Progressive blues - is such thing exist?

 

"People Are Strange" by the Doors contains a melody which has often been repeated in early traditional European Folk music. For example....an old Irish song sung in the pub. Some of the bands you have mentioned ....their ideas derived from European influences centuries ago and perhaps that is what you are hearing? The old Blues masters sometimes crossed into jazz improv when they migrated to Chicago and added horns to the Blues. Or even the New Orleans sound as well. It's when Blues becomes a half breed of Jazz, but not so much Classical like in early Prog. More to the Cantenbury improv style if anything WHICH...derives from American jazz. There is a section of "1983 A Merman I Shall turn to Be' where Hendrix overdubbed about 4 guitars to do harmony. Mitch Mitchell is playing a marching beat and if you listen closely to that section you might notice that it sounds a bit European. With Hendrix there were sections of his songs that sounded prog related. Sometimes he fell into the Space rock or Krautrock moments with Chris Wood on flute and the spacy undertone of backward loops on guitar. Guru, Guru were seriously influenced by the Space Rock approach of the Hendrix trio on Kanguru. Mani was not trying to emulate Mitchell yet he was approaching the feel of the drums from that angle.

I suppose you might say there is progressive Blues rock? I only see that light through some of the more distant outside improvisation in Blues music where the piano is dominate and soloing outside the blues scales and in rapid form with a very fast swing beat that contains a 4 bar blues progression and chord substitution. Because with Santana and the Latin feel,....well there was already Jazz in Latin music for many years prior to Carlos hitting the music scene. Although with the Latin culture he was schooled a bit and it was natural for him to add the influence to create Latin Rock. I have heard older Latin music which sounded pretty close to the first Santana album in style and structure. Los Lobos did the same thing really. They understood blues and played it well, however I think Jazz was more keen to be a companion to Latin music due to the natural gymnastics of music which derives from Mexico and Spain. It already had a jazz mentality and it was full of passion. Quite like sword play. lol