JAM: February/March 2004 Issue: Folly Jazz News

by Doug Tatum

Count Down
On Friday, February 27 , the Folly will once again have the honor of presenting the great Count Basie Orchestra in a celebration of the centennial year of Count Basie's birth.

William Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey on August 21, 1904. He first studied music with his mother during his childhood, and as a young musician picked up rudiments of ragtime from early Harlem pianists. Basie also studied organ for a time with Thomas “Fats” Waller.

While on the road as a young man working as a pianist and occasional actor with a vaudeville show, Basie found himself stranded and broke when the troupe disbanded in Kansas City. Basie became ill with spinal meningitis, but made a speedy recovery and soon found work accompanying silent films at the Eblon Theater, which was located between 18th and 19th on Vine (the façade still stands). It was during this time that Basie gave himself a new nickname, “The Count.”

Basie had occasion to hear one of the greatest bands of the southwest, Walter Page's Blue Devils. He would remember thinking “how great it would be if I could ever have a chance to play in a band like that.” The band featured Oran “Hot Lips” Page, saxophonist Buster Smith (who was to become a mentor to Charlie Parker), and a singer from Oklahoma named Jimmy Rushing. After having an opportunity to work first as a substitute, in the summer of 1928 Basie was asked to join the Blue Devils and stayed until early the following year, when he returned to Kansas City.

In the summer of 1929, Basie was again working at the Eblon Theater. During this time he was also developing his skills as an arranger, and soon came to the notice of pianist/bandleader Bennie Moten, who hired Basie as staff arranger and substitute pianist. Before long, Basie became the regular pianist, a position he held for nearly four years. After Bennie Moten's untimely death in 1935 while undergoing a tonsillectomy, Basie soon started a new group of his own. Basie later recalled, “that I was ambitious enough to try to prove that I could make it as a leader.” This group featured the best of Moten's personnel, including “Hot Lips” Page, Buster Smith, Jo Jones, Walter Page and Jimmy Rushing. The innovative tenor saxophonist Lester Young was soon invited to join the group.

At 12th and Cherry in downtown Kansas City was a small club called The Reno. After first substituting for the regular band, Basie's group was asked to stay on as the house band. Basie later recalled, “It was very special. I looked forward to going to work. All we wanted to do was just play, have a little taste, just finish playing there at night and go somewhere else and play the rest of the morning.”

Trumpeter Wilbur “Buck” Clayton was passing through Kansas City on his way to Los Angeles, with the intention of joining another band. A friend took him to The Reno Club. Buck recalls, “I never heard such swinging in my life and was spellbound from the very first minute I heard them.” Within a week, Clayton was offered a position in the band, replacing “Lips” Page. Visiting Chicago in the fall of 1936, Basie and Jo Jones heard Claude “Fiddler” Williams playing guitar and violin in a local club, and the following month, he joined up.

When jazz impresario John Hammond heard the Basie band, he became a leading advocate. In a 1955 interview for Down Beat , Hammond recalled, “It seems almost incredible, but The Reno had a nightly radio wire over the local experimental station W9XBY. You had to have a set capable of receiving police calls to tune in the station properly, but the transmitter was powerful enough to be heard in Chicago and occasionally I was able to get it on my car radio in New York around 3 a.m. The first time I heard a Basie broadcast was in December, 1935, when I was in Chicago to attend the opening of Benny Goodman's new band at the Congress Hotel.”

Hammond was so impressed that he arranged to bring the Basie Band to New York, where they opened at the Roseland Ballroom for a month-long booking. As the decade closed, a combination of radio airtime and records popularized the band from coast to coast. They played the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco. They would usher in the 1940s attracting wonderful soloists and even bigger crowds.

Over the years, the Basie band has consistently featured some of the greatest soloists in jazz. Except for a period in 1950-51 when economic conditions necessitated touring with a septet, Basie led a big band continuously. Though “The Count” passed away in 1984, his orchestra continues its great and swinging tradition of the Kansas City Style.

For tickets or information please call the Folly Theater: (816) 474-4444. Don't forget, members of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors receive special discounts! --Doug Tatum

Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater.






