JazzWax

Sy Oliver's Arrangements in 10 Clips

Yesterday's post on arranger, trumpeter and vocalist Sy Oliver (above) generated many emails from readers who have long loved his work and those who weren't familiar with him. In yesterday's post, I shared two great albums by Oliver and some of Oliver's classic arrangements for Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra.

To drive home Oliver's importance and influence, here are 10 of my favorite arrangements over the decades:

Here's Oliver's arrangement of Now or Never by Billie Holiday in 1949...

Here's Oliver's arrangement of That Old Feeling by Kay Thompson in June 1950...

Here's Oliver's arrangement of I've Got the World on a String by Ella Fitzgerald in 1950...

Here's Oliver's arrangement of Because of Rain by Ella Fitzgerald in March 1951...

Here's Oliver's arrangement of No Name for Count Basie's first New Testament band recordings in January 1952...

Here's Oliver's Redhead for Basie on the same session...

Here's Oliver's arrangement of Everything I Love by Chris Connor in 1953...

Here's Oliver arrangement of Mr. Wonderful by Peggy Lee in 1956...

Here's Oliver's arrangement of There Is No Greater Love by Sammy Davis Jr. in 1960—with Eric Dolphy on alto saxophone!...

And here's Oliver's arrangement of 720 in the Books in 1961...

Sy Oliver: 'Easy Walker' and 'Sentimental Sy'

Sy Oliver was one of the most important arrangers of the swing era. A trumpeter, singer and arranger in Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra in the 1930s, Oliver was hired by Tommy Dorsey in 1939 to give his band a more authentic Savoy Ballroom sound. Oliver's good fortune came the following January when Frank Sinatra joined Dorsey and Oliver was tasked with orchestrating the singer's uptempo numbers with a big beat and brassy punch. Axel Stordahl handled the romantic ballads. [Photo above of Sy Oliver in 1946]

Some of Sinatra's most memorable songs with Dorsey were arranged by Oliver, including Stardust, Without a Song, East of the Sun, Blue Skies, It's Always You, The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else), Polka Dots and Moonbeams, Oh! Look at Me Now, Dolores, Let's Get Away From It All and Snootie Little Cutie. Oliver remained with Dorsey until 1946, when he left to work as a freelance arranger for Decca. [Photo above of Frank Sinatra and Sy Oliver in 1961]

In the 1950s, Oliver arranged albums mostly for swing-era singers and bandleaders who were transitioning into the 12-inch LP era. During this period, Oliver worked extensively with Ella Fitzgerald. By the late 1950s, he was recording albums as a leader. Two of his finest LPs from this period are Easy Walker (Sesac) and Sentimental Sy (Dot). The former was recorded in 1962 while the latter was captured in 1958.

Easy Walker is an instrumental swinger taken mostly at a relaxed pace. The band featured Jimmy Nottingham, Joe Newman and Dick Perry (tp); Frank Saracco, Mort Bullman and Rod Levitt (tb); Phil Bodner, George Dorsey, Seldon Powell, Budd Johnson and Dave McRae (saxes); Dave Martin (p); George Barnes (g); Joe Benjamin (b); Jimmy Crawford (d); Warren Smith (perc) and Sy Oliver (arr,ldr).

Sentimental Sy showcased Oliver's best known big-band arrangements, including Opus 1, On the Sunny Side of the Street, East of the Sun and For You. The band's personnel (dig the trumpet and rhythm sections!) included Reunald Jones, Jimmy Nottingham, Ernie Royal, Charlie Shavers and Ray Copeland (tp); Frank Saracco, Bobby Byrne, Vince Forchetti and Tom Mitchell (tb); Phil Bodner (as); George Dorsey (as,cl); Sam "The Man" Taylor and Babe Fresk (ts); Dave McRae (bar); Hank Jones (p); George Barnes (g); Sandy Block (b); Jimmy Crawford (d); Sy Oliver (vcl,arr); Jerry Duane, Sylvia Texlor, Robert Bollinger and David Vogel (vcl).

Both of these albums will give you a fine sense of how special Oliver was as a swing arranger and in helping Dorsey and Sinatra develop their most memorable recordings. The songs also will likely come as a surprise to you, since Oliver still isn't widely known though his arrangements are most familiar. Best of all, listen to the inventive quality of his writing. Nearly every post-war band arranger was influenced by Oliver's brash, modernist approach and his section writing. In the pop realm, Oliver kept fingers snapping and knees moving.

Sy Oliver died in 1988 at age 77.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Easy Walker here and tracks from Sentimental Sy here.

JazzWax clips: From Easy Walker, here's Easy Walker...

Easy Walker

Here's Mixed Doubles...

Mixed Doubles

Here's Back Home...

Back Home

From Sentimental Sy, here's On the Sunny Side of the Street...

On the Sunny Side of the Street

And here's East of the Sun...

