What do B.B. King, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker, and C.H. Mason have in common? They were all lovers of music. B.B. King is the king of the blues, Louis Armstrong was the great ambassador of jazz, Ella Fitzgerald was the queen of scat, Charlie Parker was said to be the creator of bebop, and C.H. Mason was the founder of the Church of God in Christ and appreciated great Gospel music.

All three of these types of music, blues, jazz, and gospel have a common beginning. Blues, jazz, gospel history and African-American history are uniquely similar.

It is said that blues originated on southern plantations in the 19th century. The founders were slaves, ex-slaves, and descendants of slaves. It’s music that came from Africa. It’s spiritual and gospel, it’s chants, it’s work songs, it’s drums, solos, and dance. There are crossovers from blues to jazz and jazz to blues, and jazz and blues to gospel and gospel to jazz and blues.

The father of the blues is W.C. Handy. It’s not because he created it, but he was the first one to write the sheet music for it. In 1912, he helped raise the public profile of the blues with his published sheet music for a blues song called “The Memphis Blues.” It is said that when he first heard it he thought it was weird sounding music, but at the same time was attracted to it. Blues is traditionally sad music reflecting broken relationships, tragic events, and things that have gone wrong in life. The blues notes are characteristics of the same notes that are now played in country music, rock-n-roll, and jazz.

Why is the music called the blues? A lot of it has to do with the subject matter. It used to be called “Blues Devil Music” and was shortened to just blues. Its music is normally a pitch lower than the major scale and is sometimes called worried notes. Locally, we are blessed to have the Heritage Music Bluesfest every August in Wheeling.

B.B. King is the definitive king of the blues. He was born Riley B. King on Sept. 16, 1925 in Indianola, Miss. He was said to be influenced by his cousins, Bukka White, T-Bone Walker, and Blind Lemon Jefferson, all great bluesmen. He worked on a farm until 1948, when he landed a spot on the Sonny Boy Williamson Radio Show in West Memphis, Ark. He was known as Beale Street Blues Boy, which was shortened to Blues Boy King, which was shortened to B.B. King. He named his guitar, an ES-355 custom made Gibson, “Lucille.”

Jazz is one of the rare types of music that was actually born in the United States. It is said that the modern day drum set was invented by jazz musicians. Even the words “cool” and “hype” were originally jazz terms. One of the great jazz players was Louis Armstrong. He was born Aug. 4, 1901 in New Orleans, L., which is the birthplace of jazz. He taught the world to swing. His nickname, “Satchmo” was short for “Satchelmouth,” which referred to the size of his mouth. There is a Louis Armstrong museum in New Orleans. He was a trumpet/cornet player. In 1929, he made a recording of “Ain’t Misbehavin” which was a popular pop song and added swing and turned it into a jazz interpretation. He had many hits, one of them being “Hello Dolly.” He died on July 6, 1971.

I met a teacher at Bethlehem Elementary School who told me that she remembered when Louis Armstrong came to Wheeling and played at Oglebay. One of the reasons she remembers it so well is because it was the first date with her now-husband. Maybe he showed good taste taking her to hear Louis Armstrong.

Ella Fitzgerald was another great blues/jazz singer. She was born in 1918. She was an orphan and went to an orphanage school in New York. In 1934, she won an amateur contest at The Apollo Theater in New York City, which started her jazz career. After she won at The Apollo, she started singing with Chick Webb’s Band. One of her most famous songs was “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” When Chick Webb died, Ella Fitzgerald took over the leadership of the band which she led for over three years, making her one of the first women to lead a band in that era. From there she went on to a solo career.

Ella Fitzgerald had a gift for mimicking instruments and singers which led to her special scat type music. She was the queen of scat. She died in 1996.

Isn’t it wonderful that, even after being made an orphan, she still rose to greatness, showing us it’s not how you start, but how you end?

Charlie “Bird” Parker was born on Aug. 29, 1920 in Kansas City, Kan. He was known as “Yardbird” or “Bird.” He was considered a great jazz saxophonist, soloist, and composer. He moved to New York in 1939 to pursue a music career. He worked for $9 per week as a dishwasher at Jimmie’s Chicken Shack.

In 1938, he joined J. McShann’s Band. He is said to be the creator of the 12 keys that the majority of jazz players play. They call it bebop. He had a car accident that led to a morphine addiction that led to a heroin addiction which led to his death on March 12, 1955. It is sad that he died so young due to a complication of drugs. How many other great songs and innovated music could he have composed if he had only lived?

C.H. Mason is the historic founder of the Church of God in Christ, a great Pentecostal organization, that’s known for its word and music. It is said that gospel music grew up at another level in the Church of God in Christ.

Music can get you through some good times as well as some bad times. I cannot imagine what those who came over on slave ships went through, but I am amazed that, as bad as it, was they came up with a song.

The majority of music mentioned here is termed “call and response music.” This is where the leader calls something out and the group or audience responses or repeats. Usually you say the same thing three times and the fourth line is something different.

If our society is calling out saying that it is hurt, disappointed, discriminated against, mistreated, and unloved; the only question is what will be our response?

Guest columnist Cummings is pastor of Bethlehem Apostolic Temple in Wheeling and Shiloh Apostolic Temple in Weirton.