Jay McShann
piano

Jay "Hootie” McShann was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma on January 12, 1916, and taught himself to play piano as a child, despite his parents' disapproval of his interest in music. He began his professional career in 1931, studied at the Tuskegee Institute, and performed in “territory” bands around Arkansas and Oklahoma from 1935 to 1936. Jay is recognized for his blues and boogie woogie-influenced percussive piano style, and is a master of the Kansas City sound. He joined The Jim Cullum Jazz Band at The Landing to appear on a Riverwalk Jazz salute to the Kansas City jazz scene in 1990.