East of the Sun

Bonus: Here are some of Oliver's singular arrangements for Frank Sinatra when he was with Tommy Dorsey between 1940 and 1942 and Buddy Rich was on drums, driving home Oliver's vision:

Here's Snootie Little Cutie with Connie Haines and Sinatra...

Here's Dolores...

Here's It's Always You...

And here's Sinatra backed by Sy Oliver conducting his updated swing arrangement of the same song in 1961...

Interview: Gary David on The Sound of Feeling

In early August, I posted about Leonard Feather Presents...The Sound of Feeling and the Sound of Oliver Nelson, a unique jazz vocal and instrumental album released in 1968 on Verve. On one side were three voices backed by a quartet with Oliver Nelson soloing on soprano saxophone. On the other was the Oliver Nelson Big Band. [Photo above, from left, of Gary David, Rhae Andrece and Alyce Andrece in 1967, courtesy of Gary David]

The vocal side featured a concept conceived by Gary David, who doubled on piano and vocals along with twin sisters, Rhae and Alyce Andrece, who sang with Gary. His piano was joined by Ray Neapolitan and Chuck Domanico on bass and Dick Wilson on drums.

`
The album was so interesting that dozens of questions sprang to mind: How did Gary come up with this singular approach to jazz vocalizing? Who were the twins? How did they come to be in the group? How did they all wind up on a side of an Oliver Nelson album? How did Nelson come to play soprano saxophone with them? And what was the significance of the group's name—the Sound of Feeling? [Photo above of Oliver Nelson]

Bill Kirchner, who originally hipped me to the album, put me in touch with Gary. We hit it off, and Gary agreed to a chat.

Here's my e-interview with Gary:

JazzWax: Where did you grow up, and when did you start to play piano and sing?
Gary David: I was born in 1935 and grew up in Sacramento, Calif. I sang before I could talk and was a self-taught pianist starting in my teens. I had only two lessons from a one-eyed, door-to-door piano teacher who taught me chord structure. But I never had lessons in the mechanics of playing the piano. [Photo of Gary David today, courtesy of Gary David]

JW: When did you relocate to San Francisco and why?
GD: After being discharged from the Army in 1959, I lived in New York for about six months. I was auditioning and gigging as a standup singer. Then I returned to Sacramento and sang in clubs and on local TV. In 1960, I moved to San Francisco to get better gigs. I soon realized that I’d have to play and sing to get jobs. My theory was right. About that time, I met Alyce and Rhae Andrece, twin sisters who had just moved to San Francisco from Las Vegas.

JW: Where did you meet?
GD: We met at an audition for a musical review in Sausalito, Calif. They lived near me, so we'd play and sing together. They weren't jazz singers at that point, but they admired Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. I guided them musically into jazz's rhythmic and improvisational nuances. About that time, I was playing at the Dragon Lady in North Beach. I learned to play piano more formally while accompanying myself. It was on-the-job training. I soon had a following and was allowed to hire a bass player and a drummer. That was the start of the Gary David Trio. Alyce and Rhae would sit in. Initially, there was no romantic attachment. That came in 1962 with Rhae.


JW: The singing approach by you three was so unusual. How did that develop?
GD: They eased into it with me as a coach. But they had extensive vocal ranges and tracked each other like radar. I think Miles Davis was their most significant influence, along with Lena Horne. The inspiration for our approach to improvised singing originated with me, since it was an approach I developed throughout my career up until that point. I was interested in how singing voices were used in other cultures. My most intense interest was composing and arranging, and our trio of voices was a perfect workshop for my explorations. The twins had an excellent aesthetic sense, and we learned together. [Photo above of the Sound of Feeling, from left, Rhae Andrece, Alyce Andrece and Gary David]

JW: Did the twins catch on immediately?
GD: They were not trained but yes, they were quick to catch on. I created the group's name when we moved to Los Angeles in 1964. We were in search of greater visibility and work. I had been exploring the connection between music and emotion in jazz. Simultaneously, I began my studies in applied epistemology—how we know what we know—which took me deeper into music as emotion or the sound of feeling. Given my Arabic heritage, I was interested in the sound of Arabic scales and the intervals that aren’t present in Western music.

JW: Who did you study with?
GD: I studied simultaneously with Erv Wilson, a master of how to explore pitch space, and Lyle "Spud" Murphy, who taught me the nuances of orchestrating in 12 tones.

JW: Were the twins easy to work with, or were they frustrated they weren't doing more commercial material?
GD: Early on, working together was easy. They weren't frustrated with the direction we were exploring. Seven years later, they had their own ideas about their artistic direction.


JW: How did you cross paths with Leonard Feather and Oliver Nelson?
GD: Leonard was taken with the whole deal we were presenting. Leonard first heard us at Donte's nightclub in North Hollywood in 1967. He wrote a very positive review in the Los Angeles Times. We met, and he had the idea of filling an empty side of an Oliver Nelson album he was producing that hadn't been completed. He brought Oliver to Donte's, and we immediately clicked and agreed to record together. [Photo above of the twins with Leonard Feather]

JW: How did you feel?
GD: I was elated but anxious since I didn't consider myself a "real pianist." Now I had to play with Oliver. I considered him a giant of jazz and the music world in general.

