Roots of Blues -- Jimmy Yancey Rolling The Stone

Recorded: Chicago, April 1939 Jimmy Yancey (p) James Edwards “Jimmy“ Yancey (February 20, 1898 - September 17, 1951) was an African American pianist, composer, and lyricist, most noted for his piano work in the boogie-woogie style. Yancey was born in Chicago in (depending on the source) 1894, 1895, or 1898. His older brother Alonzo Yancey was a pianist as well; their father was a guitarist. Yancey started performing as a singer in traveling shows during his childhood. He was a noted pianist by 1915 and influenced younger musicians like Meade “Lux“ Lewis and Albert Ammons. While he played in a boogie-woogie style, with a strong-repeated figure in the left hand and melodic decoration in the right hand, his playing was delicate and subtle, rather than hard driving. Part of Yancey's distinctive style was that he played in a variety of keys but always ended every song in E flat. These endings added a strangely satisfying dissonance to every performance. Most of his recordings were of solo piano, but late in his career he also recorded with vocals by his wife, Estelle Yancey, under the billing 'Jimmy and Mama Yancey'. They recorded the first album ever made by Atlantic Records. Throughout his life, Yancey kept a job as groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox. Yancey died in Chicago on September 17, 1951. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986..