Comfortably situated right at the juncture of blues and jazz, both stylistically and geographically (in Kansas City), Jay McShann carved out a distinguished career as a master of both idioms. Coming out of the swing and jump band scene of K.C., the McShann orchestra also gave bop a boost by providing a spotlight for a young Charlie Parker, while scoring on the blues side by featuring vocalist Walter Brown on the 1941 classic “Confessin’ the Blues.” McShann and his brother Pete accompanied Jimmy Witherspoon on “Ain’t Nobody’s Business,” a Supreme Records release that stayed on the Billboard charts for an astounding 34 weeks in 1949, and in 1955 the McShann band hit the top of the R&B charts with Priscilla Bowman handling the saucy vocals on “Hands Off” for Vee-Jay. Though known for his leadership and piano artistry, McShann himself could sing, too, as proven on the many albums he recorded later in his career, some of them solo outings, most with trios or small combos. McShann was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, on Jan. 12, 1916, and was so taken with Bessie Smith’s recording of “Back-Water Blues” that he sang it at a talent show as a youngster. The wide open Kansas City scene of the 1930s provided boundless opportunities for musicians to interact, and McShann built his band and his reputation there before he, like the other city’s other major bandleaders before him, decided to head for the brighter lights of the bigger entertainment centers – in McShann’s case, Los Angeles. In the 1950s he returned to Kansas City and lived there and in Hutchinson, Kansas, in subsequent years. He died a respected elder statesman of jazz and blues on Dec. 7, 2006.
— Jim O’Neal
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