James Columbus (Jay or Hootie) McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006… Read Full Bio ↴James Columbus (Jay or Hootie) McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American blues and swing pianist, bandleader, and singer.

McShann was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and began working as a professional musician in 1931, performing around Tulsa, Oklahoma and neighboring Arkansas. He moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1936, and set up his own big band, which featured Charlie Parker (from 1937 to 1942), Bernard Anderson, Ben Webster and Walter Brown. Although its book included both swing and blues numbers, the band played blues on most of its records; its most popular recording was "Confessin' the Blues." The group disbanded when McShann was drafted into the Army in 1944, and he was unable to successfully restart it when he got out.

After the war McShann began to lead small groups featuring blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon. Witherspoon started recording with McShann in 1945, and fronting McShann's band, had a hit in 1949 with "Ain't Nobody's Business." McShann then played in obscurity until 1969, when he became popular as a singer as well as a pianist, often performing with Claude Williams. He continued recording and touring through the 1990s. Well into his 80s McShann still performed occasionally, particularly in the Kansas City area and Toronto Ontario.

Crime-fiction writer Elmore Leonard featured McShann as a character in his 2005 novel, The Hot Kid.

On December 7, 2006, McShann died at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City.

Rose Room
Jay McShann Lyrics

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I want to take you to a little room
A little room where all the roses bloom
I want to lead you into Nature's hall
Where ev'ry year the roses give a ball
They have an orchestra up in the trees
For their musicians are the birds and bees
And they will sing us a song
As we are strolling along

In sunny Roseland, where summer breezes are playing
Where the honey bees are "A-Maying"
There all the roses are swaying
Dancing while the meadow brook flows
The moon when shining is more than ever designing
For 'tis ever then I am pining
Pining to be sweetly reclining
Somewhere in Roseland
Beside a beautiful rose

The ball is over and tulips meet
Their little kisses are so short and sweet
The lilies nod to the forget-me-nots
When they're departing in their flower pots
But all the roses with their spirits high
Remain to love until they droop and die
And dear, why shouldn't it be
Just so with you and with me

In sunny Roseland, where summer breezes are playing
Where the honey bees are "A-Maying"
There all the roses are swaying
Dancing while the meadow brook flows
The moon when shining is more than ever designing
For 'tis ever then I am pining
Pining to be sweetly reclining

Somewhere in Roseland
Beside a beautiful rose

Overall Meaning

In Jay McShann's song "Rose Room," the singer invites someone to a secret room where roses bloom every year and hold a ball, complete with an orchestra made up of birds and bees. The singer wants to share this magical place with their companion and take a stroll while listening to the song. The second verse describes Roseland, a place with summer breezes, swaying roses, and dancing bees. The moon in this place is especially beautiful, and the singer longs to recline there beside a rose. The final verse describes the end of the ball and how the roses love until they droop and die. The singer suggests that this could be like the love between the two of them.

Line by Line Meaning

I want to take you to a little room
I want to show you a special place

A little room where all the roses bloom
A place where roses flourish

I want to lead you into Nature's hall
I want to take you into nature

Where ev'ry year the roses give a ball
Where the roses put on a show each year

They have an orchestra up in the trees
The birds and bees are the musicians

For their musicians are the birds and bees
The birds and bees make music together

And they will sing us a song
They will create music for us

As we are strolling along
As we walk around

In sunny Roseland, where summer breezes are playing
In a sunny place where the wind is blowing in summer

Where the honey bees are "A-Maying"
Where honeybees are active in May

There all the roses are swaying
All the roses move gently in the wind