Jazz Gillum
b. 11 September, 1904, Indianola, Mississippi, USA. d. 29 March 1966, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Gillum had a tough childhood which began when his parents died during his infancy. He was farmed out to an uncle who, as well as a deacon, seems to have been a bully. This harrowing period was rendered bearable only by the boy's interest in music; he learned to play the organ and the harmonica. Gillum ran away at the age of seven and found work in fields and stores, augmenting his income by playing harmonica on street corners' until 1923 when he travelled north to Chicago to try his luck in the music business. He formed a long association with Big Bill Broonzy and started his recording career with him in 1934. The blues harmonica came into its own in 1937 when John Lee ‘Sonny Boy’ Williamson began his immensely successful career. Although second only to Williamson in popularity, Gillum was nowhere near as inventive a musician or as exciting a singer. His strength lay in his ability as a song-writer. Despite this his work as a performer and sideman was much in demand throughout the '30s and '40s when he was a stalwart of the Bluebird/Victor labels. In 1961 he recorded an album for Folkways Records but participated only marginally in the ‘blues boom’ before he was shot dead during an argument in 1966. Despite his limitations, at his best Gillum recorded some very satisfactory performances and was popular both with his black audience and white collectors.