Jay McShann - R.I.P.

[Elliot]

http://www.newschannel10.com/global/story.asp?s=5784485

Jay McShann, leading figure in Kansas City jazz scene, dies at 90









KANSAS CITY, Mo. Oklahoma native Jay "Hootie" McShann who became a jazz pianist and bandleader in Kansas City and introduced saxophinist Charlie Parker to the world has died.

McShann died Thursday at a Kansas City, Missouri, hospital at the age of 90.

He was born in Muskogee and taught himself to play piano by listening to the radio then started his professional career at age 15.

He went to Kansas City in 1936 where he met Parker a year later and added him to his orchestra.

He was the subject of the film "Hootie Blues," in 1978 and was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1987.

[rollhead]

Thank you, Jay, for your beautiful music.

[Chris D]

Sorry, but I can't take you. R.I.P.

[kedoane]

Very sadden by this loss. I really enjoyed his piano playing.

[kedoane]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...l/16187797.htm

Here's the obit. in the Kansas City Star.

[Lois Gilbert]

I interviewed him about 25 years ago. He had such a wonderful spirit and really enjoyed his life.

[Mike Schwartz]

FWIW he was born 01/12/1909 wish means he died at 96, about one month short of his next birthday.

Man could he play piano...and could sing as little too!

The times I saw him were memorable. A great musician, and a link to so many others.

[Lois Gilbert]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

FWIW he was born 01/12/1909 wish means he died at 96, about one month short of his next birthday.

Man could he play piano...and could sing as little too!

The times I saw him were memorable. A great musician, and a link to so many others.

I was just going to post the same thing Mike!!

[shrugs]

damn

loved his Sackville recordings.

[Mike Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Lois Gilbert

I was just going to post the same thing Mike!!

I just knew that he's been 90+ for some years, so I looked it up.

[stereojack]

Originally Posted by Mike Schwartz

FWIW he was born 01/12/1909 wish means he died at 96, about one month short of his next birthday.

Man could he play piano...and could sing as little too!

The times I saw him were memorable. A great musician, and a link to so many others.

Although many sources erroneously give his year of birth as 1909, he was born in 1916, making him 90 at time of death.

A long life of great accomplishment - a wonderful musician!

[Al in NYC]

I still remember seeing him in Oakland as one of the highlights of my time in California. What a wonderful fun, entertaining musician and performer he was.

[Dr Dave]

Weren't Charlie Parker's first commercial recordings with McShann?

[Ron Thorne]

Another Hall of Famer gone.

Fortunately, we have his recorded legacy and he enjoyed a long, full, hopefully fulfilling life.

In Loving Memory

January 12, 1916 - December 7, 2006

R.I.P., Jay "Hootie" McShann~

[Lois Gilbert]

Pianist Jay McShann, leading figure in Kansas City jazz scene, dies at 90

The Associated Press
Thursday, December 7, 2006
KANSAS CITY, Missouri
Jay "Hootie" McShann, a jazz pianist and bandleader who helped refine the blues-tinged Kansas City sound and introduced the world to saxophonist Charlie Parker, died Thursday. He was 90.

McShann died at St. Luke's Hospital. The cause of death was not released, but close family friend Kathe Kaul, co-founder of the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, said McShann had entered the hospital within the past week with a respiratory ailment.

McShann, whose musical career spanned eight decades and earned him accolades from both blues and jazz fans, was born James Columbus McShann on Jan. 12, 1916 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Against the wishes of his parents, he taught himself how to play piano, in part by listening to late-night radio broadcasts featuring jazz pianist and bandleader Earl "Fatha" Hines.

McShann developed a distinctive style that drew heavily on his beloved blues, and began his professional career at age 15. After a raid on a club in Kansas in 1936 — liquor was still illegal in the state then — the frustrated pianist decided to head north.

"I said, 'I've got an uncle in Omaha. I think I'll go up there and see what the cats are doing in Omaha,'" McShann recalled in a 1999 interview with The Associated Press.

"I got a bus ticket. I had a layover of two hours in Kansas City. I knew (Count) Basie had a band at the Reno Club. I thought I'd run over to the Reno. I might know some of these cats."

"A guy in the Reno said, 'This is it, right here in Kansas City.' I said, 'My money is a little low. I don't think I can stick around here too long.' He said, 'Take my apartment key. Stay as long as you want. I'll stay over at my girlfriend's.'"

A few days later, another musician sought out McShann. He stayed in Kansas City, making its sounds his own.

"You'd just have some people sitting around, and you'd hear some cat play, and somebody would say, 'This cat, he sounds like he's from Kansas City,'" McShann told AP in 2003. "It was the 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."

McShann hooked up with Parker in 1937, after hearing the saxophone genius' music coming out of a Kansas City club, and the two worked together off and on until 1941. Parker, who earned his nickname "Bird" while playing with McShann's orchestra, made his recording debut on McShann's "Hootie Blues" in 1941, and later went on to pioneer the new bebop style of jazz.

McShann's own nickname stemmed from an incident in which someone slipped him a loaded drink during a jam session. McShann, a nondrinker, was unable to play at the "hootenanny," and the sobriquet, shortened to "Hootie," stuck.

