bandleader and music teacher. Under the tutelage of his...