A few tracks to note the passing of Jay McShann. Leading off with 'Backwater Blues,' the old Bessie Smith number, here interpreted by Maria Muldaur whose mature voice makes the stretch from classic twenties blues to the almost present. A rocking rolling blues with some pithy guitar work by Duke Robichaux, backing horns and plunger muted trumpet that move between r and b and jazz inflections/riffs – and the bouncing piano of Mr McShann – who leads the track in with a spoken intro...
McShann ran probably the last great swing band out of Kansas City at the tail end of the thirties. He also employed the young Charlie Parker whose first recorded solo was on 'Hootie Blues' - which you can find on the There Stands The Glass blog's tribute to McShann, along with some other tracks... Here's 'Sepian Bounce,' from the same period - on the cusp of bebop... stomping McShann piano, some nice tenor and a fascinating glimpse of young Charlie P – and a roaring ensemble...
Big Joe Turner was a Kansas City musical giant (literally) and another whose career crossed many a boundary (for example, he was arguably one of the founders of rock and roll via some of his early fifties hits). Here he is in tandem with McShann on 'Piney Brown Blues.' The pianist essays some powerful choruses, driven on by the exhortations of Big Joe. Recorded in 1974...
Lastly – an oddity. A piano duo with Dave Brubeck on another twelve bar – 'Mission Ranch Blues.'
Recorded in 2002 as part of the Clint Eastwood movie 'Piano Blues.'
“I think he served as a bridge between swing and bebop,” said saxophonist Bobby Watson. “He was open to young people coming with new ideas that weren’t traditionally thought of as swing. He was really a man with an open mind to all styles of music.” (Quoted from the Kansas City Star obituary here... some nice links to video footage as well).
A long and epic journey that has sadly just ended...
In the Videodrome...
I couldn't find any YouTube footage – surprisingly – so here's some other KC related music...
Big Joe Turner at the Apollo, 1955...
Another KC man – the Count from 1943...
And the inimitable Jimmy Rushing alongside Basie singing the 'Kansas City Blues'...
Jay McShann/Maria Muldaur/Duke Robichaux
Backwater Blues
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Jay McShann
Sepian Bounce
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Jay McShann/Big Joe Turner
Piney Brown Blues
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Jay McShann/Dave Brubeck
Mission Ranch Blues
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2 comments:
I fogot to mention that McShann did quite a bit of (very good) singing on the McPartlan show. He'd taken it up in his later years.
I saw Turner many years ago at the Watts Towers Festival, singing in a wheelchair. He kept on performing right up til the end.
I have a couple of tracks with him singing somewhere - will dig them out... I suppose he was close to a few great singers - Jimmie Witherspoon for one and Walter Brown - 'Confessin' the Blues' - made sense to get in on the act! Something very appealing about McShann - and I love that hard-driving KC heritage
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