tributary

Charles Brown

Charles Brown perfected the after-hours blues, his cool, unhurried piano and dusky, crooning voice conjuring smoky nightclubs and rain-streaked windows. Driftin' Blues, cut with Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, established the West Coast blues sound that would influence a generation of pianist-singers who followed. His was blues for the small hours, patient and heartbroken and never in a rush.

the sound in question
1945
Driftin' BluesCharles Brown

we haven’t charted Charles Brown yet

this stretch of the river isn’t mapped. we trace the watershed one artist at a time — and we’re always heading further upstream.

downstream