Floyd McDaniel

Floyd McDaniel earned recognition for his distinctive blend of blues-infused jazz and jazz-infused blues while remaining a fixture on the Chicago music circuit across the bulk of his eight decades. Born in Athens, Alabama, the singer and guitarist relocated to the Windy City at age 15 in 1930 and remained based there for the rest of his life. During his teenage years he performed blues vocals and guitar on Chicago sidewalks, then became a member of the washboard ensemble the Rhythm Rascals in 1933. Early in the 1940s he acquired the electric guitar and entered the jump-blues outfit the Four Blazes, which later expanded into the Five Blazes; the group cut sides for Aristocrat in 1947 and for United Artists in 1952-1953. Personnel shifts occurred repeatedly within the Blazes, and among the musicians McDaniel worked alongside were bassist Thomas Braden and pianist Ernie Harper. Following the group’s dissolution in the late 1950s, McDaniel pursued several other ventures, among them running a tavern on Chicago’s South Side throughout the 1950s and 1960s and performing with an edition of the Ink Spots during the 1970s. In the 1980s he teamed with veteran tenor saxophonist Dave Clark, who subsequently became part of McDaniel’s last ensemble, the Blues Swingers. McDaniel issued recordings on the Delmark label during the 1990s and passed away in Chicago on July 23, 1995, two days after turning 80.