Jazz Showcase - Synthesis - A Tribute to Count Basie

Historical Context:

William “Count” Basie represents the apex of big band music in the Swing Era. Born in 1904 in Red Bank, New Jersey, his mother at an early age did laundry and held bake sales to pay for his piano lessons. He was never into schooling, and dropped out of High School at an early age. He was a natural prodigy at the piano and while working at his job at the silent movies, the piano player didn’t show up. Count got up and improvised the music to the movie and the crowd loved it. In the early twenties, Basie moved to New York and met the famous pianist Fats Waller, who later became his mentor and biggest influence on his playing.

While touring in Kansas City, Basie was put in the hospital for spinal meningitis. Due to medical complications, he stayed in the city for eight years. While he was there he developed an amazing style that is referred to as “Kansas City Style”. Basie introduced this style in his first band led by Bennie Moten, who died in 1935 unexpectedly on the operating table; just six years after Basie joined. The style had several distinct featured including:

- Head arrangements - these are what the music was based on. Head arrangements are structures of music that are simple enough for players to memorize so they don’t have to write it down. It is similar to solo improvisations, but with a whole band.

- Riff-based – the music was highly repetitive and compact; making it much easier to memorize and could be played for long periods of time (unlike other bands eg. Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington etc.)

- Blues-based- the blues scales were used very often and the music followed the twelve-bar blues structure. If it didn’t follow this structure it was a simple AABA song form. Usually the blues expressed personal problems or troubles; in the Swing Era, the blues were played because of The Great Depression to express unemployment. They were also played at a higher tempo to forget about the worries and troubles of the world.

Basie was “discovered” by John Hammond, a professional manager and extremely successful businessman, who heard Basie’s band on the radio and decided he had to have him. He flew to Kansas City and sealed a three year contract with MCA and Decca records. Unfortunately, due to segregation and prejudice against blacks during the 1930’s, Basie was paid a mere $750 for twenty-four sides (twelve discs).

1938 was the year Basie and his band were really recognized for being the best big band in the nation. Basie revolutionized the way rhythm was played, “The First Modern Rhythm Section” (130-132) changed the way musicians would play the drums, bass, piano and guitar in jazz. Joe Jones, Basie’s drummer, changed the beat from the bass pedal to the high-hat, creating an intense rhythm that emphasized beats on two and four. Walter Page, the bassist, played the first walking bass line; which meant the player played a not for every beat in the measure. Freddie Green, the guitarist, complimented the bass player and was with Basie for over forty years, never taking a solo. Basie finished the rhythm section by introducing sporadic, unpredictable, syncopated chords known as “comping” (132). The great soloists also included Lester Young, tenor sax, one of the “3 tenors” and affected all sax players in the forties with his style, and incredible harmonic improvisation.

This band in the early thirties created many award-winning classics such as “One O’ Clock Jump”, “Jumpin’ at the Woodside”, “April in Paris”, and “Taxi War Dance”. The success and influence Basie has had on American music has won him eight Grammy Awards, and has had four songs put in the Grammy Hall of Fame. He was known as one of the greatest American composers, performers, and bandleaders. He died of pancreatic cancer on April 26, 1984 at 79 years old. His legacy will be remembered for centuries to come.