Definition of "barrelhouse" [barrelhouse]

• A disreputable old-time saloon or bawdyhouse. (noun)
• An early style of jazz characterized by boisterous piano playing, free group improvisation, and an accented two-beat rhythm. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Mercy Dee or Mercy Dee Walton, as I knew him, was a typical Texas-style blues and half-boogie pianist, a la Whistling Alex Moore, the great Dallas pianist who is given credit in Texas blues circles as inventing what became known as the "barrelhouse" where they had barrels of whiskey and beer piano style."
• "To tie together a book that covers the colonial-era tavern, the frontier barrelhouse, the high-toned New York City saloon, the German beer-garden, the speakeasy, the cocktail lounge, the gay bar and even the contemporary neo-speakeasy, a writer needs a grand theme."
• "In a 1930 song called “Memphis Flu,” Elder David R. Curry, pastor of the Oakley Street Church of God in Christ, and his congregation sing over barrelhouse piano runs, hand claps, and interjections of “Praise Jesus!”"