Big Jay McNeely

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Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018)<ref>R.I.P. Big Jay McNeely, April 29, 1927-Sept. 16, 2018, Laweekly.com</ref><ref name="AMG">Template:Cite web</ref> was an American R&B saxophonist.

Biography

Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played baritone saxophone, and made his first recordings with drummer Johnny Otis, who ran the Barrelhouse Club that stood only a few blocks from McNeely's home.<ref name="AMG"/> Shortly after he performed on Otis's "Barrel House Stomp." Ralph Bass, A&R man for Savoy Records, promptly signed him to a recording contract. Bass's boss, Herman Lubinsky, suggested the stage name Big Jay McNeely because Cecil McNeely did not sound commercial. McNeely's first hit was "The Deacon's Hop,"<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> an instrumental which topped the Billboard R&B chart in early 1949.<ref name="AMG"/>

Big Jay McNeely performed for the famed fifth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on July 10, 1949. It was at this concert that McNeely and Lionel Hampton got into a showdown that resulted in pillows being thrown along with other items.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His recording of "Blow Big Jay Blow" catapulted him into National prominence. McNeely and his Orchestra would come back to Los Angeles, to perform at the eleventh Cavalcade of Jazz on July 24, 1955 along with Lionel Hampton's Orchestra. The Medallions, The Penguins and James Moody would also be featured that same day.<ref>“Jay McNeeley Tops 11th Annual Musical Parade” Article The California Eagle July 14, 1955.</ref>

Thanks to his flamboyant playing, called "honking," McNeely remained popular through the 1950s and into the early 1960s, recording for the Exclusive, Aladdin, Imperial, Federal, Vee-Jay, and Swingin' labels.<ref name="AMG"/> But despite a hit R&B ballad, "There's Something on Your Mind," (1959) featuring Little Sonny Warner on vocals, and a 1963 album for Warner Bros. Records, McNeely's music career began to cool off. He quit the music industry in 1971 to become a postman.<ref name="AMG"/> However, thanks to an R&B revival in the early 1980s, McNeely left the post office and returned to touring and recording full-time, usually overseas.<ref name="AMG"/> His original tenor sax is enshrined in the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and he was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1989, Big Jay McNeely was performing with Detroit Gary Wiggins<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (European Saxomania Tour II)<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> at the Quasimodo Club in West Berlin the night the Berlin Wall came down, "and Cold War legend has it that they blew down the Berlin Wall in 1989 with earth-shaking sonic sax torrents outside the Quasimodo Club in West Germany".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> McNeely and Wiggins toured in Germany and Italy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with The International Blues Duo, Johnny Heartsman,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Daryl Taylor (who worked with Arnett Cobb and Archie Bell & The Drells), Roy Gaines,<ref>Template:CitationTemplate:CbignoreTemplate:Dead Youtube links</ref> Christian Rannenberg, Donald Robertson, Billy Davis Jr., "Hyepockets" Robertson, and Lee Allen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Big Jay McNeely regularly performed at the International Boogie Woogie Festival in The Netherlands, and recorded an album with Martijn Schok, the festival's promoter, in 2009. The album was entitled Party Time, and one track from the album, "Get On Up and Boogie" (Parts 1, 2, and 3)", was featured on the vintage music compilation This is Vintage Now (2011).<ref name="tivn">Template:Cite web</ref>

He died in Moreno Valley, California, on September 16, 2018, of prostate cancer, at the age of 91.<ref name=nytimes>Template:Cite news</ref>

Style

McNeely was credited with being the most flamboyant performer out of the saxophone honkers.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Discography

  • Big Jay McNeely, (1954, 10", Federal)
  • A Rhythm and Blues Concert, (1955, 10", Savoy)
  • Big Jay McNeely in 3-D (1956, Federal), (1959, King)
  • Live at Cisco's, (1963, Warner Bros.) – recorded live at a jazz club in Manhattan Beach, California, in 1962.
  • Swingin' , (1984, Collectables) – 1957–1961 recordings, including unreleased sides.
  • Live at Birdland, 1957, (1992, Collectables – live performances recorded in stereo at the Seattle, Washington, Birdland Club in 1957.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Nervous, (1995, Saxophile) – rarities, live cuts and alternate takes (from the Federal and Swingin' Records vaults) from 1951–1957.
  • Blow the Wall Down, Sunset Studios, Sinzig/Rhein, Germany (1990)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Blues at Daybreak, Big Jay McNeely & Christian Rannenberg (1993)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Fool for the Ladies, by EB Davis with Detroit Gary Wiggins & Big Jay McNeely (1996)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Crazy, (1997, Saxophile) – same as Nervous above.
  • Central Avenue Confidential, (1999, Atomic Theory) – featuring Red Young on B-3 organ.
  • Big Jay McNeely, The Deacon, Unabridged, Vol. 1, 1948–1950 (2006, Swingin') – complete 1948–1955 released output.
  • Big Jay McNeely, The Deacon, Unabridged, Vol. 2, 1951–1952 (2006, Swingin')
  • Big Jay McNeely, The Deacon, Unabridged, Vol. 3, 1953–1955 (2006, Swingin')
  • Saxy Boogie Woogie (2008, Vagabond) with Axel Zwingenberger & The Bad Boys
  • Party Time, featuring Martijn Schok, Rinus Groeneveld (2009)
  • Party Time Volume 2, featuring Martijn Schok, Rinus Groeneveld (2011)
  • Life Story, featuring Ray Collins' Hot-Club & Friends (2012)
  • Big Jay McNeely – Blowin’ Down The House – Big Jay’s Latest & Greatest (2016)
  • Big Jay McNeely – Honkin’ & Jivin’ at the Palomino (2017)

References

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Bibliography

  • Nervous Man Nervous: Big Jay McNeely And The Rise of the Honking Tenor Sax (1995, Jim Dawson, Big Nickel Press) Template:ISBN

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