Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five were arguably the most popular band in post WWII USA. When the Swing-era big bands became too expensive to maintain a heavy road schedule and many people found the innovations and virtuosity of bebop too esoteric, Jordan developed the stripped-down, danceable sounds of Rhythm & Blues with humorous vernacular lyrics that owed a huge debt to the African American vaudeville tradition and helped lead to the rise of Rock & Roll in the '50s. Such tunes as "Caldonia", "Open the Door Richard", "Five Guys Named Moe", and "Safe Sane and Single" were all over the juke boxes of the late 1940s. "Is You Is", one of his most popular tunes, has been covered numerous times by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters, Buster Brown, B.B. King, Dr. John, Taj Mahal and many more. Though the lyrics can be cringeworthy to modern ears, in keeping with the spirit of the era in which it was written be mindful that Jordan was in on the joke and assumed his listeners were too...