Jimmy Yancey
One of the seminal boogie-woogie pianists, Yancey was active in and around Chicago playing house parties and clubs from 1915, yet he remained unrecorded until May 1939, when he recorded "The Fives" and "Jimmy's Stuff" for a small label. Soon after, he became the first boogie-woogie pianist to record an album of solos, for Victor. By then, Yancey's work around Chicago had already influenced such younger and better-known pianists as Meade "Lux" Lewis, Pinetop Smith, and Albert Ammons.
Yancey played vaudeville as a tap dancer and singer from the age of six. He settled in Chicago in 1915, where he began composing songs and playing music at informal gatherings. In 1925, he became groundskeeper at Comiskey Park, home of the Chicago White Sox baseball team. Yancey was a musician's musician, remaining mostly unknown and unheard outside of Chicago until 1936, when Lewis recorded one of his tunes, "Yancey Special." Three years later, producer Dan Qualey became the first to record Yancey for his new Solo Art label. After the Victor recordings, Yancey went on to record for OKeh and Bluebird. In later years, Yancey performed with his wife, blues singer Estelle "Mama" Yancey; they appeared together at Carnegie Hall in 1948.
Yancey was not as technically flashy as some of his disciples, but he was an expressive, earthy player with a flexible left hand that introduced an air of unpredictability into his bass lines. His playing had a notable peculiarity: Although he wrote and performed compositions in a variety of keys, he ended every tune in E flat. He was also an undistinguished blues singer, accompanying himself on piano. Although Yancey attained a measure of fame for his music late in life, he never quit his day job, remaining with the White Sox until just before his death.
© Chris Kelsey /TiVo
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Boogie Woogie Blues
Blues - Released by Dobre Classic Media on 18 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nobody in MindNothing But the Blues
Blues - Released by History on 2 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Piano Blues Of Jimmy Yancey
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Titanium Hits
Jazz - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 12 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Blues Anthology: Jimmy Yancey, Vol. 1
Blues - Released by MN Records on 2 Dec 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
City Bouncing Uptown
Jazz - Released by City Bouncing Uptown Muzik on 13 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Unissued 1951 Yancey Wire Recordings (Hd Remastered)
Blues - Released by Reborn recordings on 11 Jul 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Blues and Boogie
Blues - Released by SINETONE AMR on 19 Aug 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jimmy Yancey Blues And Boogie (1954)
Blues - Released by JB Production on 2 Sep 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rock Standards 1940's
Jazz - Released by Crazy Warthog Media on 1 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo