Jimmy Rushing as portrayed by a student from the Immaculate Conception School of
Jamaica Estates, NY.
My name is Jimmy Rushing and I was born in Oklahoma City on August 26, 1903. My family had a musical background and at an early age learned to play the violin and my uncle taught me to play the piano and this is how I began my professional musical career. I headed out for California where I played at house parties and nightclubs.
In 1927 I joined with a band called The Blue Devils and the piano player for the group was none other than my friend Count Basie. Basie and I teamed up and joined a band led by Jimmy Moten in 1932. After Moten's death, Basie formed his own band in 1935 and I became the band's lead singer. My voice was so strong and powerful that I did not require a microphone. My singing style was greatly influenced by the soulful voices of Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters. I was known for my ballads as well as the singing the blues. I had the honor of being the only Blues singer to tour with a major Swing Band. We had many rough days but I did all I could to keep things from falling apart. Basie was quoted as saying "There were times in the early days of the band that I'd given it all up but for Jimmy's urging to stick with it." I remained with Count Basie for over fifteen years until the band broke up in 1950. Count Basie and I were reunited for the last time at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1957.
After the Count Basie band broke up, I retired for a short time then formed my own group went on a two-year gig at the Savoy Ballroom and traveled internationally. I cut records for Vanguard in the mid fifties and also cut several records for Columbia with Benny Goodman. In 1957 I made my first television appearance in The Sound of Jazz.
Two of my most popular tunes were Swinging the Blues and One o'clock Jump. Some of my other songs include: Boogie Woogie [click here for Real Audio sample - 528 KB], Sent for You Yesterday and Here You Come Today, Good Morning Blues, See See Rider, In the Moonlight, Harvard Blues and I want a Little Girl. I was almost as wide as I was tall and was known affectionately as "Mr. Five-by-Five." I believed that blues came only from having experienced poverty, and sorrow firsthand. "Rich people don't know nothing about the blues, please believe me. The Blues come right back to a person's feelings, to his daily activities in life."
The next time you mail a letter you might be surprised to see me on a stamp. In 1994 the U.S. Postal Service issued an eight stamp series commemorating jazz and blues singers and I was one of the eight honored.
Presented May 22, 2004 by The Richmond Hill Historical Society, Maple Grove Cemetery, and The Immaculate Conception School of Jamaica Estates, NY (Dr. Charlene Jaffie, principal). Photograph of Jimmy Rushing courtesy of the William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.
Copyright © 2004 Carl Ballenas & Nancy Cataldi.
No claim to Old Kew Gardens [.com] color photograph.
No claim to Old Kew Gardens [.com] color photograph.
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