Reggie-It is pretty clear that there was a solid oral pedagogy for teaching the blues--I am inclined to think that it wasn't borrowed from any "educated" sources, in fact, it moved the other way. The "system" is a way of using repeating rhythmic/musical ideas that was brought by the African laborers who were forced into bondage in the slave trade.

Anyway, the same underlying system can be used to play the rawest, dirtiest, blues or the smoothest cool jazz--evidence being that players like Rahsaan Roland Kirk could mix the extremes--