JW: Were you already familiar with Nelson?
GD: I was very familiar with his recordings. He didn't write arrangements for us. He chose to play soprano saxophone. He joined our ensemble of two bassists (Ray Neopolitan and Chuck Domanico), a drummer (Dick Wilson), me on piano and our three voices. The group had been together for a year by then, so everyone knew what we had to do without reading music. I gave Oliver some musical sketches of our material. He took them into a room and grasped the concept immediately. We went into the studio and played the whole set with no overdubs. Oliver played his ass off, and my anxiety disappeared in the music and the inspiration he embodied. We all played beyond our pasts.

JW: What was Nelson like?
GD: I can't say enough good things about him as a musician and person. He approached us with great care and interest. He wasn't too chatty, but he gave us his full attention. There was a sweetness about him that I felt immediately. He was a true inspiration. I've never played as well before or since, as I did behind Oliver Nelson.


JW: That's pretty tough music. Were many takes needed?
GD: No more than one or two takes because we had been playing clubs and concerts for a year, so we were seasoned and loose. There was no overdubbing by Oliver or anyone else. I can't remember our responses to the playback, but we had an excellent engineer at Verve—Val Valentin—who guided us through the process. We were not easy to record because of the wide dynamics of pitch and volume. [Photo above of the twins with Oliver Nelson]

JW: Spleen was a fascinating follow-up album. What's the meaning of the title?
GD: The title came from a poem by the French poet Paul Verlaine. I set one of his poems, Spleen, to music. Leonard was the producer, and I came up with all the arrangements, with input from the twins and the other musicians in our group. In a sense, I learned how to arrange for us by listening to them.

JW: Your covers of pop songs are fascinating. Why didn't you record more of them?
GD: We never got the chance. After Spleen, our one album at Mercury, the label let us out of our contract to pursue a new direction. We continued exploring recording avenues for another year, but no one picked up on what we were doing.

JW: How did the group break up? Did the twins get too busy with film work?
GD: The twins' TV and commercial work for products such as Doublemint gum was a way to supplement their income. As you can imagine, the Sound of Feeling was not a commercial success. Having studied drama at Northwestern University together, they gravitated to acting auditions with great interest. The last few months of rehearsing were conflict-ridden as Mercury's A&R department had other ideas about the types of music they wanted to produce in the rock era. By then, my relationship with Rhae had run its course.

JW: What happened next?
GD: Maurice Miller, the drummer in the Sound of Feeling, along with bassist Ray Neapolitan and I formed a group called Sweet Grease. I wrote many of the charts and wrote many new songs. Maurice was a terrific singer, so we featured him. We had great fun, but ultimately it wasn't sustainable. Maurice, a former member of the Association, went on to play clubs as a blues singer, while Ray became a well-known bass player and Joe Cocker's manager.

JW: And you?
GD: I had been studying epistemics while the Sound of Feeling was active. So, I started teaching at a place called Viewpoints Institute. J. Samuel Bois was its director, and he mentored me for 12 years. I received my PhD in 1973. At the same time, I was playing with pick-up rock bands. Eventually, teaching and counseling became full-time. I have been doing that ever since. I have a studio in my home, and I love to record my first passion—singing the Great American Songbook. I came into the world singing, and I'll probably go out that way.

JW: And the twins?
GD: They never married. They formed a trio with a guitarist-singer named Terry Gris. I loved what they did, but it ultimately went nowhere. Gradually, poor health became too much of an obstacle for them.

JW: Where were the twins from, and was your relationship with Rhae hard on Alyce?
GD: The twins were from Thornton, Ill. My relationship with Rhae began while we were in San Francisco in 1962, before the formation of our group. Our relationship lasted seven years. Alyce was overprotective and unhappy about us because, in her mind, I was pulling Rhae away from her. It was a seven-year struggle, but the music made it all worthwhile.


JW: What became of them?
GD: Alyce and Rhae lived together their whole lives right to the end. They each had passing relationships after the Sound of Feeling, but their primary one was with each other as sisters. Alyce died in 2005 at age 68. Rhae died in 2009 at age 72.

JW: How did you take the breakup?
GD: I keep learning. In fact, I have an online forum called "The Art of Learning." My experience in music has been invaluable in all that I do.

JW: Were you in touch with Rhae over the years?
GD: My love with Rhae was immature, dependent and bound to fail. When the music stopped, so did our intimate connection. I stayed in touch with her occasionally and tried to help her in her last years when she was destitute. It was all challenging for me. She, my father, and my first musical mentor, Bob Fylling, all died in the same year, 2009.

JazzWax track: Here's the Sound of Feeling's Waltz Without Words with Oliver Nelson on soprano saxophone...

