Roosevelt Sykes

Often bolstering his Piano Blues boogie with Gospel-inflected vocals and off-color double meanings, Roosevelt Sykes remains a much loved figure as well as one of the form's idiom-authors. His irreverent, good-time blues is rooted in the rolling stride-style of the pre-war innovator Fats Waller. With the tunes ".44 Blues" and "Night Time is the Right Time" to his credit, coupled with his supernatural mastery of the instrument, he is the standard by which many blues pianists are measured.