Jay McShann

James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was a jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and Ben Webster.
McShann was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and was nicknamed Hootie. During his youth he taught himself how to play the piano through observing his sister's piano lessons and trying to practicing tunes he heard off the radio. He was also heavily influenced by late-night broadcasts of pianist Earl Hines from Chicago's Grand Terrace Cafe: "When 'Fatha' (Hines) went off the air, I went to bed". He began working as a professional musician in 1931 at the age of 15, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma, and neighboring Arkansas.
==Links to Peel==
Jay McShann's music was featured on the BBC jazz programmes hosted by Peter Clayton and Humphrey Lyttelton, among others. As well as vintage material from the 1930s and early '40s, these shows included more recent tracks from the many albums the bandleader recorded in the 1970s and '80s, during which time ha also visited Europe and the UK.
Peel played a few tracks from McShann's original band on his shows and included 'Vine Street Blues' as one of the songs for the Peelenium 1941.
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1975
*30 June 1975: 'Jumping Blues' (Decca)
;1983
*19 May 1983: Vine Street Boogie (album - ?) Spotlight
*01 June 1983 (BFBS): Jumpin' The Blues
;1999
*24 August 1999: 'Vine Street Blues' (Peelenium 1941)
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists