Jimmy Yancey
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James Edwards "Jimmy" Yancey (February 20, 1898 - September 17, 1951) was an African American pianist, composer, and lyricist, most noted for his pianowork in the boogie woogie style.
Jimmy Yancey was born in Chicago, Illinois on September 20 of (depending on the source) 1894, 1895, or 1898. His older brother Alonzo Yancey was a pianist as well; their father was a guitarist. Jimmy Yancey started performing as a singer in traveling shows during his childhood.
Jimmy Yancey was a noted pianist by 1915 and influenced younger musicians like Meade "Lux" Lewis and Albert Ammons, but didn't record until 1939 when he was 16 years of age.
While he played in a boogie woogie style, with a strong repeated figure in the left hand and melodic decoration in the right hand, his playing was delicate and subtle, rather than hard driving.
Part of Yancey's distinctive style was that he played in a variety of keys but always ended every song in E flat. These endings added a strangely satisfying dissonance to every performance.
Most of his recordings were of solo piano, but late in his career he also recorded with vocals by his wife, Estelle Yancey, under the billing Jimmy and Mama Yancey. They recorded the first album ever made by Atlantic Records.
Throughout his life, Yancey kept a job as groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox.
Yancey died in Chicago on September 17, 1951. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Album Liner Notes From “”The Immortal” Jimmy Yancey 1898-1951, Oldies Blues LP OL2802
Jimmy Yancey is a legendary character in the colorful panorama of the Blues. He was a pioneer in the very specialized art of piano blues and boogie Woogie. Self-taught, but rooted in the rich tradition of the blues and other forms of negro folk music, Yancey created flawless gems of great beauty. They are so pure and seemingly simple that Yancey has often mistakenly called “primitive”. The notes that follow were written by Martin Van Olderen, a dedicated lover of piano blues and boogie Woogie, who was president of The Dutch Blues and Boogie Organization.
Jimmy Yancey occupies a very special place among the creative and poetic geniuses of the blues. As no other, Yancey possessed the gift of rendering the blues in a most simple manner in all its subtle nuances. By this stunning simplicity he has caused many confirmed opponents among my acquaintances to reconsider their views. In the first place Yancey was an eminent ethnic performer and only in the second place a piano player. If this would have been different, then such a great artist, with such a limited technique, would never have been able to express himself so pathetically. When listening to his music one is confronted with blues coming straight from the heart. That’s why we experience his music in such a touching way. It is tragic to realize that such a great artist had to work as a groundsman in Comiskey Park, the home of the White Sox in Chicago, in order to earn himself a living. Although Yancey didn’t record in the Twenties, - he only performed at houseparties and clubs then – his influence was as great as ever. He left an ineffaceable mark on people like Meade Lux Lewis and Albert Ammons, although none of his pupils possessed the same subtlety and unfailing storehouse of ideas. Only in 1939 Yancey made his first recordings, which immediately caused a great stir in blues and jazz circles. That this attention Yancey received wasn’t misdirected his recording career would prove.
The Album Tracks: “I Love to Hear My Baby Call My Name” and “35th And Dearborn” were recorded by John D. Reid in 1940 during a private party in Yancey’s Chicago home.
“Yancey Special”, “White Sox Stomp”, “Shave Em Dry”, “Eternal Blues” “I Received a Letter”, “Jimmy’s Rocks”, “How Long Blues” and “Pallet on the Floor” were recorded in 1943 by Phil Featheringill.
The latter two tracks are the only two electrical organ recordings Yancey ever made. Here we can hear Estella “Mama” Yancey, the widow of the artist who died on 18th September 1951. These are the very first Mama Yancey recordings. In spite of extensive research I have not been able to verify whether Mama Yancey is still alive. Her most recent recordings are from 1965. I Sincerely hope that this album will contribute to the memory of the “immortal” Jimmy Yancey.
Martin van Olderen
According to www.allmusic.com , Estella "Mama" Yancey recorded as late as 1983, at the age of 87, and died on April 19, 1986 in Chicago, IL at the age of 90. - Desmond Alvies
