Tag: Lester Young

Song of the Day: Count Basie and His Orchestra, “Blue and Sentimental”

“Blue and Sentimental” was written by Count Basie, Jerry Livingston and Mack David. It was…

Crate Digging: Presidents of Jazz

Remember record stores? Remember the thrill of turning your friends on to new music by…

Sound Design: What makes an album cover immortal? Five contemporary illustrators weigh in

It’s a sensation familiar to many jazz fans: An album catches your eye from a…

JAZZIZ Weekly Discover Playlist: July 27, 2020

This winter was supposed to be different for jazz vocalist Somi. The singer, who was…

A Greene New Deal: Saxophonist Jimmy Greene Finds Musical Refuge in Troubled Times

Although Jimmy Greene recorded his new album, While Looking Up (Mack Avenue), well before the…

Song of the Day: Charlie Parker and Lester Young – “Lady Be Good”

This version of “Lady Be Good” was recorded on January 28, 1946, by saxophonists Charlie Parker and Lester Young, who together shared a bill in that year’s Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series in Los Angeles.

Dinner and a Playlist: Sautéed Salmon, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and a Side of Cool Jazz

For a jazz fan, there’s almost nothing better than heading out to a jazz club…

Song of the Day: Lester Young feat. Billie Holiday – “Mean to Me”

Lester Young, the tenor saxophonist whose sweet and supple style provided a contrast to the…

A short history of ... "One O'Clock Jump" (Count Basie, 1937)

Count Basie – “One O’Clock Jump”

William James Basie was born on this day (August 21) in Red Bank, New Jersey,…

Charlie Parker and Lester Young – “Lady Be Good”

Lester Young – “Sometimes I’m Happy”

The Lester Young Quartet, “Sometimes I’m Happy,” from The Essential Keynote Collection 1: The Complete Lester…

A short history of … “One O’Clock Jump” (Count Basie, 1937)

“One O’Clock Jump” was composed by Count Basie in 1937, in collaboration with saxophonist Buster…

"One O'Clock Jump" was composed by Count Basie in 1937, in collaboration with saxophonist Buster Smith and arranger Eddie Durham. Basie had been a member of a band led by pianist Benny Moten for several years. When Moten died in 1935, Basie took over the band and developed it as his own. The first theme song of the Count Basie Orchestra was "Moten Blues." This was followed for a short period of time by a slow number rendered by saxophonist Herschel Evans titled "Blue and Sentimental," which would then replaced by "One O'Clock Jump" after its immediate success. Though it was credited to Basie, "One O'Clock Jump" is a composition based on a 12-bar blues progression that foregrounds a succession of soloists over riff backings. Catherine Tackley writes that according to Gunther Schuller, this riff is derived from a 1929 Chocolate Dandies recording of a number called "Six or Seven Times" that was "worked into a head arrangement by Count Basie and his band while they were still in Kansas." Though credited to Basie, "One O'Clock Jump" owed a lot to individual members. Their original 1937 recording of the song, for instance, featured such stellar musicians as saxophonists Evans and Lester Young, trumpeter Buck Clayton, bassist Walter Page, and Basie himself on piano. The original title of the song wad "Blue Balls." Deeming the title inappropriate for radio, when asked about the title during a recording session, Count Basie allegedly looked at the clock and responded with "One O'Clock Jump."

Thanks to the success of such dance tunes as "One O'Clock Jump" and "Jumping at the Woodside," the Count Basie Orchestra became one of the most popular bands of the swing era and, for a while, Basie became known as the "Jump King of Swing." In fact, Basie's popularity was such that it rivaled that of bandleader and clarinetist Benny Goodman. The Benny Goodman Orchestra accepted the challenge and responded by recording their own version of the song in 1938, which became a hit for them and that group's first million-selling record.