When William “Count” Basie formed his jazz orchestra in 1935, he probably never dreamed that nearly 80 years later, the orchestra would still be going strong. This Saturday, exactly 30 years after Basie’s death, the Count Basie Orchestra will be headlining the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival, presented by the University of Missouri–St. Louis at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. Basie’s orchestra had a style that was like no other band of its time. This allowed the group to survive the decline in big band popularity in after World War II, and they even held enough popularity to make an appearance in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy, Blazing Saddles. Since Basie’s death in 1984, members of the orchestra have taken the reigns to carry on the legacy and tradition of Count Basie’s name. Current bandleader, Scotty Barnhart recently took time to talk with me about their upcoming appearance.
How did you start working with the Count Basie Orchestra?
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Well I just got a phone call. Frank Foster called me one day and said, “You’ve been highly recommended for the orchestra,” so I thought it was a joke, obviously, when he first called. When I realized he was serious, I said, “Oh, my goodness!” I had been on the road with pianist Marcus Roberts before that for about two or three years. That was a high profile gig, because he had just left Wynton Marsalis’ band. He was Wynton’s piano player for six years; so when he took off on his own with a quintet he got me on trumpet. So I was making a name for myself and had also been doing a bunch of solo things and I think that’s how he heard about me. I just got a call one day, and next thing I know, four or five days later I was on the road, and that was 21 years ago.
When did you take over as conductor?
In September, about seven months ago.
Was it intimidating to take over a group with such a reputation behind it?
No, not at all, because it’s something that I always felt would happen. As corny as this sounds, people always say there are some things in life that they knew they were supposed to be doing? That’s one of them. Being the leader of this orchestra is something that I knew was one of the things I was supposed to be doing on this planet. I didn’t know when and I didn’t know how it would happen, but I always knew, deep down, that I would be in charge of it. I’ve studied this music since I was nine, I’ve gotten every single recording I can get my hands on, Basie’s music has always been my favorite, and it was no accident that I got called to join this orchestra. Once I joined I was known as the guy that kind of did everything. I was part of the management team, helping take care of lights and sound, union representative, so I always seemed to be the guy they could come to if they needed anything. All of these things I look at them now and I was just set up for it; that’s just the way it is. It still was exciting and invigorating the actual moment when I accepted the appointment, but once I got over the fact that now I’m here, it was simply back to work like it has always been. What can I do to make this orchestra better? How can I protect it and take care of it? How can I continue Mr. Basie’s legacy with class and style?
What is the importance of keeping Count Basie’s legacy going through his orchestra?
There are a lot of answers to that question, but I guess the main one would be is that it’s an American institution. Basie and his musicians gave something to the world that had not had a precedent in Western Art before. The formation of the big band and the way that we do things is there for people not only to be entertained, but also to be educated as to the level of musicianship that one can attain playing jazz.
To me, I attribute it to the New York Philharmonic. When the New York Philharmonic began, they began with one goal in mind, and that was simply excellence in all respects. The subsequent directors of the Philharmonic all knew that. The Basie Orchestra, to me, is the same thing. He created something that’s timeless, that makes you feel good, and he’s known all around the world now. Just like the Philharmonic: when one conductor leaves and the other comes in, if he understands the history of what he’s walking into and the expectations of what he needs to do, then it’s no problem to continue it. That’s again why we still have the New York Philharmonic more than 150 years later.
Do you feel that way about your role as the leader of the Count Basie Orchestra?
My goal has always been to understand the history of the orchestra as possible, and to understand the conductors that were before me, obviously beginning with Basie, then Thad Jones, Frank Foster, Grover Mitchell, Bill Hughes, and the guys who played with Basie, to see how they went about their jobs, continuing the legacy. This orchestra is really important, and that’s one reason why we want to keep this going.
It seems like there are many reasons why the legacy is important…
Well, the other simpler reason is that it makes you feel good! It’s a great opportunity for musicians to come together to make great music every night that’s swinging, and nobody is playing the music the way that we are. The way that we do things, there’s no other orchestra on the planet and in the history of music that has done it the way that Basie has done it. Albert Miller once said it was Basie’s refinement of the particulars that makes for things to swing. It’s extremely important to pass that on to the next generation. A lot of people born after 1980, and especially those born after 1990, a lot of them don’t know what treasure they have until they hear us live. When they hear us live, it changes their lives, and we see it all the time. There are lot of reasons why we need to keep this going.
