Jess Stacy

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Jesse Alexandria Stacy (August 11, 1904 – January 1, 1995) was an American jazz pianist who rose to fame during the swing period.

He is perhaps best known for his time with the Benny Goodman band in the late 1930s, particularly his appearance at a 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. Mabel Irene Bailey, his first piano teacher, played piano for silent films. Stacy immigrated to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1918. While sweeping at Clark's Music Store, he received his first formal music education with Clyde Brandt, a professor of piano and violin at Southeast Missouri State Teachers College (Southeast Missouri State University).

Stacy was playing piano in Peg Meyer's jazz ensemble at Cape Girardeau High School, the Bluebird Concessionary, and the Sweet Shop by 1920. They were dubbed the Agony Four by schoolmates. Melody Kings, a member of Peg Meyer's Melody Kings, began touring the Mississippi River on the Majestic and other riverboats in 1921.

Personal life

Stacy had a turbulent love affair as a young man. Helen Robinson was his first wife. Both were young when they married in 1924. When Robinson worked, Stacy worked late in clubs and slept through the day. She needed more protection than Stacy was able to provide, and Stacy was reluctant to work at a radio station for steady employment. When the couple had a child, Frederick Jess, it did not change. Robinson and Stacy divorced, and he married a friend of Stacy, saxophonist Phil Wing.

Lee Wiley, a jazz guitarist, was his second wife. "Compatible as two cats, tails tied together, hanging over a clothingline," their friend Deane Kincaide described the pair as "compatible as two cats, tails tied together, hanging over a clothesline." They divorced in 1948 after three years of marriage. Patricia Peck, his third wife, was a fan of the film "Independence Peck." They lived for a decade before marrying on September 8, 1950. They lived in Los Angeles and were married for forty-five years. In Los Angeles on January 1, 1995, the actor died of congestive heart disease.

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Career

Stacy moved to Chicago in the early 1920s, where he performed with Paul Mares, the New Orleans Rhythm Kings' director, performing a style of jazz that would be described as "Chicago-style." Stacy cites his main influences as Louis Armstrong and, especially pianist Earl Hines, who played piano for Armstrong and the Carroll Dickerson band.

Benny Goodman's request in 1935 prompted him to join his band. Stacy left Floyd Towne and moved to New York City, where he stayed with the Benny Goodman Orchestra 1935-1939, including the Carnegie Hall concert in 1938. During "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing), the Carnegie Hall performance was enhanced in part by Stacy's unplanned piano solo, which has a long history. Stacy was nominated by Goodman for going solo after a Goodman/Krupa duet. "Jess Stacy came out of his chair solo at the Carnegie Hall concert after the normal theatrical flourishes, and what came next was appropriate... But what came out of his fingers was a majestic, impressionistic masterpiece with classical flourishes, yet he 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. After leaving the Goodman Orchestra, Stacy joined the Bob Crosby Orchestra and the Bob Crosby Bob-Cats. In 1940, he was voted champion of the DownBeat magazine piano competition.

In 1950, Stacy moved to Los Angeles. His career moved to club work. He walked out after a drunken woman spilled beer in his lap while playing at the piano bar in Leon's Steak House. He announced that he was resigning from public performances and would not work in the music business. Before being discovered, he worked as a salesman, warehouseman, and, later, with Max Factor cosmetics. On the soundtrack of The Great Gatsby (1974), he appeared for Nelson Riddle. He was invited to appear at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York in 1974 and 1977 (Stacy Still Swings), and he was asked to record twice for Chiaroscuro in 1974 and 1977.

On December 1, 1981, his last appearance on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz was broadcast. He resigned from music after a brief resurrection in the 1970s, and he spent time with his third wife, Patricia Peck Stacy. Stacy performed with Bix Beiderbecke, Eddie Condon, Bud Freeman, George Gershwin, George Gershwin, Lionel Hampton, Billie Holiday, Jack Teagarden, and Horace Heidt, in addition to the Goodman and Crosby orchestras.

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