Friday, November 17, 2006

Jimmy Yancey


Perhaps more than any other pianist, Yancey plays in the laid-back bluesy boogie-woogie style to which I aspire.

Jimmy Yancey is the progenitor of boogie-woogie piano, a style that eventually became a recognizable element of uptempo blues and early rock and roll. The boogie-woogie craze came and went in the latter half of the Thirties, but Yancey had actually been playing in that style as far back as the 1910s and 1920s. A self-taught pianist, singer and dancer, he performed in a style characterized by rolling, rhythmic lines from his left hand played off against percussive accents from the right hand.

Read full story.

Bio with sample music link.

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