I Don’t Give a Damn Blues

"I Don't Give a Damn Blues" is a blues composition by trumpeter and composer Sean Jones. Jones, who served as chair of the brass department at the Peabody Institute and has led his own groups since the mid-2000s, wrote the piece as a straightforward blues that channels the earthy, declamatory spirit of the tradition. The title itself signals the tune's attitude: a frank, no-nonsense declaration rooted in the emotional directness that defines the blues idiom. While details of its original recording are not widely documented, the composition gained exposure through the Emmet Cohen-hosted live concert series "Live From Emmet's Place," where it has served as a blowing vehicle for multiple soloists. In that setting, the tune functions as an open framework for improvisation, allowing horn players and rhythm section members alike to stretch out over its chord changes. Jones's writing reflects his dual identity as a performer steeped in the hard bop and post-bop traditions and as an educator who values the blues as a foundational element of jazz vocabulary. The composition sits comfortably alongside the broader lineage of original blues heads written by jazz trumpeters, from Miles Davis's contributions to the form through the modern era.