Count Basie (Bennie Motens Kansas City Orchestra)

The 1920s and 30s were formative decades for the development of swing. Kansas City jazz can be described as blues-based music with a swinging style, and its in the southwest thats considered the place where these two styles met. A significant figure behind this development was Count Basie; a result of his years playing with Bennie Moten in Kansas City. There are specific musical elements that characterised the unique Southwestern style of Jazz at this time, and we can see how these went on to influence Count Basies music. By the late 20s Basie had become a competent ensemble pianist. Hed mastered stride piano playing, and had become a strong soloist. Hed joined the Benny Moten band in 1929 playing Kansas City style jazz. However, this foreign style demanded new skills from Basie. He was required to develop a new musical and emotional vocabulary. Basie learned that the Kansas musicians did not value the speed and virtuosity he was used to, although the scene was still deeply competitive. During the frequent late night jams or cutting sessions, the idea of saying something on your instrument seemed more favorable than just showing off ones versatility and execution. These sessions were intense proving grounds for budding performers. Tunes could last up 2 hours and soloists were expected to avoid clichs and repetition, sometimes playing up 30 choruses at a time. The music that resulted from these sessions was raw, energetic and creative. Most of these Southwest musicians were largely self-taught around this time, and music was seldom written down, seemingly a result of the strong Blues tradition. This Southwestern Blues can be described as rough and spontaneous, as opposed to the technical, polished figures Basie had previously witnessed. Their blues consisted of earthy rhythms, relaxed phrasing which reflected the simple grassroots heritage of the oral folk tradition. 4/4 time was also rooted in the blues beat, and became a fundamental characteristic of the Kansas City Jazz sound. Coming from a working class background, the Southwest music seemed to resonate with Basie. He immersed himself in the nightlife, and performed funky, hard driving blues to lower-class black audiences. Basie took a likening to the simple structure, texture and form of the blues. This is fairly ironic considering Basie and his great blues singer Jimmy Rushing didnt know the blues until Kansas enforced it upon them. Another trait of the blues was a common use of call and response, an approach rooted deep in black culture and religion. This technique eventually filtered into Basies music, where constant syncopated riffing was implemented. These short Southwestern style riffs were commonly utilized throughout his tunes. Riffs would be played in counterpoint to create tension. Theyd also be repeated over and over to lift and support a soloist; providing the option to play with or against these figures. Basies tunes were often memorised or written on the spot, resulting in lots of collective composition. Most of these loose riffs later became head arrangements for some of his

most famous works. Basies theme tune One Oclock Jump is an example of this approach, which was partly created by jamming improvised riffs in a club late at night. Basies transition into the Southwest style can be heard on the Early Moten recordings where his playing remains largely in the background. This was partially due to the poor recording quality at the time, but more so a result of the density of the rhythm section, and Motens overly busy arrangements. This prevented Basie from interacting with the soloist, and therefore these recordings show us little of Basies later style. Although, by 1932 Moten had recruited the Blue Devils Players and Walter Page had arrived as leader. Page influenced the band, providing more order and cooperation within the rhythm section, as well as establishing a stronger 4 feel. By the early 30s Basies playing had matured greatly. He could answer back to brass figures, be heard over the band, and blend with the rhythm section when required. He could play high hornlike accompaniments that cut through the music. His rhythmic accompaniment had become stronger and he played with more authority. With these factors combined he began to exhibit an array of comping ideas unmatched at the time. On the later records with Moten, Basie became the conductor, shaping the performance with varied rhythms and textures. His playing became more than just ornamentation but an intrinsic part of the sound and performance. The beat had a balance of tension and release, but the time was biting. The playing was spare and economical but powerful. There is a firm pulsating emphasis on the beat. He led the band from the rhythm section, and all the instruments in his band would help build the rhythm. Once hed set the tempo, Basie would set a rhythm for the saxes, then trombones and trumpets. Piano, reeds and brass all interacted to keep the beat alive. Moten Swing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV_r_2GEBf3w

Bibliography - Christian, Shirley. "On a Riff in Kansas City." New York Times, 1996. - Erenberg, Lewis. News from the Great Wide World: Duke Elllington, Count Basie, and Black Popular Music, 1927-1943. Vol. 18. Cambridge: Prospects, 1993. - Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, Brian Priestley. The Rough Guide to Jazz: The Essential Companion to Artists and Albums. London: Rough Guides, 2004. - Leonard, Neil. "Toward a Linguistic Approach to the study of Jazz: The Southwestern Tradition as a Case in Point." Prospects, 3 1978, 51-61. - Stowe, David W. Jazz in the West: Cultural Frontier and Region During the Swing Era. Vol. 23. 1 vols. Utah: The Western Historical Quarterly, 1992. - Reed, Harry. "Yardbird Suite 1: Charlie "Yardbird" Parker (1920-1955) and the Convergence of Kansas City and New York City Nightclubs in the Birth of Bebop." The Western Journal of Black Studies, 1998. - Tucker, Mark. Count Basie and the Piano that Swings the Band. Vol. 5. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1985.