So you agree that it’s important for the orchestra to tour and expose new, young audiences to Count Basie’s music?
That’s crucial. I saw Basie when I was in high school. If I had waited until I was an adult, it may not have had the same effect on me. It’s extremely important that we keep playing in schools, because you can’t lie to a kid. The way kids are being bombarded with the Internet and things on television and all this stuff, they’re kind of told what to like. Well, when you sit a kid down as part of an audience with no electronics, and they listen to what’s possible, it’s life transforming. I see it happen all the time. It’s extremely important that we keep this music out there like Wynton is doing with Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Ellington Orchestra is still going, we’re still going, and it’s important that this all keeps going.
Do you strictly play the stock arrangements from Basie’s lifetime?
We play everything; everything from 1935, up to today that we can travel with. After 9/11 we had to kind of streamline our weight and the kind of things we would bring, because the airlines started putting so much restriction on weight and things like that. We travel with just enough music to do a particular tour. That music encompasses everything from 1935 up to our latest arrangements, which was maybe four or five months ago. We cover every decade.
So there are still new arrangements being made for the orchestra?
Absolutely. There are three or four of us in the orchestra that arrange. That’s exactly what we’re supposed to do, and that’s what the orchestra musicians have always done. We always have new arrangements coming in, and we’re getting ready to do a recording, so we wrote some more for that. It’s really important that we continue to do that, because that keeps it fresh every night, it keeps it new and exciting. As long as they’re in the Basie style we have no problem.
What should a new listener expect to hear from the concert here in St. Louis?
They should expect a very positive, collective group atmosphere from the musicians on stage. We have fun doing what we do, and we’re very serious about what we do. Our aim is to enjoy the music and to make the audience feel like a part of the band. That’s what some people don’t understand about jazz, and really any music. When the audience is there, we feed off of what we see and hear. The audience can expect to witness 79 years of an orchestra that has been one of the most important orchestras in the history of music. The bottom line is, when we leave there, we want them to feel good and be smiling, and maybe we can add something positive to their lives. They can expect music that’s simultaneously cerebral, but also makes you want to get up and dance, tap your foot, and snap your fingers. So you can sit there and get joy just listening to it, but if you want to get up and dance, you can do that. We always encourage that, no matter where we are. Music is supposed to make you move and enhance your soul, and that’s what we’re there for.
The Basie Orchestra is known for is the great range of, and attention to dynamics. There isn’t another band that plays quite the same way, and I think it calls back to what you said about paying attention to the particulars.
Absolutely. That is the difference. We play extreme attention to those very fundamental – and that’s the thing about it: they’re fundamental! It’s not anything that’s rocket science. It’s fundamental dynamics. When we have a pianissimo, we play pianissimo. When we have forte, we play forte. We make sure, when we have sections that have contrasts like that, most of the time what we’ll do is over emphasize them just a little bit. Every time I work with a high school or college band, the first thing I tell them and make them realize is that they are all capable of at least 10 different dynamic levels. That’s something that most band directors never even think about. I actually demonstrate to them how they can do that. And what [the orchestra does], depending on the song that we’re playing, some of them are particularly arranged just for that: to show off the dynamic contrasts we can do. When you have 17 or 18 guys doing that all together, that’s the most explosive thing in jazz.
That’s why they started calling Basie the most explosive voice in jazz. He figured out a way to exploit basic fundamental dynamics, and that’s something that every high school and college director needs to understand when they play our music. You need to get the dynamics together. It’s not what you play, it’s how you play it. It’s just basic fundamentals and the band just keeps refining and refining it. Something like a simple dynamic shift can make or break a composition just like a tempo can, but Basie under tempos, and he understood dynamics. We’re not talking about anything that’s over anyone’s head, but he was so in tune to what the band could do, and there isn’t any other band in history that plays that way. I think that’s something to marvel at. Think about it. All of those other big bands and there’s one that’s known for that: us.
The Touhill Performing Arts Center is located on the University of Missouri–St. Louis campus at One University Boulevard; for more information at ticket prices visit touhill.org or call 866-516-4949.
