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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The Last Of The Blue Devils
Jazz - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kansas City on My Mind
Jay McShann, Candy Johnson, Claude Williams, Ramey Gene, Gus Johnson
Jazz - Erschienen bei Disques Black & Blue am 17.12.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Early Bird - Jay McShann Orchestra featuring Charlie Parker 1940-3
Bebop - Erschienen bei Spotlite am 06.06.2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jay McShann: Going to Kansas City
Jay McShann, Budy Tate, Julian Dash, Ramey Gene, Gus Johnson, Jr.
Jazz - Erschienen bei New World Records am 06.03.1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vine Street Boogie (Jay McShann)
Jazz - Erschienen bei 1201 MUSIC am 01.01.1974
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Big Apple Bash
Jazz - Erschienen bei Rhino Atlantic am 01.01.1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Piano Blues Best
Blues - Erschienen bei Master Classics Records am 01.05.2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hootie Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Stony Plain Records am 28.03.2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Confessin The Blues
Jazz - Erschienen bei Disques Black & Blue am 01.01.1969
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Solos & Duets
Free Jazz & Avantgarde - Erschienen bei Sackville am 21.06.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Still Jumpin' The Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Stony Plain Records am 23.03.1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kansas City Memories (1970-1973) (The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Disques Black & Blue am 01.01.1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jay Mcshann "Hootie's Blues"
Jazz - Erschienen bei Retrospective am 01.01.2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
At Cafe Des Copains
Jazz - Erschienen bei Sackville am 01.01.1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Hootie's Jumpin' Blues
Blues - Erschienen bei Stony Plain Records am 08.04.1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Baby With the Black Dress
Jazz - Erschienen bei Chiaroscuro Records am 05.05.1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Man from Muskogee
Jazz - Erschienen bei Sackville am 01.01.1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Just a Lucky So and So
Jazz - Erschienen bei Sackville am 01.01.1983
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo