Jay McShann
The great veteran pianist Jay McShann (also known as Hootie) enjoyed a long career and it is unfair to primarily think of him as merely the leader of an orchestra that featured a young Charlie Parker. He was mostly self-taught as a pianist, worked with Don Byas as early as 1931 and played throughout the Midwest before settling in Kansas City in 1936. McShann formed his own sextet the following year and by 1939 had his own big band. In 1940 at a radio station in Wichita, KS, McShann and an octet out of his orchestra recorded eight songs that were not released commercially until the 1970s; those rank among the earliest of all Charlie Parker records (he is brilliant on "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Lady Be Good") and also feature the strong rhythm section team McShann had with bassist Gene Ramey and drummer Gus Johnson. The full orchestra recorded for Decca on two occasions during 1941-1942 but they were typecast as a blues band and did not get to record many of their more challenging charts (although very rare broadcasts have since surfaced and been released on CD by Vintage Jazz Classics). In addition to Bird (who had a few short solos), the main stars were trumpeter Bernard Anderson, the rhythm section, and singer Walter Brown. McShann and his band arrived in New York in February 1942 and made a strong impression, but World War II made it difficult for any new orchestras to catch on. There was a final session in December 1943 without Parker, but McShann was soon drafted and the band broke up. After being discharged later in 1944, McShann briefly re-formed his group but soon moved to Los Angeles, where he led combos for the next few years; his main attraction was the young singer Jimmy Witherspoon.
McShann was in obscurity for the next two decades, making few records and mostly playing in Kansas City. In 1969 he was rediscovered and McShann (who had first sung on records in 1966) was soon a popular pianist/vocalist. Sometimes featuring violinist Claude Williams, he toured constantly, recorded frequently, and appeared at many jazz festivals, being active into the mid-'90s. Jay McShann, who recorded through the years for Onyx (the 1940 radio transcriptions), Decca, Capitol, Aladdin, Mercury, Black Lion, EmArcy, Vee Jay, Black & Blue, Master Jazz, Sackville, Sonet, Storyville, Atlantic, Swingtime, and Music Masters among others, was a vital pianist and an effective blues vocalist who keept a classic style alive. A live album, Hootie Blues, recorded in 2001 in Toronto and released in 2006 by Stony Plain, showed that McShann could still bring it at the age of 85. He died at the age of 90 on December 7, 2006.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Dark Shadows (Jazz & the Masters)
Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Jay McShann
Jazz - Released by Beach View Records on 25 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jay Mcshann "Hootie's Blues"
Jazz - Released by Retrospective on 1 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Presenting Jay McShann
Jazz - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 22 Apr 1941
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Piano Master: Jay McShann & Count Basie
Jazz - Released by History on 5 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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After Hours
Contemporary Jazz - Released by Storyville Records on 1 Jan 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rare Blues Grooves
Brown McGhee, Jay McShann, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
Alternative & Indie - Released by LRC Ltd. - Groove Merchant Records on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jim and Jay's Christmas
Christmas Music - Released by Sackville on 8 Nov 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Goin' To Kansas City
Blues - Released by Stony Plain Records on 1 Jan 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1941 - 1943
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 27 Apr 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Just A Lucky So And So
Jazz - Released by Sackville on 20 Feb 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jim & Jay's Christmas
Jazz - Released by Sackville on 25 Dec 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Missouri Connection
Jazz - Released by Reservoir Music on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bar Fly Blues
Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Dec 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Confessin' The Blues
Blues - Released by Saar srl on 24 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Complete Jazz Series 1944 - 1946
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 27 Apr 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lovin' The Blues
Blues - Released by Reminisce Music on 17 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo