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Jess Stacy- born August 11 1904 - died January 5 1994.
Stacy was born Alexandria Stacy Aug 11 1904 in Bird's Point, Missouri, a small village across the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois. He was born in a train boxcar and grew up along the Mississippi river, he initially played on riverboats. And also as a members of Peg Meyers Melody Kings, and The Original Agony Four.
In the mid 1920s he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he made a name for himself playing with Paul Mares. Later he worked with Benny Goodman and performed with him at Carnegie Hall in 1938. The Carnegie Hall performance has gained attention due to an unplanned, yet widely praised, solo Jess did during it. Stacy's employers in Chicago were Al Capone and Bugs Moran. Later, whilst with Goodman, he became an associate of the Eddie Condon school of jazz. Jess can be found on several records with George Gershwin. He also recorded with Lee Wiley who he married for a short time.
Stacy married the celebrated singer (Lee Wiley) in 1943. Stacy said "She had million-dollar tastes and I didn't have any money. She got me to form a big band, but it was a disaster, what with the bum wartime bookings and so many good musicians being in the services." The marriage lasted two and a half years. A folio of transcriptions of his recorded piano solos was published in 1944.
By the late 1940s his career had declined, he retired from public playing and moved to California. Moving to the West Coast, Stacy began a new life, which he hated, playing in small piano bars. He stuck it as long as he could and then took a job with Max Factor, walking 10 miles a day to deliver company mail. He retired from that job at 65, but continued to play jazz festivals and to make sporadic recordings. He and his wife Pat, whom he had married in 1950, lived in an idyllic house on the hills behind Los Angeles where they grew their own fruit and lived on next to nothing.
He returned to playing in 1974 and produced Stacy Still Swings in 1977. The years after that included compilations and club work. He died of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, California.
In 1989 the book "Oh, Jess!: A jazz life : the Jess Stacy story" by J. R. Keith Keller was released as a paperback book.
Also in 1989 the book, "Backwoods Jazz In The 20s" by Peg Meyer.
Since his death on Jan 05 1994 he has gained new attention and honors. In 1996 he was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. And In 1998 a biography of him titled "Jess Stacy: the Quiet Man of Jazz. a Biography and Discography" (ISBN 0-9638890-4-4) by Derek Coller came out. Two painting of Jess are on the Wall Of Fame in Downtoen Cape Girardeau, Mo along the Mississippi River flood wall here he started his music playing on riverboats.
World renowned musician Jess Stacy was born just outside of Cape Girardeau Missouri. He played with Lionel Hampton and Bennie Goodman during the 30's and 40's. He was the featured pianist with Bennie Goodman at Carnegie Hall.
One of the great swing pianists, Jess Stacy is known for his solo on "Sing, Sing, Sing," a solo that was cut from the studio recording, but was finally captured on recording at Benny Goodman's historic 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert and released for the first time in 1950. A mostly self-taught player who performed on riverboats during the early '20s, Stacy was part of the fertile Chicago jazz scene of the 1920s with his style being influenced by both Earl Hines and Bix Beiderbecke.
Still obscure when he joined Goodman's big band in 1935, the pianist soon became well-known as one of BG's top sidemen, working with him through 1939 and on-and-off during the next five years. Stacy also spent time with the bands of Bob Crosby, Horace Heidt, and Tommy Dorsey, recorded with Eddie Condon, did some solo recordings of his own (starting in 1935), had a short-lived marriage to singer Lee Wiley, and tried twice to lead big bands of his own.
He became fairly obscure after moving to California in 1947 (mostly playing in piano bars) and, in 1963, Stacy retired from music altogether, only to return briefly on a few special occasions (and for two Chiaroscuro recordings) over the next 20 years.
Jess Stacy died of congestive heart failure at the age of 90, in Los Angeles, California.
Jess Stacy (b. 1904- d. 1994) was a jazz pianist with roots in Southeast Missouri. Stacy moved to Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1918, and studied music under Professor Clyde Brandt. In 1920, Stacy played in Peg Meyer’s jazz ensemble at Cape Central High School, the Bluebird Confectionary on Broadway and Fountain, and the Sweet Shop on Main Street. By 1921, the ensemble was known as "Peg Meyer’s Melody Kings" and toured the Mississippi River on riverboats.
From 1935-1945 Stacy played in the original Benny Goodman Orchestra. In this era, he also played with Bob Crosby, Gene Krupa, and Horace Heidt. Stacy’s most famous solo was "Sing, Sing, Sing" at Carnegie Hall in 1938. Following a Goodman/Krupa duet, Stacy received a nod from Goodman to take a solo, and he created a memorable, unrecorded masterpiece. Stacy was prominent in the Chicago jazz scene, playing for Al Capone and Bugs Moran. He migrated to New York in the 1940’s. He worked in piano bars in California in the 1950’s.
Jess Stacy died of congestive heart failure at the age of 90, in Los Angeles, California. He once described his playing as , "a crap game…sometimes I get real lucky. I can’t remember the lyrics, but I think of the melody all the time and execute around it."
JESS STACY ON YOUTUBE
'March Of The Bobcats' played here in 1951 by Billy Butterfield,Warren Smith,Matty Matlock,Eddie Miller,Jess Stacy,Nappy Lamare,Ray Bauduc and Bob Haggart. These guys were masters of the Dixieland genre!.
This was captured at a private party at Benny Goodman's apartment to mark the 30th anniversary of of the 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert. They play 'Avalon' with Jess Stacy,Gene Krupa,Lionel Hampton and Ruby Braff
In a jam session in 1947 Wingy Manone is playing. The other musicians with Wingy are Les Paul on guitar, Joe Venuti on violin and Jess Stacy at the piano. Quite an interesting group and very nice loose playing
Benny Goodman featured here playing and singing 'Minnie's In The Money' from the 1943 film 'The Gangs All Here'.The eagle eyed amongst you may catch a glimpse of Jess Stacy,Miff Mole,Lee Castle,Louis Bellson and Joe Rushton.
"Sugar" Miss Lee Wiley Recorded in l947, Cornet-Jess Stacy. (Audio only)
Jess Stacy Complainin&039;
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