What a Wonderful World (1999)

About this title: Jay McShann was 83 at the time of this CD, but the pianist-singer sounds very much in prime form and had certainly not lost his enthusiasm. He teams up with some of the better Kansas City musicians active in the late '90s (tenor saxophonist Ahmad Alaadeen, guitarist Sonny Kenner, bassist Gerald Spaits, and drummer Todd Strait) on a variety of blues, originals, and swinging tunes, some of which are taken as instrumentals. Even if "What a Wonderful World" did not need to be played yet again, there are plenty of high points throughout this joyous set from McShann & friends. Scott Yanow, All ... read more

Tracks:

1. Piney Brown Blues [Johnson/Turner]
2. Cherry Red [Turner/Johnson]
3. Just for You [Corday/Johnson/Wald]
4. Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You [Redman/Razaf]
5. Crazy Legs and Friday Strut [McShann]
6. Rain Is Such a Lonesome Sound [Witherspoon]
7. Land of Dreams [Gimbel/Heywood]
8. Lonely Boy Blues [Brown/McShann]
9. Hot Biscuits [McShann]
10. Blue Monday [Bartholomew/Domino]
11. What a Wonderful World [Thiele/Weiss]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.