From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Jan 12, 2002  2:31 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jay McShann
 
JAY McSHANN (By Dave Penny)

Born James Columbus McShann, 12 January 1909, Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Vocalist/pianist/composer/bandleader.
Leader of a Kansas City big band, in the Count Basie style, from 1940 to
1943, McShann is revered by jazz fans for debuting Charlie Parker and Al
Hibbler on record. He is similarly honoured by r&b collectors for employing
a peerless succession of blues shouters: Walter Brown, Bob Merrill, Crown
Prince Waterford, Jimmy Witherspoon and others. Post war, he reduced his
band to a small jump combo and recorded for Aladdin, Down Beat/Swing Time,
Mercury, etc. His best known recording is his debut, "Confessin' The Blues"
from 1941, which has become a blues standard through covers by Chuck Berry,
B B King, Little Walter and countless others. His band accompanied Jimmy
Witherspoon on r&b chart toppers "Ain't Nobody's Business" and "In The
Evening" in 1949 and his last chart hit was the r&b #1 "Hands Off", with
vocalist Priscilla Bowman, for Vee-Jay in 1955. The complete 1941-46
recordings are available on two Classics CDs, while a good single CD set is
"Jay McShann & The Blues Singers 1941-49" on EPM. For more information see
http://www.colindavey.com/BoogieWoogie/articles/jmi.htm