Artist:Count Basie f/Jimmy Rushing
Song:Now Will You Be Good?
Album:The Complete Decca Recordings
This 3CD box set is a good place to start learning about one of the all time greats of jazz. Bill "Count" Basie was born Aug. 21, 1904 in Red Bank, NJ. His mom taught him piano and Basie studied extensively with his idol Fats Waller. His first paid gig was accompanying vaudeville performers and when a troupe split in Kansas City, Basie settled there. He joined Walter Page's Blue Devils in 1928 and that's where he met singer Jimmy Rushing (born Aug. 26, 1903 in Oklahoma City). Many singers worked with Basie but he always came back to Rushing. Basie was a member of Bennie Moten's band when Moten died in 1935. The Count Basie band started at that time with Rushing on vocals, Walter Page on bass, Freddie Green on guitar, Jo Jones on drums and Lester Young on tenor Sax. Basie was given the name Count by a Kansas City announcer. Legendary Columbia Records producer John Hammond heard Basie on the radio and Basie signed with Decca Records in 1937. This box set covers the three year period he was with Decca. The band features that great rhythm section along with Rushing, Young, Buck Clayton & Harry "Sweets" Edison on trumpet and Herschel Evans on sax. Basie's frequent songwriting partner and trombonist Eddie Durham wrote Now Will You Be Good? and Rushing's vocal is outstanding. Basie moved to Columbia in the fall of 1939 and of course the Basie band was one of the most popular bands of the 40s. Some of the swing of that period doesn't hold up very well but the music of Count Basie is still essential listening today. Here's a Soundie of Take Me Back Baby by Count Basie featuring Jimmy Rushing.
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