Jay McShann - The Chronological Classics: 1941-1943 (1994) FLAC

Review

Twenty-one sides cut by Jay McShann and His Orchestra and the Jay McShann Quartet for Decca Records between 1941 and 1943, with Charlie Parker on about half of what's here, and stretching out on a handful of cuts. The highlight is the group's recording of "Confessin' the Blues," which was a huge hit and resulted in their recording of more than half a dozen similar vocal blues numbers, featuring Walter Brown (who wrote "Confessin'") on vocals. The material here is pretty much weighted to jump blues and boogie-woogie-style numbers, all of it hot and extraordinarily well-played. The pity is, between Decca's insistence on more songs like "Confessin' the Blues" (which was later covered by Chuck Berry and the Rolling Stones, among others) and the 1942 recordings band, not much of McShann's repertory or Parker's more outstanding material from the period was laid down. What is here, however, is extraordinary, some of the tightest, bluesiest jazz you'll ever here, all in excellent sound as well, and Parker does soar on a large handful of these tracks.
(jazzbluesclub.com)

Track List

01. Swingmatism (2:40)
02. Hootie Blues (2:57)
03. Dexter Blues (2:58)
04. Vine Street Boogie (2:37)
05. Confessin 'the Blues (2:53)
06. Hold 'Em Hootie (2:42)
07. One Woman's Man (3:05)
08. 'Fore Day Rider (2:57)
09. So You Won't Jump (2:40)
10. New Confessin 'the Blues (3:06)
11. Red River Blues (2:57)
12. Baby Heart Blues (2:48)
13. Cryin 'Won't Make Me Stay (2:33)
14. Hootie's Ignorant Oil (2:44)
15. Lonely Boy Blues (2:58)
16. Get Me on Your Mind (3:05)
17. The Jumpin 'Blues (3:03)
18. Sepian Bounce (3:10)
19. Say Forward, I'll March (3:10)
20. Wrong Neighborhood (3:22)
21. Hometown Blues (3:07)

Media Info

Genre : Big Band, Swing, Piano Blues
Media : CD
Country - disk : France
Year : 1994
Publisher (label) : Classics Catalog Number : 740
Country : USA Audio codec :
FLAC ( *. flac)
Type rip : tracks +. cue
Bitrate : lossless
Duration : 61:32
Scans : yes