for 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 & profound
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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