Answer the questions below and the discussion. 1. What did Benny Goodman do after his “Let’s Dance” show was cancelled and how did this lead to his being “crowned” the “King of Swing”? 2.

William “Count” Basi e Andy Kirk and his 12 Clouds of Joy. That is pianist and arranger, Mary Lou Williams in the center. Count Basie and the Territory Bands Many of the territory bands roaming Midwest could not afford the custom arrangements of the more commercially successful big band. Also, many of these bands contained members who could not read music or were not very go od at it. These bands relied on the improvisational skills of their key members combined with very simple “head” arrangements. Head arrangements a re basically simple versions of common tunes often worked up verbally in rehearsals or even on the bandstand in the middle of a show. Many significant improvisers in jazz received their training in these types of bands and environments. Coleman Hawkins, Be n Webster, Lester Young and Count Basie all hailed from these loose groups of intrepid road warriors. Kansas City was a town that seemed to have been immune to the effects of the Great Depression. This was due to rampant corruption , leading to virtual law lessness. Drugs, gambling, prostitution, back room deals of every kind were commonplace. This lead to a situation similar to Storyville in turn of the century New Orleans ….lots of venues in need of music to keep the party rolling. Count Basie was originally a pianist in the well established Benny Moten band. This was already perhaps the finest band in Kansas City. After Moten’s untimely death in 1935 (tonsillectomy gone bad) Count Basie took over. During the 1930s and 1940s Basi e’s book consisted primarily of blues and riff based head arrangements. The extremely long lived band (lasted until Basie’s death in 1984) grew a reputation for being able to swing harder than any other band while simultaneously sounding very relaxed. Basi e’s piano style was extremely minimalist with just a note or two here and a single chord there. His rhythm section of Water Page on bass, Philly Joe Jones on drums and Freddie Green on Guitar is often referred as the best rhythm section in the history of j azz. It propelled the band through control and nuance rather than heavy Big Joe Turner Lester Young handed pounding. The band could play so quiet you could barely even hear them, yet the propulsion of the “swing” was incredibly strong and infectious. Many versions of the Basie band featured the great “blues shouters” of the Kansas City scene. Jimmie Rushing and Joe Williams, both large men with huge voices, lent their talents. But the real legacy of the Basie Band was its rhythm section and it s great soloists : Lester Young , Ben Webster and Hershel Evans on saxophones and “Hot Lips” Page and Harry “Sweets” Edison on trumpets to name a few. Basie’s big break comes when John Hammonds (the man behind Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan and ev en Bruce Springsteen) hears Basie on an experimental short wave radio station while sitting in his car outside of a club in New York. This fresh, exuberant, lightly arranged sound of a big band becomes his personal obsession and mission. He writes about th e band in Down Beat magazine and convinces the Music Corporation of America (MCA) to sign them and bring them to New York. Through the use of this “riff based arranging” Basie’s band contains the great attributes of a small combo with great soloists and a relaxed swing, with the power and drive of a full big band. His band will always be recognized for its great soloists and hard swinging. In our review of big band styles we now have three basic approaches to arranging for a large band: Sectional Arrang ing -The style of Fletcher Henderson and Benny Goodman arrangements where most of the music is written out with short solo areas inserted . Each section of the band usually plays together and their parts are written as harmonized single lines. Orchestral A rranging - A style associated with Duke Ellington. Most of the music is written out, as in sectional arranging, but the sectional “rules” are not followed as closely. The band is treated as thirteen to seventeen individuals rather than three sections. The a pproach to arranging and composing is similar to that of a “classical” composer. Duke even wrote “suites” and used other classical song forms for his later compositions. Riff Based Arranging - The style associated with Count Basie and other Midwestern terr itory bands. In this style much less is written out. The emphasis is on soloists and soloing. Many of the tunes are based on simple blues riffs and sometimes are created on the spot. Even as Basie’s band grew and its arrangements became more detailed, the blues and improvisation were always present.