Kent Engelhardt & Stephen Enos: Tadd Dameron x 2

Tadd Dameron was one of the most prolific and influential composer-arrangers of the bebop era. The pianist also wrote many songs that became jazz standards, including Hot House, Our Delight, Good Bait, Lady Bird, Soultrane, Mating Call, Cool Breeze, The Scene Is Clean and many others. A fascinating jazz figure, his vast catalog of fresh and modern songs and arrangements influenced many musicians, including Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones, to name a few. In the 1940s, his presence seemed to be everywhere, as discographies show. He even led a spectacular tentet in 1949 known as the Big Ten. Sadly, Dameron had a short life. He suffered several heart attacks and died of cancer in 1965 at age 48. [Photo above of Tadd Dameron]

Over the years, tributes to Dameron have been many, most notably Dameronia in the 1980s led by Philly Joe Jones. Now, alto saxophonist Kent Engelhardt and trumpeter Stephen Enos, have released a double-album followup to their first Madd for Tadd Dameron tribute album The Magic Continues (2018). The two separate albums in the new set are Central Avenue Swing and Our Delight. Both feature the 15-piece Madd for Tadd big band that covers Dameron's early works and better-known pieces. The sound and feel of the new album is snappy and enrapturing.

As lyrical as Dameron's works were, they weren't easy to execute without sophistication and strong musical skills. There's also a special feel to Dameron's music. Covering his material must come off as assertive and bop savvy, but the execution also must have a certain sensuality and grace. Kent and Stephen's latest endeavor accomplish all of this. And the solos by one and all are superb.

Kent (above) is Professor and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Youngstown State University in Ohio. Enos is founder of the Tri-C Jazz Studies Program at Cuyahoga Community College in Ohio. Together, their passion for Dameron is tireless and extraordinary. The bounty of material here gives listeners a fine sense of Dameron's orchestral excellence, with the first album featuring lesser-known works and the second showcasing Dameron's genius for modernity.

If you're unfamiliar with Dameron, Madd for Tadd's Central Avenue Swing and Our Delight are a terrific entry point. If you know Dameron's music, this double tribute is a solid updating and will likely introduce you to works you may not have known and give you a fresh reason to re-listen to the composer-arranger's recordings and original works. Once again, Kent and Stephen (above) have blown the coals hot, reviving the Dameron flame.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Madd for Tadd: Central Avenue Swing and Our Delight here..

JazzWax clips: Here's Mating Call...

Here's Our Delight...

Here's Dameron Stomp...

And here's Rock and Ride...

Basie, Bird and Pres

In The Wall Street Journal last week, my monthly "Album at 50" essay for the Arts in Review section looked at the Allman Brothers Band's Brothers and Sisters LP, which was released in August 1973 (go here). By the time the album's recording began, one member was dead from a motorcycle accident and another would meet the same fate just weeks into studio work. In addition, the band was wracked with heroin addiction and alcoholism.

But as serious rock writing emerged in the early 1970s with the New Journalism and Rolling Stone magazine, the Allman Brothers Band became a great story of goodhearted underdogs fighting for their lives to be special and succeed. Fans flocked to record stores. Brothers and Sisters was a shift for the band, from blues rock to country rock, and the LP became the band's best-selling release, providing a superb example of pure country rock before the Eagles smoothed out the genre in 1975.

Here's Ramblin' Man in 1972, around the time it was recorded and before the album came out. Berry Oakley was on bass on the far right. He would die nine days later...

Last week in the WSJ, I also interviewed bestselling novelist Ann Patchett for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Ann's latest book is Tom Lake. [Photo above of Ann Patchett by Heidi Ross]

Here's Ann on the Today show recently...

Count Basie. What a week. Wow. Readers had an enormously favorable response to my five days devoted to the Count.

Following my post on Thursday, I heard from Bruce Collier. Bruce started 90th Floor Records in Dallas in 1960 and taped Dick and Kiz Harp, Texas's short-lived version of Jackie and Roy, at the city's 90th Floor Club. Bruce also taped the Texas Lab Band, with Stan Kenton's comments, before Bruce was drafted. Here's Bruce's email:

Marc, I've sent you a photo (above) of Count Basie, Joe Williams and three college dudes (I'm in the middle). We were at Chicago’s Blue Note, circa 1960. The three of us were there enjoying the band and drummer Sonny Payne when the club's "cigarette girl" came by to see if we wanted our picture taken. To which we responded (sarcastically?), "Sure, if you can get Basie and Joe to join us…" Voila!

Here's Dick and Kiz Harp. We have Bruce to thank for these recordings. Otherwise, nothing would remain of their performances, with Dick on vocal and piano and Kiz on vocal (dig Kiz's "Oy's" while Dick's opening vocal)...

Sonny Payne, Count Basie's drummer from 1954 to 1964, had just one leadership session for a single track, with Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone: Clap Hands Here Comes Charlie, which appeared on an album called More Drums on Fire! on the World Pacific label in 1960. Go here and move the time bar up to 19:37. Or listen to the entire album, which features different artists...

Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan. When Annie Ross's drug addiction prohibited her from traveling back to the U.S. from the U.K. to rejoin Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Jon Hendricks and Dave Lambert had to find a replacement. That singer was Yolande Bavan. For my multipart interview with Yolande, go here.

Here's Yolande in the trio singing This Could Be the Start of Something Big, with Pony Poindexter on soprano saxophone, in 1962...

And here's the Basin Street East recording of the same song in 1963...

And thanks to Bill Kirchner, I've added one more—Yolande on TV's To Tell the Truth in 1962 (move the time bar to 8:15). Go here...

The Pacific Jazz Orchestra. Last week, Kurt Kostad hipped me to the launch of the Pacific Jazz Orchestra, sponsored by the Herb Alpert Foundation. The PJO will produce an annual concert season under the artistic direction of Chris Walden (above) and feature various headlining guest artists, and each concert will be presented at a different venue throughout Los Angeles. The full line-up of the band's inaugural season starting this fall will be announced soon. For more, go here.

Tommy Dorsey's post-war band in the late 1940s with arrangements by Bill Finegan was spectacular. The band's personnel was a knockout, with Louis Bellson on drums, Paul Smith on piano, Charlie Shavers on trumpet, Billy Ainsworth on alto saxophone, Boomie Richman on tenor and Marty Berman on baritone, to name a few chairs. [Photo above of Tommy Dorsey]

Here's Finegan's Pussy Willow...

I know of only one contemporary band able to pull off this difficult arrangement—a band led by drummer Brooks Tegler in 2007. You can read my interview with him here. Here's his Pussy Willow...

Pussy Willow

Buster Keaton. Not nearly enough praise is given to the pioneers of film comedy in the silent era. Most of the focus is on Charlie Chaplin, and deservedly so. But Buster Keaton is just as worthy and is the father of movie stuntmen and cinematic suspense and ingenious resolutions. [Photo above of Buster Keaton, courtesy of IMDb]

Here's a piece from Seven Chances (1925). I have no idea how this was shot, but my mouth is still hanging open...

Claude Thornhill. The following clip of Count Me In from 1942 features singers Martha Wayne and Buddy Stewart. The latter would go on to become a leading vocalese singer in the late 1940s. Gil Evans arranged the song. But the clip also features trumpeter Conrad Gozzo seated in the middle of the horn section; John Graas on French horn, on the left, would go on to be a leading force in the rise of West Coast jazz in the early 1950s; and Barry Galbraith is on guitar. [Photo above of Claude Thornhill by William P. Gottlieb]

The full band: Rusty Dedrick, Conrad Gozzo and Louis Mucci (tp); Tasso Harris and Bud Smith (tb); John Graas and Vincent Jacobs (fhr); Danny Polo (cl); Dale Brown (cl,as,arr); Jack Ferrier (cl,as); Ted Goddard and Carl Swift (cl,ts); Marty Berman (cl,b-cl,bar); Claude Thornhill (p); Barry Galbraith (g); Marty Blitz (b); Lou Fromm (d); Martha Wayne and Buddy Stewart; and Gil Evans.

Go here...

Fishink is a British blog that regularly features marvelous mid-century artists and their works. This time around, Fishink showcases Chris Turnham. You can subscribe for free and get the blog posts sent to you regularly. Go here.

Mike Jones—Are You Sure You Three Guys Know What You’re Doing? (Capri). Pianist Mike Jones opens nightly for Penn & Teller in Las Vegas at the Penn & Teller Theater. Mike also gigs and records with Penn Jillette, who plays bass, and drummer Jeff Hamilton. Their latest album features 11 tracks, most of which are songbook standards, including Watch What Happens, You've Changed and Gone With the Wind. No magic tricks here, just straight ahead jazz that grabs the ear. You'll find the album here.

Here's the trio playing Gone With the Wind...

Dave Thompson wrapped up rehearsals at his piano studio yesterday, working on I Fall in Love Too Easily. I love Dave's playing and often listen to his SoundCloud clips for up to an hour when I put on one of his songs. Here's the recording he sent along yesterday...

Charlie Parker and Lester Young Birthday Broadcast. Love Bird and Pres? You're in luck. From August 27 to 29, WKCR-FM in New York is producing a 72-hour marathon tribute to the alto and tenor saxophonists. Both musicians changed the direction of jazz in the 1940s—Parker, by pioneering bebop along with a new approach to improvisation, and Young, with a new, more relaxed sound on his instrument. Both were so influential that entire schools of artists emerged who tried to play like them.

Tune in from anywhere in the world next week by going here.

And finally, here's Charlie Parker playing Moose the Mooch at the Chez Parée, in Montreal on February 7, 1953...

And here's Lester Young in 1947 playing East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)...

Backgrounders: Basie With Quincy and Hefti

In 1958, the French Vogue label put out a double LP in Europe entitled Count Basie Plays Quincy Jones & Neal Hefti. Essentially, it was a re-issue of two previous Roulette releases—Basie One More Time: Music From the Pen of Quincy Jones (1960) and Basie Plays Hefti (1958). Both are classics in the Basie canon and remain masterpieces today.

