Editing Jimmy Yancey (section)

==Biography==
Jimmy Yancey was born in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]], most likely in 1895.<ref name="yob1895"/> However, at different times he stated 1900 and 1903,<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues – A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=63 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> and other sources give 1894<ref name="Music"/> or 1898.<ref name="Dead">{{Cite web|url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1950.html|title=The Dead Rock Stars Club - The 50s and earlier|website=Thedeadrockstarsclub.com}}</ref> Researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest 1901.<ref name="bare"/>

His brother, Alonzo Yancey (1897–1944),<ref name="bare"/> was also a pianist, and their father was a vaudeville guitarist and singer. By age ten, Yancey had toured across the United States as a tap dancer and singer,<ref name="Devil">{{cite book|title=The Devil's Music|author=Giles Oakley|publisher=[[Da Capo Press]]|page=[https://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl_0/page/159 159]|isbn=978-0-306-80743-5|date=1997|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/devilsmusichisto00oakl_0/page/159}}</ref> and by twenty he had toured throughout Europe. He began teaching himself to play the piano at the age of 15, and by 1915 had gained a sufficient profile to influence younger musicians, including [[Meade Lux Lewis]] and [[Albert Ammons]].<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="Music"/>

Yancey played in a boogie-woogie style, with a strong-repeated figure in the left hand and melodic decoration in the right, but his playing was delicate and subtle rather than hard driving.<ref name="Devil"/> He popularized the left-hand figure that became known as the "Yancey bass", later used in [[Pee Wee Crayton]]'s "[[Blues After Hours]]", [[Guitar Slim]]'s "The Things That I Used to Do", and many other songs.<ref name="russell">{{cite book
| first= Tony
| last= Russell
| year= 1997
| title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
| edition= 
| publisher=Carlton Books
| location= Dubai
| pages= 193–194
| isbn= 1-85868-255-X}}</ref> Yancey favored keys—such as E-flat and A-flat—that were atypical for barrelhouse blues.<ref name="AMG"/> Distinctively, he ended many pieces in the key of E-flat, even if he had played in a different key until the ending.

Although influential from an early age, Yancey did not record at all in his early career, performing only at house parties and clubs. His first recordings, in 1939, created a considerable stir in blues and jazz circles.<ref>Olderen, Martin van (1974). Liner notes for ''The Immortal Jimmy Yancey 1898–1951''. [[Oldie Blues]], OL 2802.</ref> He made most of his recordings solo, but later in his career he recorded with his wife, [[Estelle Yancey]], singing, as Jimmy and Mama Yancey.<ref name="russell"/> They appeared in concert at [[Carnegie Hall]] in 1948,<ref name="AMG"/> and recorded their first album in 1951, released by [[Atlantic Records]] the following year.<ref name="AMG"/> During World War I, Yancey played baseball for the Chicago All-Americans, a [[Negro league baseball]] team. From 1925 to 1950,<ref name="bare"/> he worked as a [[groundskeeper]] for the [[Chicago White Sox]].<ref name="russell"/>