 And, of course, Louis Jordan's influence went on as well. Sammy Davis Jr. called him the original soul brother. Sonny Rollins called Louis Jordan a bridge between blues and jazz. Others we consider influential today, like Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and Ray Charles, were profoundly influenced by Louis Jordan, who died February 4, 1975. But it was James Brown who put it most succinctly. He was everything.