JIMMY YANCEY

 

 

 

 

 

 

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James Edward "Jimmy" Yancey was a fine blues pianist who was born in Chicago in 1898 and, apart from touring, spent all of his life there.  He is most remembered for helping to establish the boogie-woogie style of piano playing with slow, steady, and often simple left-hand bass patterns. These patterns became faster and more complex in the performances of two of his pupils Albert Ammons and Meade "Lux" Lewis, who popularized a style known as “The Yancey Special." Yancey was largely a self-taught pianist, with some instruction from his brother Alonzo. He spent his childhood as a singer and dancer, touring American vaudeville circuits and European music halls, and even once gave a Royal Command Performance for King George V in 1913. When performing on home territory in Chicago Yancey preferred the more intimate atmosphere of small bars and clubs. As a young man he was a good sportsman and played professional baseball until he was 21 years old. In 1919 he married Estella Harris (Mama Yancey) and she sang with him throughout the rest of his career. They had three recording sessions together and performed on American network radio and at Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1948. Yancey never made much money as a performer and from the age of 27  until his death in 1951 aged 53, he also worked as a groundsman for the Chicago White Sox baseball team. After his death Mama Yancey continued to perform and record, working with pianists Little Brother Montgomery and Erwin Helfer. She sang at Carnegie Hall again in 1981.