Jimmy Rushing(1903-1972)
James Rushing is perhaps the greatest of the Kansas City blues shouters
(who included Big Joe Turner). He recalled
hearing Bessie Smith as an early turning point in
influencing his musical direction.
Raised in his
hometown's melting pot of Texas blues, Western swing
and traditional jazz, Jimmy Rushing honed his unique
style during the late 20's, when he spent physically
demanding years playing Southwestern theaters,
dancehalls
and roadhouses with
Walter Page's Blue Devils
(with Count
Basie playing piano). Rushing then fronted Benny Moten's
band in Kansas City before joining Basie in 1935 as the
lead singer in the Count Basie Orchestra until 1950 when
it disbanded.
With Basie, Rushing established a style of singing that
epitomized swing: he created a wonderful tension between
band and vocalist by singing ahead of or behind the beat and
toyed with the rhythm. He was a blues singer and a jazz
singer, and his ability to work within both frameworks had an
incalculable influence on succeeding generations of popular music
vocalists.