	Search our site:		by Doug Tatum Count Down On Friday, February 27 , the Folly will once again have the honor of presenting the great Count Basie Orchestra in a celebration of the centennial year of Count Basie's birth. William Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey on August 21, 1904. He first studied music with his mother during his childhood, and as a young musician picked up rudiments of ragtime from early Harlem pianists. Basie also studied organ for a time with Thomas “Fats” Waller. While on the road as a young man working as a pianist and occasional actor with a vaudeville show, Basie found himself stranded and broke when the troupe disbanded in Kansas City. Basie became ill with spinal meningitis, but made a speedy recovery and soon found work accompanying silent films at the Eblon Theater, which was located between 18th and 19th on Vine (the façade still stands). It was during this time that Basie gave himself a new nickname, “The Count.” Basie had occasion to hear one of the greatest bands of the southwest, Walter Page's Blue Devils. He would remember thinking “how great it would be if I could ever have a chance to play in a band like that.” The band featured Oran “Hot Lips” Page, saxophonist Buster Smith (who was to become a mentor to Charlie Parker), and a singer from Oklahoma named Jimmy Rushing. After having an opportunity to work first as a substitute, in the summer of 1928 Basie was asked to join the Blue Devils and stayed until early the following year, when he returned to Kansas City. In the summer of 1929, Basie was again working at the Eblon Theater. During this time he was also developing his skills as an arranger, and soon came to the notice of pianist/bandleader Bennie Moten, who hired Basie as staff arranger and substitute pianist. Before long, Basie became the regular pianist, a position he held for nearly four years. After Bennie Moten's untimely death in 1935 while undergoing a tonsillectomy, Basie soon started a new group of his own. Basie later recalled, “that I was ambitious enough to try to prove that I could make it as a leader.” This group featured the best of Moten's personnel, including “Hot Lips” Page, Buster Smith, Jo Jones, Walter Page and Jimmy Rushing. The innovative tenor saxophonist Lester Young was soon invited to join the group. At 12th and Cherry in downtown Kansas City was a small club called The Reno. After first substituting for the regular band, Basie's group was asked to stay on as the house band. Basie later recalled, “It was very special. I looked forward to going to work. All we wanted to do was just play, have a little taste, just finish playing there at night and go somewhere else and play the rest of the morning.” Trumpeter Wilbur “Buck” Clayton was passing through Kansas City on his way to Los Angeles, with the intention of joining another band. A friend took him to The Reno Club. Buck recalls, “I never heard such swinging in my life and was spellbound from the very first minute I heard them.” Within a week, Clayton was offered a position in the band, replacing “Lips” Page. Visiting Chicago in the fall of 1936, Basie and Jo Jones heard Claude “Fiddler” Williams playing guitar and violin in a local club, and the following month, he joined up. When jazz impresario John Hammond heard the Basie band, he became a leading advocate. In a 1955 interview for Down Beat , Hammond recalled, “It seems almost incredible, but The Reno had a nightly radio wire over the local experimental station W9XBY. You had to have a set capable of receiving police calls to tune in the station properly, but the transmitter was powerful enough to be heard in Chicago and occasionally I was able to get it on my car radio in New York around 3 a.m. The first time I heard a Basie broadcast was in December, 1935, when I was in Chicago to attend the opening of Benny Goodman's new band at the Congress Hotel.” Hammond was so impressed that he arranged to bring the Basie Band to New York, where they opened at the Roseland Ballroom for a month-long booking. As the decade closed, a combination of radio airtime and records popularized the band from coast to coast. They played the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco. They would usher in the 1940s attracting wonderful soloists and even bigger crowds. Over the years, the Basie band has consistently featured some of the greatest soloists in jazz. Except for a period in 1950-51 when economic conditions necessitated touring with a septet, Basie led a big band continuously. Though “The Count” passed away in 1984, his orchestra continues its great and swinging tradition of the Kansas City Style. For tickets or information please call the Folly Theater: (816) 474-4444. Don't forget, members of the Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors receive special discounts! --Doug Tatum Doug Tatum is the Executive Director of the Folly Theater. RETURN TO FEBRUARY/MARCH 2004 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2004. All rights reserved.