Jay McShann
| Jay McShann | |
|---|---|
 Jay McShann at The Edinburgh Jazz Festival, c. 1995 Photo: Phil Wight |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Columbus McShann |
| Also known as | Hootie |
| Born | January 12, 1916 Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States |
| Died | December 7, 2006 (aged 90) Kansas City, Missouri, United States |
| Genres | Blues Swing Jazz Jump blues Bebop |
| Occupations | Musician, Bandleader, Composer, Soldier |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano |
| Years active | 1931–2006 |
| Labels | Vee-Jay Records |
Jay McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American Grammy Award-nominated jump blues, mainstream jazz, and swing bandleader, pianist and singer.
During the 1940s, McShann was at the forefront of blues and hard bop jazz musicians mainly from Kansas City. He assembled his own big band, with musicians that included some of the most influential artists of their time, including Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Ben Webster and Walter Brown. His kind of music became known as "the Kansas City sound"[1][2]
McShann died on December 7, 2006, at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City.[3] Jay McShann was survived by his companion of more than 30 years, Thelma Adams (known as Marianne McShann), and three daughters - Linda McShann Gerber, Jayne McShann Lewis, and Pam McShann.
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[edit] Biography
Nicknamed "Hootie",[4] McShann was born James Columbus McShann in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Musically, his education came from Earl Hines' late-night broadcasts from Chicago's Grand Terrace Cafe: "When 'Fatha' [Hines] went off the air, I went to bed".[5] He began working as a professional musician in 1931, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma and neighboring Arkansas.
[edit] Orchestra
He moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1936, and set up his own big band, which featured variously Charlie Parker (1937–1942), Al Hibbler, Lawrence Anderson, Ben Webster, Paul Quinichette, Bernard Anderson, Gene Ramey, Jimmy Coe, Gus Johnson (1938–1943),[6] Harold "Doc" West, Earl Coleman[7] and Walter Brown, among others. His first recordings were all with Charlie Parker, the first as 'The Jay McShann Orchestra' on August 9, 1940.[8]
Although they included both swing and blues numbers, the band played blues on most of its records; its most popular recording was "Confessin' the Blues." The group disbanded when McShann was drafted into the Army in 1944 and, the big band era being over, he was unable to successfully restart it when he got out.
[edit] Smaller groups
After World War II McShann began to lead small groups featuring blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. Witherspoon started recording with McShann in 1945, and fronting McShann's band, and had a hit in 1949 with "Ain't Nobody's Business." As well as writing much material, Witherspoon continued recording with McShann's band, which also featured Ben Webster, until 1951, whence McShann then played in obscurity until 1969.
McShann later became popular as a singer as well as a pianist, often performing with violinist Claude Williams. He continued recording and touring through the 1990s. Well into his 80s, McShann still performed occasionally, particularly in the Kansas City area and Toronto, Ontario where he made his last recording ['Hootie Blues'] in February 2001 after a recording career of 61 years.
[edit] Influence
On one of their earliest albums, Five by Five (a UK EP) and 12x5 (a US LP) (both 1964), The Rolling Stones recorded a cover of "Confessin' the Blues", a song McShann had co-written with Walter Brown in the 1940s.
Crime-fiction writer Elmore Leonard featured McShann as a character in his 2005 novel, The Hot Kid.
[edit] Honors
- Blues Hall of Fame.
- Pioneer Award of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
- Paris All-Star Blues (A Tribute to Charlie Parker) - Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance - Nominee, 1991 Grammy Awards
- Goin' to Kansas City - Best Traditional Blues Album - Nominee, 2003 Grammy Awards.
[edit] Discography
- 1954: Kansas City Memories - The Jay McShann Orchestra with Charlie Parker, Walter Brown, Al Hibbler and Paul Quinichette (DECCA)[9]
- Please go to http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jay-mcshann-p7110/discography for Discography.
[edit] References
- ^ ^ Kansas City has the blues and all that jazz
- ^ see Kansas City Jazz on Wikipedia
- ^ Obituary in The Independent
- ^ Scott Yanow at allmusic
- ^ jaymcshann.com > about Jay McShann
- ^ Obituary: Gus Johnson, 1913—2000, "A Sensitive Drummer in Many Contexts"
- ^ Feather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz Oxford University Press US, 2007 ISBN 019532000X, 9780195320008 at Google Books
- ^ TJD Jazz Discography: Tom Lord: 'Jumpin' at the Woodside' was their first
- ^ Discogs
[edit] External links
- Jay McShann biography on Allmusic
- Interview of McShann from 1987 NPR Fresh Air rebroadcast December 8, 2006 (RealAudio and Windows Media formats)
- Memorial page at Kansas City Star
- Big band bandleaders
- Swing pianists
- Bebop pianists
- Mainstream jazz pianists
- Jump blues musicians
- 1916 births
- 2006 deaths
- People from Muskogee, Oklahoma
- Musicians from Oklahoma
- Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductees
- American blues musicians
- Blues Hall of Fame inductees
- American blues pianists
- American jazz pianists
- Vee-Jay Records artists
