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. |