Jesse Alexandria Stacy (August 11, 1904
– January 1, 1995)
was an American
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
pianist who gained prominence during the
swing era
The swing era (also frequently referred to as the big band era) was the period (1933–1947) when big band swing music was the most popular music in the United States. Though this was its most popular period, the music had actually been arou ...
. He is perhaps best known for his years with the
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...
band during the late 1930s, particularly his performance at Goodman's
Carnegie Hall concert in 1938.
Early life
Stacy was born in
Bird's Point, Missouri, United States,
a small town across the Mississippi River from
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County.
The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysse ...
. His first piano teacher was Mabel Irene Bailey, who played piano for silent movies. In 1918 Stacy moved to
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citi ...
. He received his only formal music training with Clyde Brandt, a professor of piano and violin at Southeast Missouri State Teachers College (
Southeast Missouri State University
Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing the Holland Co ...
)
[Allen, Steve. "The Return of Jess Stacy", unknown newspaper, undated. Jess Stacy Collection, Box 1036, Folder 7, Item B, Special Collections and Archives, Kent Library, Southeast Missouri State University]
but see 'Discussion'
while sweeping at Clark's Music Store.
By 1920, Stacy was playing piano in Peg Meyer's jazz ensemble at Cape Girardeau High School, the Bluebird Confectionary, and the Sweet Shop. Schoolmates called them the Agony Four.
By 1921, the band was known as
Peg Meyer's Melody Kings and started touring the Mississippi River on the
''Majestic'' and other riverboats.
Career
In the early 1920s, Stacy moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
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, where he performed with
Paul Mares,
leader of the
New Orleans Rhythm Kings, playing a genre of jazz which came to be called "
Chicago-style". Stacy cites his main influences as
Louis Armstrong
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...
and especially pianist
Earl Hines
Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...
, who played piano for Armstrong and the
Carroll Dickerson band.
In 1935,
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conc ...
asked him to join his band.
Stacy left Floyd Towne, moved to New York City, and spent 1935–39 with the
Benny Goodman Orchestra
Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing".
From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His con ...
, including the
Carnegie Hall concert in 1938.
The Carnegie Hall performance was elevated in part by Stacy's unplanned piano solo during "
Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)", around which a great modern legacy has grown.
Following a Goodman/Krupa duet, Stacy received a nod from Goodman to take a solo. "At the Carnegie Hall concert, after the usual theatrics, Jess Stacy was allowed to solo and, given the venue, what followed was appropriate ... Used to just playing rhythm on the tune, he was unprepared for a turn in the spotlight, but what came out of his fingers was a graceful, impressionistic marvel with classical flourishes, yet still managed to swing. It was the best thing he ever did, and it's ironic that such a layered, nuanced performance came at the end of such a chaotic, bombastic tune", wrote David Rickert.
After leaving the Goodman Orchestra, Stacy joined the
Bob Crosby Orchestra and the Bob Crosby Bob-Cats.
He won the ''
DownBeat
' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...
'' magazine piano poll in 1940.
In 1950, Stacy moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
. His career declined to club work.
While playing at the piano bar in Leon's Steak House, he walked out after a drunken woman spilled beer in his lap. He announced he was quitting the music business and retired from public performances.
He worked as a salesman, warehouseman, postman, and for
Max Factor
Max Factor is a line of cosmetics from Coty, Inc. It was founded in 1909 as Max Factor & Company by Maksymilian Faktorowicz.
Max Factor specialized in movie make-up. Until its 1973 sale for US$500 million (approximately $ billion in 2017 dollar ...
cosmetics before being rediscovered. He played for
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Recor ...
on the soundtrack of ''
The Great Gatsby'' (1974). The same year as the film's release he was invited to play at the
Newport Jazz Festival in New York,
and was asked to record twice for
Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...
, in 1974 and 1977 (''Stacy Still Swings'').
His final performance was broadcast on
Marian McPartland's ''
Piano Jazz'' on December 1, 1981.
["Jazz Rambler": San Diego November/December 2004 No 6] After his brief and revival in the 1970s, he again retired from music and lived with his third wife, Patricia Peck Stacy.
In addition to the Goodman and Crosby orchestras, Stacy played with
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke (March 10, 1903 – August 6, 1931) was an American jazz cornetist, pianist and composer.
Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s, a cornet player noted for an inventive lyrical app ...
,
Eddie Condon
Albert Edwin Condon (November 16, 1905 – August 4, 1973) was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in Chicago jazz, he also played piano and sang.
Early years
Condon was born in Goodland, Indiana, the son of J ...
,
Bud Freeman,
George Gershwin
George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...
,
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles ...
,
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...
,
Gene Krupa,
Jack Teagarden
Weldon Leo "Jack" Teagarden (August 20, 1905 – January 15, 1964) was an American jazz trombonist and singer. According to critic Scott Yannow of Allmusic, Teagarden was the preeminent American jazz trombone player before the bebop era of the 1 ...
, and
Horace Heidt.
Personal life
Stacy had a tumultuous love life as a young man. His first wife was Helen Robinson. Both were young when they married in 1924. Stacy worked at night in clubs and slept during the day while Robinson worked. She needed more security than Stacy was willing to provide, and Stacy was unwilling to work at a radio station for steady employment. This did not change when the couple had a child, Frederick Jess. They divorced and Robinson married a friend of Stacy, saxophonist Phil Wing.
His second wife was jazz singer
Lee Wiley. The couple was described by their friend
Deane Kincaide
Robert Deane Kincaide (March 18, 1911 – August 14, 1992) was an American jazz reedman.
Kincaide was born in Houston, Texas, United States, but raised in Decatur, Illinois, and began playing professionally and working as an arranger in the early ...
as "compatible as two cats, tails tied together, hanging over a clothesline."
They divorced in 1948, after three years of marriage.
His third wife was Patricia Peck. They dated for a decade before getting married on September 8, 1950. They lived in Los Angeles and were married for forty-five years. Stacy died of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles on January 1, 1995.
Awards and honors
Stacy was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1996.
Discography
As leader
* ''Piano Moods'' (Columbia, 1950)
* ''Jess Stacy'' (Brunswick, 1956)
* ''Tribute to Benny Goodman'' (Atlantic, 1956)
* ''Stacy Still Swings'' (Chiaroscuro, 1974)
* ''Stacy's Still Swinging'' (Chiaroscuro, 1977)
* ''Blue Notion'' (Jazzology, 1983)
* ''Stacy and Sutton'' (Affinity, 1986)
As sideman
* Benny Goodman, ''
The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings'', (RCA Victor, 1997)
References
Further reading
* Meyer, Raymond F. "Peg". ''Backwoods Jazz in the Twenties''. Edited with an introduction by Frank Nickell. Center for Regional History and Cultural Heritage, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, 1989.
External links
Jess Stacy InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (1987)
Jess Stacy recordingsat the
Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stacy, Jess
1904 births
1995 deaths
American jazz pianists
People from Cape Girardeau, Missouri
People from Mississippi County, Missouri
Jazz musicians from Missouri
20th-century American pianists
American male pianists
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians