talking blues

From the song “Talking Blues”, recorded by Chris Bouchillon in Atlanta in 1926.

talking blues (countable and uncountable, plural talking blues)

1. (music) A form of folk music characterized by rhythmic speech or near-speech where the melody is free, but the rhythm is strict.
   • 2005, Dick Weissman, edited by Richard Carlin, Blues, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 232:

     The talking blues were first recorded in 1926, performed by a mandolinist named Chris Bouchillon.

   • 2019, Will Kaufman, Mapping Woody Guthrie, University of Oklahoma Press, →ISBN, page 26:

     If Guthrie's talking blues are comedic powerhouses, the same can surely be said of his singing blues.

•   talking blues on Wikipedia.Wikipedia