Getting back to Basie basics

Count Basie, jazz musician. Photo / Supplied

Graham Reid speaks with the man guiding one of the great jazz orchestras

Although the great jazz composer and band leader Count Basie died in April 1984, his band plays on.

The Count Basie Orchestra, an 18-piece recording and touring ensemble, is keeping Basie's sometimes boisterous, frequently moving and always swinging music alive and out there.

Band members and leaders have changed down the decades, but the orchestra uses Basie's original charts, is faithful to the legacy, still has players Basie hired, has picked up numerous accolades and this year celebrates the 80th anniversary of the first band William Basie formed in Kansas City.

The current leader is Grammy-winning trumpeter Scotty Barnhart - who joined the band in 1993 and was appointed musical director 18 months ago - and he's in no doubt he's helming a popular and important group.

"We still sell out halls, clubs and private engagement because jazz orchestras just sound good. And this is the Count Basie Orchestra, after all.

"It's like the New York Philharmonic. They started 150 years ago but continue to attract the best musicians, play the best music and have the best conductors. And that's what we do.

Barnhart says there are Basie classics audiences expect to hear - April in Paris, Autumn Leaves, Lil' Darlin', One O'Clock Jump - but he has reassessed the band and its musical direction. He brought back pieces they hadn't played in years and made personnel changes.

"I've been studying this music for 40 years now so when I became the leader I was able to stand in front and listen. We just had to make a few small adjustments and they were all for the best of the orchestra."

Barnhart says although they use many original Basie charts, because this is jazz they are approached differently every night.

"The solos are all improvised so that elevates the arrangement every time we play it. It is a new statement made by the people improvising on it so every night every song is fresh and new. Every hall and every audience is different and we feed off that. That becomes part of our energy and keeps it exciting.

Travelling with the band is singer Carmen Bradford who joined the group in 1983.

Barnhart says as trumpeter he's aware of the giant steps he's following. Legendary players like Buck Clayton, Harry Edison, Joe Newman, Thad Jones, Clark Terry.

So, no pressure, then?

"Only on that first solo when I had to stand in front of the band," he laughs. "Everybody that's ever been in band will tell you this, but when that band comes in behind you, they lift you off your feet.

"It was unbelievable to hear that sound and feel it underneath you like that. After that I couldn't get enough of it, I still can't."

But the orchestra also have a clear agenda, which Basie instilled.

"We can't just play for us, all the cerebral things we understand and get a kick out of. We have to play a simple beautiful ballad like Li'l Darlin' because maybe people remember it from when they got married. Or we play Blue and Sentimental and remind people the blues comes from the church.

"We play music that is timeless. But also I remind the guys we have to make people feel good and want to come back."

Who: Scotty Barnhart, trumpeter and music director.
What: The Count Basie Orchestra founded by Count Basie
When: Founders Theatre, Hamilton, May 27; Civic, Auckland May 28

- TimeOut