Count Basie & His Orchestra

First organized for a gig at the Reno Club in Kansas City n the middle 30's, the Basie Orchestra has been steaming along for more than forty years with its unique blend of top instrumentalists, perfect arrangements, an amazing sense of dynamics, and a simple, straight-forward swing which just does not stop. Back in Detroit for the second time in a month to play in the Northwest Activities Center's classic jazz series (Dizzy Gillespie is coming April 14th), Basie and the band turned the capacity audience inside out with their superb music and stellar array of soloists.

Jimmy Forrest, the legendary tenor saxophone giant, shone throughout, but his masterful solo on his own classic composition "Night Train" summed up the power and the importance of this band as a living encyclopedia of jazz and popular music. Carefully and majestically unfolding the melody into a series of stately commentaries on the main theme, Forrest re-enacted his pioneering role in creating the sound of the modern rhythm & blues tenor saxophone. One could hear almost all the musical ideas developed by players like Arnett Cobb, Illinois Jacquet, Clifford Scott, Lee Allen, Lynn Hope, Willis "Gator" Jackson, David "Fathead" Newman, Herb Hardesty, Sam "The Man" Taylor, Red Prysock, Sil Austin, King Curtis, and hundreds of others, sketched out or implied in that one solo of Forrest's, as well as many elements central to the playing of major jazz improvisors such as Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt (on tenor), Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, and Yusef Lateef.

But that's the kind of band Basie has always maintained- he started with Lester Young, Herschel Evans, and Buster ("Prof") Smith in his saxophone section, after all- and the current Orchestra is his most exciting in some years. Detroit's own Al Grey is responsible for a lot of it on his own, with his plunger-muted trombone solos standing out in the music scene of today like a beacon in the night. AI's open horn is dynamite too, and his playing in section is a joy to behold. Pete Minger, on trumpet, has also evolved into a soloist of great interest during his tenure with the band, as his hot bebop outing on Motor City arranger Jeff Steinberg's "Left-Handed Funk" clearly demonstrated.

Basie on piano, stalwart Freddie Greene on rhythm guitar, and another local Basie draftee, drummer Butch Miles, kept the rhythm section pushing like a Cadillac 8, Basie's juicy fills giving full meaning to the concept of "taste" in music. Vocalist Bill Caffey, a young man thoroughly steeped in the classic big-band vocal tradition (Jimmy Rushing, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine), added some welcome spice to the mix with his full-chested readings of "I Hate You Baby" (Al Grey featured on plunger-mute obbligati), "Bye Bye Baby," and "Sweet Little Angel." And behind, around, and on top of everything else there was the Orchestra itself, purring smoothly or shouting like a preacher, kicking out the music that's made America famous all over the world.

The Count Basie Orchestra is one of America 's most valuable public resources- a musical institution which has continued to grow and develop while clinging firmly to its powerful roots, and which continues to bring joy and enlightenment to millions of people of all ages. Heard and seen in a perfect setting, like the Northwest Activities Center's concert hall, this band provides an experience no music lover should miss.

--John Sinclair