W.C. Handy

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William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an African American composer and musician, known as the "Father of the Blues".

Handy was one of the most influential American songwriters.[citation needed] He was one of many musicians who played the distinctively American blues music, and he is credited with giving it its contemporary form.[citation needed] Handy did not create the blues genre and was not the first to publish music in the blues form, but he took the blues from a regional music style (Delta blues) with a limited audience to one of the dominant national forces in American music.

Handy was an educated musician who used elements of folk music in his compositions. He was scrupulous in documenting the sources of his works, which frequently combined stylistic influences from various performers.

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"Saint Louis Blues" is a popular American song composed by W. C. Handy in the blues style and published in September 1914.

It remains a fundamental part of jazz musicians' repertoire. It was also one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song. It has been performed by numerous musicians in various styles, including Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. It has been called "the jazzman's Hamlet."

The 1925 version sung by Bessie Smith, with Louis Armstrong on cornet, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1993. The 1929 version by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra (with Red Allen) was inducted in 2008.