Quincy Jones and Neal Hefti, along with Ernie Wilkins and Frank Foster, were among the leading composer-arrangers for Basie's New Testament band—as the reconstituted Basie band was known when it was formed in 1952. The Basie orchestra from 1935 to 1950 was the Old Testament band.

What's interesting about Hefti and Jones is their different approach to the Basie canvas. Hefti's arrangements tended to be more hook-centric, sectionally coy and tightly explosive whereas Jones's writing was more wide-ranging in its phrasing, bluesier in execution and shrewdly romantic.

Since JazzWax celebrated Basie all this week, I'm giving you two Backgrounders today—the two albums mentioned above, without ad interruptions:

Here's Basie Plays Hefti (move the space bar to 1:59:33)...

Here's Basie One More Time...

Other ad-free Backgrounders in my series:

• Zoot Sims Plays Bossa Nova, go here.
• Lee Morgan: Lee-Way, go here.
• Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers, go here.
• Leon Spencer: Louisiana Slim, go here.
• Bossa Nova Modern Quartet: Bossa Nova Jazz Samba, go here.
• Bill Evans & Luiz Eça: Piano Four Hands, go here.
• Ray Brown Trio: Don't Get Sassy, go here.
• Os Tatuis: Os Tatuis, go here.
• Waltel Branco: Mancini Tambem É Samba, go here.
• Jack Wilson Plays Brazilian Mancini, go here.
• Conjunto Copacabana Bossa: Bossa, go here.
• Ella Fitzgerald: Ella Swings Lightly, go here.
• Charles Earland: Charles Earland, go here.
• Kenny Burrell: Crash! w/ Jack McDuff, go here.
• Jack McDuff: The Heatin' System, go here.
• Horace Silver: Horace-Scope, go here.
• Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave, go here.
• Sonny Stitt: Sonny Stitt Plays, go here.
• Sonny Stitt with Bennie Green: My Main Man, go here.
• Johnny Hodges and Earl Hines: Stride Right, go here.
• Lionel Hampton: Bossa Nova Jazz, go here.
• Johnny Hodges & Ben Webster: Cellar Session, go here.
• Bill Evans: Solo Sessions Vol. 1, go here.
• Frank Wess: Trombones & Flute, go here.
• Presenting the Buddy DeFranco & Tommy Gumina Quartet, go here.
• Ernest Ranglin: Wranglin', go here.
• Dave Pell Octet: Plays Rodgers & Hart, go here.
• Milt Buckner: Block Chords Parade, go here.
• Roberto Menescal: A Nova Bossa, go here.
• Count Basie: Have a Nice Day, go here.
• Freddie Green: Mr. Rhythm, go here.
• Leny Andrade: Leny Andrade, go here.
• Johnny Alf: Ele é Johnny Alf, go here.
• Dodo Marmarosa: Dodo's Back, go here.
• Freddie Redd: The Music From the Connection, go here.
• Nicola Stilo & Toninho Horta: Duets, go here.
• Urbie Green: Persuasive Trombone, go here.
• Johnny Richards: Something Else, go here.
• Wayne Shorter: JuJu, go here.
• Hampton Hawes: All Night Session!, go here.
• Shorty Rogers Plays Richard Rodgers, go here.
• Chet Baker: Pretty/Groovy, go here.
• Sonny Stitt: The Sensual Sound of Sonny Stitt, go here.
• Gil Mellé: New Faces, New Sounds, go here.
• Herbie Mann and Charlie Rouse: Just Wailin', go here.
• Bobby Hackett: Memorable & Mellow, go here.
• Tina Brooks: Back to the Tracks, go here.
• Sonny Rollins Plays for Bird, go here.
• Red Garland: A Garland of Red, go here.
• Grant Green: Gooden's Corner, go here.
• Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle, go here.
• Horace Parlan; Movin' & Groovin', go here.
• Russ Garcia: Four Horns and a Lush Life, go here.
• Vic Lewis: Plays Bossa Nova at Home and Away, go here.
• Buddy Collette's Swinging Shepherds, go here.
• Dizzy Gillespie: Gillespiana, go here.
• Nelson Riddle: Communication, go here.
• Nelson Riddle: Changing Colors, go here.
• Elmo Hope: Complete Trios, 1953-1966, go here.
• Buddy Collette: Man of Many Parts, go here.
• The Herbie Mann-Sam Most Quintet, go here.
• Shorty Rogers: Cool and Crazy, go here.
• The Return of Art Pepper, go here.
• Benny Golson and the Philadelphians, go here.
• Moacir Santos: Coisas, go here.
• Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis: Lock, the Fox, go here.
• Tony Bennett: The Movie Song Album, go here.
• Thad Jones/Mel Lewis: Consummation, go here.
• James Moody: Return From Overbrook, go here.
• Barry Galbraith: Guitar and the Wind, go here.

