American R&B saxophonist (1927–2018)
Musical artist
Cecil James "Big Jay " McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018)
[2]
[3] 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.
[3] 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,"
[4] an instrumental which topped the
Billboard
R&B
chart in early 1949.
[3]
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.
[5] 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.
[6]
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.
[3] But despite a hit R&B
ballad , "There Is 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.
[3] 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.
[3] 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 .
[7]
In 1989, Big Jay McNeely was performing with
Detroit Gary Wiggins
[8] (European Saxomania Tour II)
[4]
[9] 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".
[10] McNeely and Wiggins toured in Germany and Italy
[11]
[12] with The International Blues Duo,
Johnny Heartsman ,
[13] Daryl Taylor (who worked with
Arnett Cobb and
Archie Bell & The Drells ),
Roy Gaines ,
[14]
Christian Rannenberg , Donald Robertson,
Billy Davis Jr. , "Hyepockets" Robertson, and
Lee Allen .
[15]
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).
[16]
He died in
Moreno Valley, California , on September 16, 2018, of prostate cancer, at the age of 91.
[17]
Style
McNeely was credited with being the most flamboyant performer out of the saxophone honkers.
[18]
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.
[19]
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)
[20]
Blues at Daybreak, Big Jay McNeely & Christian Rannenberg (1993)
[21]
Fool for the Ladies , by EB Davis with Detroit Gary Wiggins & Big Jay McNeely (1996)
[22]
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
^ Jonny Whiteside,
"Veteran Saxophone "Honker" Big Jay McNeely Can Still Blow Them Away" , "LA Weekly", December 8, 2016
^
R.I.P. Big Jay McNeely, April 29, 1927-Sept. 16, 2018
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Biography by Bill Dahl" . Allmusic.com. Retrieved December 21, 2009 .
^
a
b
"Bman's Blues Report: Deacon's Hop - Big Jay McNeely and Detroit Gary Wiggins" . www.bmansbluesreport.com . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^ Central Avenue sounds : jazz in Los Angeles . Bryant, Clora, 1927-. Berkeley:
University of California Press . 1998.
ISBN
0520211898 .
OCLC
37361632 .{{
cite book }}
: CS1 maint: others (
link )
^ “Jay McNeeley Tops 11th Annual Musical Parade” Article The California Eagle July 14, 1955.
^
"Blues Foundation Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Music Awards Set for May in Memphis" . February 19, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^
"Quasimodo Berlin: SAXOMANIA TOUR 2" . www.quasimodo.de . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^ Rauhut, Michael (January 1, 2008).
Ich hab den Blues schon etwas länger: Spuren einer Musik in Deutschland (in German). Ch. Links Verlag.
ISBN
9783861534952 .
^
"Artists - Eleventh Annual Ponderosa Stomp - New Orleans - Schedule, Artists, Tickets and Lineup - Stomp #11, Stomp 2013" . Ponderosastomp.com. Retrieved January 8, 2015 .
^ Jazz, All About.
"Big Jay McNeely and Detroit Gary Wiggins" . Gallery . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^ Jazz, All About.
" "I have never heard such a great jazz concert", German Press, 1989" . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^ Jazz, All About.
"Big Jay McNeely, Detroit Gary Wiggins & Johnny Heartsman" . Gallery . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^ BluesFilmer (November 24, 2013),
9.SWF Blues Festival '89 Vol.2 Saxomania feat. Roy Gaines & Big Jay McNeely , retrieved July 14, 2016 [
dead YouTube link ]
^
"Lahnsteiner Bluesfestival" . www.lahnsteiner-bluesfestival.de . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^
"Big Jay McNeely on This is Vintage Now; Big Jay McNeely Bio" . Thisisvintagenow.com. Archived from
the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2015 .
^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (September 17, 2018).
"Big Jay McNeely, 91, Dies; R&B's 'King of the Honkers' " .
The New York Times . Retrieved January 17, 2019 .
^
" "The Highlight of Unna Blues Festival", German Press 1989" .
Facebook . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^
"At Birdland by Big Jay McNeely" . iTunes . January 1957. Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^
"Big Jay McNeely - Blow The Wall Down (1990)" . jazz-jazz.ru . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^
"Big Jay McNeely, Christian Rannenberg - Blues At Daybreak" . Discogs . September 28, 1992. Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
^
"Eb Davis - Fool for the ladies" . www.acoustic-music.de . Retrieved July 14, 2016 .
Bibliography
External links
International National Artists Other