Monday, April 26, 2010

for william "count" basie (27)



f
or william “count” basie

(1904 --1984)


said u hit it with the rhythm
& slid
into the riffs, & the riffs
just stuck!
that signature tune
aptly represents
yr essential
big band sound, that
sound-as-
spirit merging tone & time,
a
procreative when in the early hours
of the a.m. where stuff
just comes
together -- at one
o’clock – in those
alchemical
moments when worldly
dross
is burned away & the mettles
of musicians flux. when their

aptitudes for making accidental,

but fortuitous solo runs & hip
flurries
are discovered & pro
found
statements owned in
the moment,
or when sections
blend, become
organically one,
more than who or
what they
are & swing, even jump,
in
rhythms that don’t have to be
taught, that take the muscles
over
in the ambience of easy
u created;
in yr cultivated poise
& self-assurance,
in those
contrapuntal accents where
u
never wasted a note, in that space,
a staging ground for
talent, where the
great ones
gathered, ethel waters,
lady day,
sassy sarah, ella, helen humes,
jimmy rushing, joe williams,
prez, ben
webster, bird, diz,
miles & countless
others.
where none were stepped on,
where each might find what
they liked
& needed – an easy
swing, just like
cutting butter!





© Joseph McNair;2010

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