Once upon a time, jazz was actually defined by that pulse called “swing.” We even had the “Swing Era” in the 30s and 40s, even though jazz swung before then with Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet. While there have been subsequent styles like bebop, hard bop, soul jazz and fusion, there was always that pulse that made you want to dance to it…until the past 20 years when most recent bands and artists have bowed to the altar of chops at the price of feeling and swing.
Now, you may disagree with me, but I simply challenge you to listen to a disc like this one recently released by Doctor Jazz (is there a better name for this type of music?). What you have here is a 1954 concert in the Netherlands by Count Basie’s band, which was just about to record the classic blues album with Joe Williams. Here, you ‘ve got the band right before it goes Atomic, mixing material from its Lester Yong days with some more modern charts provided by Ernie Wilkins, Frank Wess and Neal Hefti.
The reed section includes the “ Two Franks” of Wess and Foster, as well as velvet-toned Marshal Royal and sorghum deep Charlie Fowlkes, and with a brass section boasting of Joe Wilder, Joe Newman and Benny Powell provides a ton of punch.
What’s remarkable about this gig is the seeming effortlessness of creating a buoyant groove. The tenor saxes hum like a V8 on the energetic “Two Franks” and Fowlkes fills the arena literally from top to bottom with his gorgeous baritone ax on the irresistibly riffing “Rockabye Basie.” Royal oozes like sap from a maple tree on “You’re Not The Kind” and if they can even make the usually eerie “Yesterdays” a toe tapper, they probably could even have swung Janice Ian’s “At Seventeen,” for Pete’s sake! And if you want the blues, just listen two the easy pulse on “Plymouth Rock” that has Green strumming, the sections lazily riffing and the two Franks ooze out tenor madness.
And if you’re an aspiring pianist, before you try to memorize transcriptions by Hancock or Tyner, just give a listen to the eternal lesson that “Less Is More” on “Nails.”For 7 minutes of beauty that you wish would never end, Basie tickles the piano along with the rhythm section of the delectable Freddie Greene/g, Eddie Jones/b and Gus Johnson/dr and gives a whole new meaning to Sun Ra’s belief of Space is the Place. Minimalist, using silence as a sound, with each pluck on the ivories a tickle of ecstasy before,during and after the band slides in. If you could bottle it, you’d make millions!
Doctor Jazz Records