Moonlighting With the Countsmen

Count Basie was able to hold onto players for long periods of time because the band was fun, it had enormous global prestige and the experience was like being with family. But there were other factors. So long as the band wasn't in the studio or didn't have to play that day, his sidemen were free to record. This kept his best musicians from becoming frustrated and giving notice and it minimized requests for a raise. Basie knew that to get a lot, he had to give a little.

Today, let's listen to 12 of these moonlighting gigs by the Count's top Basie-ites. On the first one, Basie tagged along:

Here's trumpeter Joe Newman, from his album Joe Newman and the Boys in the Band, playing Peter Pan in 1954, featuring Joe Newman (tp), Henry Coker (tb), Frank Wess (fl,ts), Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bar), Count Basie (p), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b) and Gus Johnson (d)...

Here's rhythm guitarist Freddie Green playing Little Red, from his Mr. Rhythm album in 1955, featuring Joe Newman (tp), Henry Coker (tb), Al Cohn (ts), Nat Pierce (p), Freddie Green (g), Milt Hinton (b) and (d) Osie Johnson (d) and Ernie Wilkins (arr)...

Here's Frank Foster's Excursion, from his No 'Count in 1956, featuring Benny Powell and Henry Coker (tb), Frank Foster and Frank Wess (ts,fl), Kenny Burrell (g), Eddie Jones (b) and Kenny Clarke (d)...

Here's Frank Wess playing Lo Fi in 1956, from his Trombones, featuring Frank Wess on Flute, with Jimmy Cleveland, Henry Coker, Benny Powell and Bill Hughes (tb); Frank Wess (fl); Ronnell Bright (p); Freddie Green (g); Eddie Jones (b); Kenny Clarke (d) and Frank Foster (arr)...

Here's Harry "Sweets" Edison in 1958 playing Pussy Willow from his album The Swinger, featuring Harry "Sweets" Edison (tp), Jimmy Forrest (ts), Jimmy Jones (p), Freddie Green (g), Joe Benjamin (b) and Charlie Persip (d)...

Here's trumpeter Thad Jones playing his own Billie Doo, from The Magnificent Thad Jones in 1956, with Thad Jones (tp), Billy Mitchell (ts), Barry Harris (p), Kenny Burrell (g), Percy Heath (b) and Max Roach (d)...

Here's trombonist Al Gey on his album Last of the Big Plungers: Al Grey and the Basie Wing, playing Thad Jones's The Elder in 1959, with Joe Newman (tp); Al Grey and Benny Powell (tb); Billy Mitchell (ts); Charlie Fowlkes (bar); Floyd Morris (p); Eddie Jones (b) and Sonny Payne (d)...

Here's tenor saxophonist Budd Johnson in 1960 playing I Only Have Eyes for You, from his Let's Swing album, with Keg Johnson (tb), Budd Johnson (ts), Tommy Flanagan (p), George Duvivier (b) and Charlie Persip (d). And while Budd wouldn't be recording in Basie's band until a month later, this one was hard to resist...

Here's Marshal Royal playing Birth of the Blues, with an arrangement by Gordon Jenkins in 1960 (and Royal's first name misspelled on the cover), featuring Marshal Royal (as), Hank Jones (p), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Sonny Payne (d) and a string section...

Here's Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis playing Oliver Nelson's Walk Away in 1960, from Davis's Trane Whistle, featuring Clark Terry, Richard Williams and Bobby Bryant (tp); Jimmy Cleveland and Melba Liston (tb); Oliver Nelson (as); Eric Dolphy (as); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (ts); Jerome Richardson and Bob Ashton (ts,fl); George Barrow (bar); Richard Wyands (p); Wendell Marshall (b); Roy Haynes (d) and Ernie Wilkins (arr)...

Here's Billy Mitchell and the Basie-ites in 1960 playing How High the Moon on the Basie-ites album, featuring Joe Newman and Thad Jones (tp), Al Grey (tb), Billy Mitchell and Frank Foster (ts), Frank Wess (ts,fl), Barry Harris (p), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b) and Sonny Payne (d)...

Here's Jimmy Forrest in 1961 playing I Cried for You. from Out of the Forrest, with Jimmy Forrest (ts), Joe Zawinul (p), Tommy Potter (b) and Clarence Johnston (d)...

Documentary: 'Basie, The Kid From Redbank'

Three days into the week, I'm still hooked on Count Basie. What can I say. The sound, the feel, the simplicity and the prowess—no band was as influential in jazz over the decades. Duke Ellington was a towering figure with a singular band, but I think it's fair to say that he didn't influence nearly as many players, arrangers and bands as the Count. To this day, Basie brings pure joy.

Today, here's an hour-long Dutch TV documentary from 1983...

