The Melody Web what each genre heard, and what it passed on

heard passed on Click or tap a node to recenter. Use a connecting line, or Influence, for the story.

Heard

Gospel genre · 1920–

Soul jazz makes the gospel engine the product: Hammond shout, amen cadence, preacher pacing, a dance-floor sermon.

Influence
Hard bop style · 1954–1965

Soul jazz keeps hard bop’s blues, church cadence, and singable riff head, then makes the groove the product: backbeat, organ-bass, boogaloo 16ths.

Influence
Rhythm and blues genre · 1940–

The boogaloo wing of soul jazz takes R&B’s dance-single facts: backbeat, 16th-note bounce, riff hook, jukebox length.

Influence

Soul jazz

style · 1958–

Also called soul-jazz, jazz organ combo

Kind of Jazz

Late-1950s–60s small-group jazz that keeps hard bop’s blues and church rhetoric, then makes the groove the product: Hammond organ combos, boogaloo 16ths, and a dance-floor Blue Note hit (The Sermon, The Sidewinder). It is a style of jazz, not a style of Hard bop and not Funk. Hard bop is the donor; fusion is a later electric neighbor, not this file. A soul jazz funk hop is refused: funk’s parent is Soul. Fusion already receives groove from Funk and personnel from Hard bop. Smooth jazz is a radio child of fusion, not of this organ-combo school. Soul leftover as a marketing name, not a parent (Gospel and Rhythm and blues carry the church and dance hops). Jazz-funk leftover as an alias of this organ-combo school. It gives Acid jazz the Hammond catalog London clubs replayed and Hip-hop the Blue Note sample pool.

Listen

  1. The Sermon Jimmy Smith (1958) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  2. Back at the Chicken Shack Jimmy Smith (1960) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  3. The Cat Jimmy Smith (1964) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  4. The Sidewinder Lee Morgan (1964) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  5. Alligator Boogaloo Lou Donaldson (1967) YouTube
  6. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Cannonball Adderley · written by Joe Zawinul (1966) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  7. Rock Candy Brother Jack McDuff (1963) YouTube
  8. Idle Moments Grant Green (1964) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  9. Midnight Creeper Lou Donaldson (1968) YouTube · Spotify · Amazon
  10. Compared to What Les McCann / Eddie Harris · written by Gene McDaniels (1969) YouTube · Spotify

Passed on

Acid jazz genre · 1987–

Acid jazz is soul jazz replayed as a club: Hammond, boogaloo 16ths, and Blue Note riff heads taken off 1960s sides into London rare-groove rooms and live bands.

Influence
Hip-hop genre · 1973–

Hip-hop’s jazz-rap wing samples soul jazz’s organ-combo and boogaloo sides as loops: Hammond, riff heads, and dry Blue Note drums.

Influence

Gospel → Soul jazz

harmonymelodyperformance practicetimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1956–1965oralrecordingliturgy

Mechanism

Soul jazz makes the gospel engine the product: Hammond shout, amen cadence, preacher pacing, a dance-floor sermon. Hard bop already used church rhetoric as a head style; here the organ combo and the jukebox single keep that rhetoric for the whole piece. Strength high. hard bop soul jazz is the jazz-school parent; this file is the sacred parent. gospel soul is the vocal-pop hop, not the Blue Note organ room.

Evidence

Smith’s The Sermon! (recorded 1957–58, issued 1959) as the named hinge; later Chicken Shack dates; Cannonball’s festival soul-jazz (This Here, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy) as the same church cadence at larger volume. Organ rooms in Philadelphia, Newark, and Harlem as workplaces that already knew church organ.

Debate

Whether soul jazz only inherits gospel through hard bop. The organ-combo school also hears church directly (Smith’s shout registration and sermon titles). Both edges are drawn: Messengers grammar on one, sacred stance on the other.

Mediators

artist: Jimmy Smith; artist: Cannonball Adderley

Hard bop → Soul jazz

meter and grooveharmonyperformance practicemelodystrength: highscholarly consensus1958–1966recordingoral

Mechanism

Soul jazz keeps hard bop’s blues, church cadence, and singable riff head, then makes the groove the product: backbeat, organ-bass, boogaloo 16ths. Strength high. The quintet walking-swing default is no longer required. Funk is a later neighbor, not this hop.

Evidence

Smith’s organ-combo Blue Notes; Morgan’s The Sidewinder as a dated hard-bop player writing a soul-jazz hit; Timmons/Silver gospel left hand as the shared rhetoric.

Debate

Whether soul jazz is just late hard bop. The corpus splits them: organ trio and jukebox groove are a named school, not an alias of the Messengers. The Sidewinder sits on this child, not on the hard-bop file.

Mediators

artist: Jimmy Smith; artist: Lee Morgan

Rhythm and blues → Soul jazz

meter and grooveform and structuretimbre and productionstrength: mediumscholarly consensus1962–1966recordingradiodance

Mechanism

The boogaloo wing of soul jazz takes R&B’s dance-single facts: backbeat, 16th-note bounce, riff hook, jukebox length. Hard bop already had church cadence; R&B supplies the groove that makes The Sidewinder a hit rather than a Messenger blowing date. Strength medium — this is a wing of the organ-and-boogaloo school, not the whole node. rhythm and blues soul is the vocal-pop hop.

Evidence

Morgan’s The Sidewinder (1964) as a dated hard-bop trumpeter writing an R&B-tempo riff hit; Cannonball’s mid-1960s soul-jazz singles; Blue Note’s jukebox market beside the R&B chart. Grove treats the dance-floor recoding as part of the named school.

Debate

How much of the 16th-note bounce is already on late hard bop. Consensus: the Messengers remain a walking-swing default; the boogaloo single is the R&B hop onto the soul-jazz child. Do not hang this on the hard-bop file.

Mediators

artist: Lee Morgan; artist: Cannonball Adderley

Soul jazz → Acid jazz

meter and grooveinstrumentationharmonytimbre and productionstrength: highscholarly consensus1987–1994recordingradiodance

Mechanism

Acid jazz is soul jazz replayed as a club: Hammond, boogaloo 16ths, and Blue Note riff heads taken off 1960s sides into London rare-groove rooms and live bands. Strength high. Funk and hip-hop wait as further parents of acid jazz; this hop is the organ-combo catalog.

Evidence

Peterson/Piller residencies; Acid Jazz label compilations; Brand New Heavies and Incognito as live organ-funk; Grove on the soul-jazz/jazz-funk record pool.

Debate

Whether jazz-funk is a separate donor. Jazz-funk leftover as a naming wing of the same 1960s groove-jazz pool already on Soul jazz. Smooth jazz is a radio child of fusion, not this hop.

Mediators

artist: Gilles Peterson; institution: Acid Jazz Records; artist: The Brand New Heavies

Soul jazz → Hip-hop

harmonyphrase and licktimbre and productionmeter and groovestrength: mediumwell documented1988–1994recording

Mechanism

Hip-hop’s jazz-rap wing samples soul jazz’s organ-combo and boogaloo sides as loops: Hammond, riff heads, and dry Blue Note drums. Strength medium. jazz hip hop remains the umbrella hop; this edge is the 1960s groove-jazz catalog producers actually lifted.

Evidence

Pete Rock and Native Tongues jazz-rap dates; Guru’s Jazzmatazz as a named live meeting; Chang on jazz sampling in that window.

Debate

Whether any jazz sample already sits on jazz hip hop. It does as grammar. The local donor is still the soul-jazz/Blue Note organ pool rather than swing-era 78s or fusion shred.

Mediators

artist: Pete Rock; artist: A Tribe Called Quest; artist: Guru