James Columbus "Jay"McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an Americanjazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that includedCharlie Parker,Bernard Anderson,Walter Brown, andBen Webster.
McShann was born inMuskogee, Oklahoma, and was nicknamed Hootie.[1] 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.[2] He was also heavily influenced by late-night broadcasts of pianistEarl Hines from Chicago'sGrand Terrace Cafe: "When 'Fatha' (Hines) went off the air, I went to bed".[3] He began working as a professional musician in 1931 at the age of 15, performing aroundTulsa, Oklahoma, and neighboring Arkansas.
The band played both swing andblues 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.[4] After his return two years later, he found that small groups were now taking the place of big-bands in the jazz scene.[2]
McShann told theAssociated 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."[5]
AfterWorld War II McShann began to lead small groups featuring theblues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. Witherspoon began to record with McShann in 1945 and, fronting McShann's band, he had ahit in 1949 with "Ain't Nobody's Business". As well as writing much material, Witherspoon continued recording with McShann's band, which also featuredBen Webster. McShann had a modernrhythm and blues hit with "Hands Off", featuring a vocal byPriscilla Bowman, in 1955.[6]
In the late 1960s, McShann often performed as a singer as well as a pianist, often with violinistClaude Williams. He continued recording and touring through the 1990s. Well into his 80s, McShann still performed occasionally, particularly in the Kansas City area andToronto, Ontario, where he made his last recording,Hootie Blues, in February 2001, after a recording career of 61 years. In 1979, he appeared prominently inThe Last of the Blue Devils, a documentary film aboutKansas City jazz.[7]
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.[8]
McShann died on December 7, 2006, in Kansas City, Missouri at the age of 90.[9]
