Jay McShann RIP

Jay McShann died last week, and I haven't had the chance to blog about it yet. He died December 7, which is of course the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and less famously the birthday of Noam Chomsky.

Allmusic.com has a good bio of McShann. For me, I was introduced to his music a few years ago by a colleague, and came to love his silky, ever so slightly out-of-tune voice, and his smooth piano playing that straddles the line between blues and jazz in a unique way. I've worked on a version of his rendition of the Bessie Smith song "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do."

For those that don't know him, here are a couple of my favorite tunes ("Ain't Nobody's Business" and "Trouble In Mind") by McShann, both from his album "Still Jumping the Blues," in which he's accompanied by Duke Robillard on the guitar. Download, and if you enjoy, buy the CD :).