Some say jazz started in New Orleans, others in Chicago or New York. You could make a good argument that the real feel of jazz, with its classic steady beat, started in Kansas City. Best known for the style was Count Basie, but before that, was pianist Jay McShann, who hired just about everyone in the Midwest Mecca that eventually hit the big time including Charlie Parker.
In the 1980s and 90s, McShann had a renaissance of sorts (mostly due to his being the center of attention in the classic film documentary Last of the Blue Devils), and he’s teamed up in a mix and match with Milt Hinton-Major Holley-Bill Crow/b, Ben Riley-Bobby Durham/dr, Al Grey/tb, and Clark Terry/tp-voc with McShann playing and singing with his avuncular style on “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter”. There are a couple cozy duets with Holley, with the team swinging hard 
on “The Jumpin’ Blues”.
Like most pianists of his generation, McShann seemed most comfortable in solo mode, and Black Dress finds him well dressed at 82 years old. There is a surfeit of rewards, simply because songs like “Body and Soul”, “Stardust” and “Georgia On My Mind” are not songs that he learned, but that he grew up with. And of course, boppers like “ Yardbird Suite” or 12th and Vine bluesers like “Cherry Red” are as rich as dry rub Kansas City ribs. YUM!
Believe it or not, there are TWO albums entitled The Last of the Whorehouse Piano Player, and both are the teaming of McShann with Ralph Sutton. The 1989 album is a quartet affair with Gus Johnson/dr and Milt Hinton/b. McShann swaggers as he sings on the hip “Doo Wah Doo” , while you can hear the roots of Basie on pieces like “(Back Home Again In) Indiana” and the economical “’Deed I Do”. From 1979, the same team oozes through “After You’ve Gone” an a slow and slinky take, while the team gets fun and frisky on “Hootie’s Ignorant Oil”. The team makes four steady beats to the bar on pieces like “Am I Blue” and “Rosetta” sound like blood running through your veins. Did it ever get better than this?