Jess Stacy, one of the Swing Era’s greatest pianists, isn’t quite as well-known today as the others. Stacy was born in Missouri, in 1904. He grew up in Cape Girardeau, Mississippi River. Stacy fell in love with the music of riverboats that arrived from New Orleans at 14 and played with Bix Beiderbecke and other musicians in the 1920s. In the middle of the 1930s, he joined Benny Goodman and played with him at the Palomar Ballroom concert 1935 and Carnegie Hall 1938. Stacy, who was heavily influenced by Wilson and Hines, left Goodman at the beginning of the 1940s. He rejoined Goodman in ’42, before moving on to Tommy Dorsey. After being accosted by a drunk at a small club, he left the music industry and moved to Los Angeles in 1950. He was briefly married to Lee Wiley for a while. From www.jazzwax.com
