Floyd Dixon branded himself Mr. Magnificent, and this episode traces how the Texas-born pianist earned it. Born February 8, 1929 in Marshall, Texas, Dixon absorbed blues, gospel, jazz and country before his family moved to Los Angeles in 1942, where the smooth club style of Charles Brown became his template. After gigging with Eddie Williams and His Brown Buddies, he signed with Modern Records in 1949, charted with Dallas Blues and Mississippi Blues, and stepped into Charles Brown’s old seat in Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers, scoring a number four R&B hit with Telephone Blues before landing his own number four with Call Operator 210 in 1952.

We follow Dixon through his label-hopping years at Specialty and Cat Records, the era that produced Hole in the Wall and Hey Bartender, later covered by the Blues Brothers. Then comes the great escape: Dixon walked away from the industry in the 1970s, returned to Texas, and only resurfaced when Los Angeles commissioned Olympic Blues for the 1984 Summer Olympics. A Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award in 1993 and the Alligator Records album Wake Up and Live followed, leading to his final two-day concert in June 2006, recorded as Time Brings About a Change, just weeks before his death at 77.

• How Texas country blues, gospel and jazz shaped a piano style that could command a Central Avenue club
• Why the jump blues of Red Cherries and Too Much Jelly Roll was built for small combos in loud rooms
• The risky move of replacing his idol Charles Brown and using the Three Blazers as a launchpad
• Label hopping from Aladdin to Specialty to Atlantic’s Cat imprint as a survival strategy
• The 2006 farewell concert with Pinetop Perkins, Henry Gray, Kid Ramos and Kim Wilson