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)...
