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Count Basie-The Man and his Music (part 2)

Series: Jazz Profiles
From: NPR Music
Length: 00:54:00

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The story picks up with the death of Benny Moten and the genesis of Count Basie's first band at the Reno Club in Kansas City. Read the full description.

Nprjazzprofiles300_small The story picks up with the death of Benny Moten and the genesis of Count Basie's first band at the Reno Club in Kansas City. Broadcasts on experimental station W9XBY bring Lester Young and others to Kansas City to see the band they had heard on the radio. Thanks to the addition of Young and the All-American rhythm section, the Basie band bursts onto the national scene. Basie comes to New York with an uncertain reception and then breaks through with his first record contract with Decca. This installment covers a period that marks the both the pinnacle of success for Basie's Kansas City style and also some setbacks, including the death of tenor man Herschel Evans, the recording ban of the early 1940s, and the advent of World War II.

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Piece Description

The story picks up with the death of Benny Moten and the genesis of Count Basie's first band at the Reno Club in Kansas City. Broadcasts on experimental station W9XBY bring Lester Young and others to Kansas City to see the band they had heard on the radio. Thanks to the addition of Young and the All-American rhythm section, the Basie band bursts onto the national scene. Basie comes to New York with an uncertain reception and then breaks through with his first record contract with Decca. This installment covers a period that marks the both the pinnacle of success for Basie's Kansas City style and also some setbacks, including the death of tenor man Herschel Evans, the recording ban of the early 1940s, and the advent of World War II.

Timing and Cues

00:00 IC: Major support for...
33:11 OC: ...man & his music continues.
Music Break (:38)
33:50 IC: With the arrival of the one o'clock jump...
53:59 OC: ...National Public Radio.

Additional Files