The story behind puzzle No. 49
Jay McShann and His Orchestra · Single · Decca · 1941
Before he was Bird, Charlie Parker was a sideman in Jay McShann's Kansas City band. His alto solo on this 1941 blues is one of the first chances to hear him on record.
Jay McShann and His Orchestra recorded Hootie Blues in Dallas on April 30, 1941, for Decca. Walter Brown sings, and Charlie Parker takes an alto saxophone solo.
The record label lists Parker next to McShann as a co-writer.
McShann moved to Kansas City in 1936 and put together his own big band there. Parker played in it from 1937 to 1942.
The band played swing and blues, but blues dominated its records. Its most popular recording was Confessin' the Blues, also sung by Walter Brown.
Listen for Parker's short solo. The ideas are quick and restless, a hint of the bebop he would help invent a few years later in New York.
The title nods to McShann himself, whose nickname was Hootie.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Hear where Parker went next with Now's the Time (puzzle No. 28), recorded in New York four years later.
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