Jimmy Yancey (piano; born February 20, 1898, died September 17, 1951)

Jimmy Yancey is the progenitor of boogie-woogie piano, a style that eventually became a recognizable element of uptempo blues and early rock and roll. The boogie-woogie craze came and went in the latter half of the Thirties, but Yancey had actually been playing in that style as far back as the 1910s and 1920s. A self-taught pianist, singer and dancer, he performed in a style characterized by rolling, rhythmic lines from his left hand played off against percussive accents from the right hand.

A master of the form whose protégés included Clarence “Pinetop” Smith and Charles “Cow Cow” Davenport, Yancey was much in-demand at rent parties and afterhours joints around Chicago during boogie-woogie’s heyday. He began recording in 1939, cutting such favorites as “Yancey’s Stomp” and “State Street Special” for a variety of labels. Despite his impact in blues and jazz circles, he held on to his day job as a groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox for 25 years. Yancey died of a diabetic stroke in 1951.