Count Basie

[RichardB]

http://www.memorylane.org.uk/previous_articles.htm

By Tony Parker

Almost everyone can remember the first time that they saw one of the great American bands in action in this country, when they were allowed to visit after the lifting of the notorious Anglo-American Musicians' ban in the 1950s. My recollection, although perhaps a little different than most, is every bit as relevant. In my case it wasn't so much the exciting prospect of seeing and hearing the great Count Basie orchestra in action, on a cold, wet and windy November night at the City Hall, Sheffield, in 1958, but more a question of whether or not I'd be able to get into this marvellous South Yorkshire venue. Also, it wasn't that I didn't have a front-stall ticket. I did. In fact, that night I had more tickets than I could handle. Intrigued? Then let me elucidate.

As a band-loving teenager, and living in a town that was starved of such attractions, I used to organise sold-out, 35-seat coach trips (charabancs as they were known in those days), to the various venues that were within easy reach - such as the Free Trade Hall and Belle Vue, both in Manchester and Sheffield's City Hall. These successful trips enabled my 'customers' to see, among others, stalwarts such as Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton. When it came to booking a coach to see Count Basie, it was a different story altogether.

For weeks in advance, many came and booked seats for the Sheffield show; nearer to the date, however, many dropped out for various reasons. On the night of the concert I realised that if things didn't improve I was going to be stuck with about fifteen, 30 bob (£1.50) tickets on my hands. Well, things didn't improve and I was, in fact, left with those tickets as we arrived in Sheffield.

Standing on the steps of the City Hall, with a fistful of unsold tickets made me look nothing more that a tout. However, on a more positive note, and as luck would have it, there were many enthusiasts who did turn up that night without tickets, and were only too glad to take them off my hands - even though I did have to reduce the price. In fact, those £1.50 tickets were given away at the ridiculous bargain price of ten bob (50p). Imagine seeing Count Basie for 50p! What a bargain, eh? And the upshot was that I managed to flog them off in time to see the concert commence.

There on stage at the piano, and fronting his legendary 17 piece orchestra, was one of the greatest pioneers of big-band music, William 'Count' Basie - a leading figure of the swing era who, alongside Duke Ellington, was a true representative of the genre. Born in Red Bank, New Jersey, on August 21, 1904, Basie was not only a pianist of the highest order but a bandleader who possessed an impeccable taste when choosing not only his personnel, but also his choice of musical programme.

As a young man, and after studying the piano with his mother, Basie went to New York where he met James P Johnson, Fats Waller and a host of other pianists who frequented New York's Harlem district. Basie joined Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra in 1929 and took over the band when Moten died. By the time he was 20 he was touring extensively as a solo pianist, accompanist and musical director for many blues singers, dancers and comedians. In 1936 he formed his first big band, and became contracted to Decca Records: a year on and Basie's outfit had become one of the leading bands of the swing era. By the end of that decade he had acquired international fame with recordings of One O'Clock Jump, Jumping At the Woodside and Taxi War Dance.

In 1952, after reorganising his big band, he undertook a long series of tours and recording sessions that eventually led to him becoming an elder statesman of jazz. He also took on board such sidesmen as Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco, Serge Chaloff and Buddy Rich. As time went on however, Basie, for various reasons, often changed his personnel - not always his idea, but those such as Terry and Rich who had visions of their own. But the one obvious thing was that there was never a shortage of able musicians willing to step into their shoes; as Thad Jones, Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Snooky Young, Wendell Culley, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Freddie Green, Joe Newman and Sonny Payne were quick to illustrate.

In that year of 1958, Basie had arrived to tour this country following a Trans-Atlantic exchange deal with the Vic Lewis orchestra crossing over to America, with all these now-household star names sitting there in his employ. At the time the 'Count' also had the distinction of having a rare, and one of the most requested hit records of the day as part of his musical CV, -April in Paris.

But there was more - much more - to a Count Basie concert than April in Paris. Since the formation of his new band, Basie had also enlisted some of the best composers and arrangers around, all of which added up to an unequalled, relaxed precision and control of the new ensemble's exciting dynamics. These names included Thad Jones, Quincy Jones, Benny Carter and perhaps the most prolific of them all, Neal Hefti.

Evidence of the new band's prowess was reflected in the sales of the many albums that were produced. Two especially, The Atomic Mr Basie and The Chairman of the Board helped to illustrate just how much Basie's new line-up (both on and off stage) had grabbed the imagination and attentions of the swing-loving public; as a result, both albums hit the top of the charts. At a later date these aforementioned albums were reissued in a single, double-format release as The Atomic Mr Chairman. Once again this winning formula reached the pinnacle of the LP charts.

As in most of his UK concerts, great emphasis was placed not only on Basie's highly personal, laconic and blues-oriented style as a formidable jazz pianist, which sometimes bordered on laziness, but on the output of the band's rhythm section. This supported the interplay of brass and reeds, and served as a backdrop for the unfolding of solos - all of which Basie was able to firmly control from the keyboard.

Interesting, too, was the musical programme which Basie had formulated for the tour. For most of the numbers revolved around the release of the two albums, which served to give them a timely and well-deserved plug, while at the same time illuminating the expertise of Thad Jones, with scores such as The Deacon, Mutt and Jeff and Speaking of Sounds. But more than that it helped to underline the invaluable contributions which Neal Hefti made to the Basie organisation, by way of his arrangements and compositions, during that particular period. Evidence of this was well to the fore with such numbers as Splanky, Whirly Bird, The Kid From Red Bank, Flight of the Foo Birds, Fantail, Midnight Blue and Li '1 Darling.

There are those who have later said that on that particular tour Basie could easily have got away with playing a whole programme of Jones and Hefti numbers, with no-one probably batting an eyelid. More to the point, there are also those who maintain that with the odd exception, such as April in Paris, that's exactly what he did do! But the 'Count' was indeed a wily old bird, for when you threw in the immense talents of the powerful blues singer Joe Williams, you realised that there was much more to Basie's outfit than met the eye. Between them, Basie and Williams added a whole new dimension to the ensemble, and they reshaped the role of the big band singer without sacrificing their innate taste and musical imagination.

Although Count Basie died in April 1984, at the age of 79, his musical library containing all those classic Jones and Hefti scores has been lovingly protected over the years since his death.

Although since the band's halcyon days there has inevitably been many personnel changes, it's interesting to note that when the band came to this country three years ago, apart from Mitchell it contained five other members who had played under the sadly-departed 'Count'. These were drummer Butch Miles, who took over from Sonny Payne, trombonists Clarence Banks and Bill Hughes, tenor-saxist Kenny Hing and baritone-saxist John Williams. For reasons which are self-explanatory, and even after all these years, the sounds and the music of Count Basie will forever be around. Just as on April in Paris, those immortal words, 'one more time' will always serve to remind us of one of the truly great swing bands of the century.

[Guest Cutlershall]

I saw Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan at the City Hall in 1963. Brilliant show, and The Divine One remarked that the accoustics feedback was killing her.