McShann entered the Army in 1943 and served until 1944. In the 1950s and 1960s, he recorded seldom and toured even less. But in 1969, he started touring again and continued until well into his 80s.

His recording career also took off again, and in 2003, his CD "Goin' to Kansas City" was nominated for a traditional blues Grammy.

He was the subject of a film, "Hootie Blues," in 1978 and was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1996, he received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and went on to be featured in "Piano Blues," a documentary directed by Clint Eastwood for the 2003 Public Broadcasting Service series "The Blues."

In 2000, the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City named its outdoor performance pavilion for McShann. The museum, in the city's historic 18th and Vine district, is also home of the Gem Theatre, where McShann performed last year.

Plans are pending for a musical celebration of McShann's life in Kansas City early next year.

___
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/...it_McShann.php

[John L]

Thanks for all of the great music, Hootie.

[hornplayer]

That's sad news.

[John P. Cooper]

[grove47]

FWIW, I played a concert with McShann back in 1995. When Greg Tardy (who played saxophone) asked him how old he was point blank, Mr. McShann replied, "Oh, I'm in my eighties now." Not terribly specific, but an experienced opinion nonetheless. Based upon that, perhaps the '09 date is closer to the truth.

When I arrived for the rehearsal, I thought that he would simply want to run over the tunes fairly quickly and retire to his hotel to rest before the show. Wrong. Our rehearsal consisted of what was essentially a two hour concert, complete with solos. After each full performance of a tune, Jay would dutifully and carefully write it down on a piece of paper (in excellent cursive handwriting, by the way), adding each song to the list for the concert that night.

Right before the concert, Greg asked Jay if he noticed that Charlie Parker practiced a lot. "Charlie Parker did EVERYTHING a lot," answered Mr. Parker's former employer. Then we were on stage, and Jay launched into a piano intro of what sounded like 'Dinah'; Greg turned his head back to me as if to say 'we didn't play this tune', which, of course we hadn't. Fortunately, Greg is a great musician, and played beautifully on a song he apparently didn't know. Most of the concert - but not all- was comprised of what we had so thoroughly played that afternoon.

I was honored to have this experience. Mr. McShann was a swinger, but I have never played the blues with someone who played as if he invented it- very beautiful, almost lyrical, and very swinging and possessing a unique, Kansas City groove. And I loved his singing, too, which, like his playing, was undiminished with age. It was very moving for me to be in such close proximity to that music.

I think I still have that tune list someplace. I'll have to try to find it.

Steve

[stereojack]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

Another Hall of Famer gone.



If his website is correct, he died at the age of 89, folks.

In Loving Memory

January 12, 1916 - December 7, 2006

Hate to belabor the point, but that comes to 90 by my arithmetic.

[Root Doctor]

A favorite. RIP, Mr. McShann.

[Hot Ptah]

One of the best things about moving to Kansas City is that I had a chance to see Jay McShann live many times, with trios, small combos and big bands. His performances ranged from very good to great. He was always "on." The last time I saw him was in September, 2005, and he was still excellent.

He was an underrated pianist. Everyone knows about his blues feeling and swing. Some of the times I saw him live, he exhibited technique in the Oscar Peterson range. He just did not choose to let that out very often. It was all about the musical expression for him.

He may not have been the last link to the great Kansas City era of jazz, but he is one of the last, and perhaps the last to be playing so well.

He was always a gentleman. He would sometimes attend concerts of national jazz groups in Kansas City, just sitting in the audience. Often people would come up to him at intermission with intruding, even rude conversations, and he would always handle them with grace and warmth.

I once heard his wife give him some rather direct instructions right before he went onstage in a small club in Kansas City. As he walked away, he quoted one of his 1940s song titles under his breath, with a chuckle, "You say forward, I'll march." He was an understated, low key guy, without the ego trips that he could have thought he deserved.

I don't know if musicians care a lot about this, but I have thought for years that it is unconscionable that he is not in the Down Beat Hall of Fame.

If you have never heard his Sackville LP, "Kansas City Hustle", that is one to look for.

[ribot_for_president]

they're playing his music all day today on wkcr.org

[Al in NYC]

WKCR.org, or 89.9 FM if you're in the NYC area.

Mosaic will apparently soon be rereleasing this excellent Jimmy Witherspoon/Jay McShann session as part of its singles program:

[Chris D]

Originally Posted by Al in NYC

Mosaic will apparently soon be rereleasing this excellent Jimmy Witherspoon/Jay McShann session as part of its singles program:

I've been looking for that album for years!

[clinthopson]

Hootie, you had a great run.

[groover]

He did have a long run! RIP, Hootie!

[Valerie]

i am very fortunate to have memories of hearing Mr. McShann play every day/night for about 6 days straight on a jazz cruise about 15 years ago! he was amazing. also on the same cruise were joe williams and nat adderley, among others.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by stereojack

Hate to belabor the point, but that comes to 90 by my arithmetic.

You are correct, sir. Brain farts are my newest nemesis.

[John P. Cooper]

Virtually the last of the pre-war big band leaders of merit.