12 Videos of Drummer Sonny Payne

By the time drummer Sonny Payne joined Count Basie in December 1954, he had played with bands led by Paul Bascomb, Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Tiny Grimes and Erskine Hawkins. After he tried out with Basie, the pianist loved his fresh, novel approach—driving the swing with a steady beat while sneaking in accents, polyrhythms and a sassy attitude that excited and motivated the players and audiences. Payne left Basie in December 1964 to lead a trio and tour with Illinois Jacquet in 1976. Frank Sinatra would only sing with Basie in the 1960s if Payne was on the kit.

But a solid chunk of Payne's post-Basie career was spent in Harry James's band, with occasional gigs with Basie on tours. In January 1979, after returning from Europe, Payne came down with the flu, which quickly escalated to pneumonia and required hospitalization. Payne died later that month at age 52. Harry James reportedly paid all of his hospital bills.

Here are 12 videos of Sonny Payne in action:

Here's Payne with Basie on Chicago's WGN-TV in 1965 playing This Could Be the Start of Something Big. Tenor solos by Eric Dixon and Sal Nistico...

Here's a solo by Payne with Basie in 1958...

Here's Payne with Basie in Hollywood in 1959 on Blee Blop Blues...

Here's Payne with Basie in Milan in 1960 playing Cute...

Here's Payne with Basie in Milan in 1960 on Blues in Frankie's Flat...

Here's Payne with Harry James in 1970 on Apples...

Here's Corner Pocket, with a tenor saxophone solo by Corky Corcoran...

Here's Opus One...

Here's a Payne spotlight solo with Basie in 1962...

Here's Basie in 1968 on Ralph J. Gleason's TV show Jazz Casual on KQED in San Francisco, with Freddie Green on guitar, Norman Keenan on bass and Payne on drums...

Here's Payne with Basie at the Dorchester Hotel in London in 1973, with some tasty Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis solos as well...

And here's Frank Sinatra with Basie and Payne wailing away on Fly Me to the Moon in 1965...

Bonus: Here's a transcription of Payne's drum part on Cute...

And here's Jerry Lewis miming Payne's drumming on Cute in Cinderfella (1960)...

Count Basie: Copenhagen, 1962

American jazz fans are often left wondering why Europeans, Scandinavians and the Japanese are so passionate about the music while listeners here in the U.S. don't seem to have much of an appetite for it. One reason is the vast amount of touring that American jazz musicians did in those parts of the world in the 1960s and beyond. For fans overseas, the music was a celebration of optimism and freedom after years of horror and hardship, and their parents loved the music, a taste passed on to kids and grandkids.

One artist who toured regularly internationally in the '60s and won over fans was Count Basie. In April 1962, the Basie band was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to perform at Falkoner Centret (or Falkoner Center), a hotel and conference complex located in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen.

Basie's so-called New Testament band was at the height of its swinging power, with a terrific lineup of musicians: Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn, Thad Jones and Snooky Young (tp); Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson and Benny Powell (tb); Marshal Royal (cl,as); Frank Wess (fl,as,ts); Eric Dixon (fl,ts); Frank Foster (ts); Charlie Fowlkes (bar); Count Basie (p); Freddie Green (g) Eddie Jones (b); Sonny Payne (d) and singers Irene Reid and O.C. Smith.

On April 28, someone there recorded the band in concert, and now Nils Winther's SteepleChase label has released Count Basie & His Orchestra in Concert. My guess is the audio was captured for TV or radio and that the archival tapes are just coming to light now, similar to the video surfacing in 2006 from the same tour in Sweden for the Jazz Icons DVD series.

The "atomic" band was in fine form working through Why Not (Neal Hefti), Easy Money (Benny Carter), Jumpin' at the Woodside (Basie/Eddie Durham), Segue in C (Frank Wess), A Little Tempo, Please (Neal Hefti), There Will Never Be Another You (Harry Warren), Young and Foolish (Albert Hague), Alright, OK, You Win (Sid Wyche/Mayme Watts), Easin' It (Frank Foster), April in Paris (Vernon Duke), Cute (Neal Hefti), You're Too Beautiful (Joe Williams), The Song Is You (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein), Li'l Darlin' (Neal Hefti), I Needs to Be Bee'd With (Quincy Jones), I Got Rhythm (George Gershwin), The Blues (Traditional), Alexander's Ragtime Band (Irving Berlin) and Ol' Man River (Jerome Kern).

It's neat to hear Basie's road book along with vocalist O.C. Smith and blues belter Irene Reid. Smith has been all but forgotten today. He was a cross between Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman in tone. His biggest hit was Little Green Apples, which climbed to #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and R&B charts in 1968.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Count Basie & His Orchestra in Concert (SteepleChase) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Frank Foster's Easin' It from the new album...

Easin' It

Here's the Basie band in Sweden on the same tour playing Corner Pocket. Solos by Thad Jones, Al Aarons and Frank Wess. Watch for Sonny Payne's left-handed stick flip...

Here's O.C. Smith on The Ed Sullivan Show...

Here's Smith with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross in France...

And here's Irene Reid with Basie in Sweden in 1962 singing The Blues...