Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US black) a piano player.

1970		(con. 1920s) W. Dixon q. in Zur Heide Deep South Piano 18: ‘They used to call boogie piano Dudlow Joes in Mississippi. I didn't hear it called boogie till long after’.
1981		A. Luandrew q. in McKee & Chisenhall Beale Black & Blue 224: ‘Back then they didn’t call it a piano player, what they used to call it down South was a ‘dudlow picker’’.
1997		D.H. Edwards The World Don’t Owe Me Nothing 236: Dudlow Joe or Dudlow Picker was a common nickname for boogie-woogie piano players.
1999		H. Townsend Blues Life : And the next would be Dudlow Joe — we called him Blue. His real name was Harry something, and he played guitar.