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ONE WAY Recommends [Issue
#18]
Jay McShann By
Solos & Duets
(CD
Sackville)
Jay McShann is
destined to go into the history books primarily as the Kansas City bandleader
from whose orchestra altoist Charlie Parker emerged in 1940. However McShann,
as a pianist and occasional vocalist, has had a very viable career in the 65
years since. Solos & Duets is a two-CD set that reissues in full three earlier
LPs. A Tribute To Fats Waller, which has McShann performing nine songs associated
with the great Waller, and Kansas City Hustle, which mixes in a few basic originals
with such standards as “’Round Midnight,” “Don’t
Get Around Much Anymore,” and “Rockin’ Chair,” were
recorded during the same two-day period in 1978. For a 1980 session originally
titled Tuxedo Junction (five swing standards and two bluish originals), McShann
is joined by bassist Don Thompson. While all of these selections are instrumentals,
the two-fer adds previously unreleased vocal versions of “Baby Won’t
You Please Come Home” and “Keep Your Hands Off Her” to the
generous program. Throughout the 27 performances, Jay McShann is heard in prime
form, performing the songs with his own brand of rollicking joy. Solos &
Duets is a definitive release by a classic and still-active jazzman.
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