Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018)[2][3] was an American R&B saxophonist.
[3] Big Jay McNeely performed for the famed fifth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on July 10, 1949.
[6] Thanks to his flamboyant playing, called "honking," McNeely remained popular through the 1950s and into the early 1960s, recording for the Exclusive, Aladdin, Imperial, Federal, Vee-Jay, and Swingin' labels.
[3] However, thanks to an R&B revival in the early 1980s, McNeely left the post office and returned to touring and recording full-time, usually overseas.
[10] McNeely and Wiggins toured in Germany and Italy[11][12] with The International Blues Duo, Johnny Heartsman,[13] Daryl Taylor (who worked with Arnett Cobb and Archie Bell & The Drells), Roy Gaines,[14] Christian Rannenberg, Donald Robertson, Billy Davis Jr., "Hyepockets" Robertson, and Lee Allen.