Jay McShann


James Columbus "Jay" McShann was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and Ben Webster.
WWW jaymcshann.com

Early life and education

McShann was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and was nicknamed Hootie. During his youth he taught himself how to play the piano through observing his sister's piano lessons and trying to practice tunes he heard off the radio. He was also heavily influenced by late-night broadcasts of pianist Earl Hines from Chicago's Grand Terrace Cafe: "When 'Fatha' went off the air, I went to bed". He began working as a professional musician in 1931 at the age of 15, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma, and neighboring Arkansas.

Career

1936–1944

McShann moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1936, and set up his own big band which variously featured Charlie Parker, Al Hibbler, Ben Webster, Paul Quinichette, Bernard Anderson, Gene Ramey, Jimmy Coe, Gus Johnson, Harold "Doc" West, Earl Coleman, Walter Brown, and Jimmy Witherspoon, among others. His first recordings were all with Charlie Parker, the first as the Jay McShann Orchestra on August 9, 1940.
The band played both swing and blues numbers, but played blues on most of its records; its most popular recording was "Confessin' the Blues" with Walter Brown on vocals. The group disbanded when McShann was drafted into the Army in 1944. After his return two years later, he found that small groups were now taking the place of big-bands in the jazz scene.
McShann told the Associated Press in 2003: "You'd hear some cat play, and somebody would say, 'This cat, he sounds like he's from Kansas City.' It was Kansas City Style. They knew it on the East Coast. They knew it on the West Coast. They knew it up North, and they knew it down South."

1945–2006

After World War II McShann began to lead small groups featuring the blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. Witherspoon began to record with McShann in 1945 and, fronting McShann's band, he 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. McShann had a modern rhythm and blues hit with "Hands Off", featuring a vocal by Priscilla Bowman, in 1955.
In the late 1960s, McShann often performed as a singer as well as a pianist, often 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. In 1979, he appeared prominently in The Last of the Blue Devils, a documentary film about Kansas City jazz.
One of McShann's favorite stories to tell was how band member and friend Charlie Parker got his nickname "Bird". During their drive to a gig in Nebraska with a car full of musicians, the driver of the car accidentally hit a chicken. According to McShann, Parker requested the driver turn around so he could get the bird, and sat with it in the backseat of the car all the way to Lincoln. Once they arrived he asked the keeper of the home they were staying in to cook it up for him.
McShann died on December 7, 2006, in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 90.

Awards and honors

Discography

As leader

Kansas City Memories Goin' to Kansas City Blues with Jimmy Witherspoon McShann's Piano Confessin' the Blues Going to Kansas City Jumpin' the Blues with Milt Buckner The Man from Muskogee with Claude Williams Kansas City Memories The Band That Jumps the Blues! Early Bird with Charlie Parker Vine Street Boogie Kansas City Joys with Buddy Tate, Paul Quinichette Crazy Legs & Friday Strut with Buddy Tate Kansas City on My Mind The Last of the Blue Devils A Tribute to Fats Waller Kansas City Hustle The Big Apple Bash Tuxedo Junction with Don Thompson Last of the Whorehouse Piano Players with Ralph Sutton Saturday Night Function with the Sackville All-Stars Best of Friends with Al Casey After Hours The Early Bird Charlie Parker Blowin' in from K.C. with Joe Thomas Just a Lucky So and So Live in France with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Live in France, Vol. 2 with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson Roll 'Em CD reissue of Black and Blue 33.022Last of the Whorehouse Piano Players with Ralph Sutton Paris All-Star Blues: A Tribute to Charlie Parker Blue Pianos with Axel Zwingenberger Stride Piano Summit with Dick Hyman, Ralph Sutton Jimmy Witherspoon & Jay McShann compilationThe Missouri Connection with John Hicks Some Blues Airmail Special Swingmatism with Don Thompson, Archie Alleyne Piano Playhouse: Complete Swing Time and Supreme Sessions compilationSwing The Boogie! with Axel Zwingenberger Hootie's Jumpin' Blues with Duke Robillard Jazz and Blues on Marians' Records with Milt Hinton, Buddy Tate, J.C. Heard, Carrie Smith My Baby with the Black Dress On Havin' Fun with Major Holley recorded 1986Still Jumpin' the Blues with Duke Robillard, Maria Muldaur What a Wonderful World Hootie! recorded 1997Hot Biscuits: The Essential Jay McShann 1941–1949 compilationJumpin' the Blues: Jay McShann and His Orchestra compilation/2-CD setGoin' to Kansas City with Duke Robillard Jumpin' the Blues with Tiny Grimes Solos & Duets 3-LPs on 2-CDs/reissues A Tribute to Fats Waller, Kansas City Hustle, Tuxedo JunctionHootie Blues recorded 2001A Rockin' Good Way with Priscilla Bowman compilationHootie Swings the Blues 1941–1956 compilation/3-CD set

As sideman

With Clarence Gatemouth BrownCold Strange More Stuff Pressure Cooker Just Got Lucky compilation
With others