If you want to know what’s missing in today’s music, particularly in jazz, it’s this thing called “swing”, perfectly exemplified in these two multi-disc sets.
The first set is an essential 3 disc, 63 song set by the guy that essentially invented Kansas City Swing, Count Basie. His orchestra from 1937-39 was like a roaring locomotive, with the iconic rhythm section of the sparsely playing Basie propelled with the relentless rhythm guitar of Freddie Green, hi hat hitter Jo Jones on drums and steady four beat to the bar bassist Walter Page. Soloists like tenor saxists Lester Young, Buddy Tate, Hershel Evens and Chu Berry or trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry “Sweets” Edison have influenced generations, with their wake still felt. Teamed with blues shouter Jimmy Rushing or the lovely Helen Humes, Basie swung harder than anyone, and it’s something you may never recover from.
You get V8 engine energy on pieces like “John’s Idea” and “Every Tub”, both featuring the glorious tenor of Lester Young, while the band whips around like a roller coaster on “Doggin’Around”, “Roseland Shuffle”, “Texas Shuffle” and “Cherokee”. Rushing belts it out on “Boogie Woogie” and “Sent For You Yesterday” and gives earthy reads of pop tunes like “Pennies From Heaven”. There are a few trio sessions with the economic Basie, and they are the definitive sound of “less is more”. You’ll never let this one go.
More obscure is the band led by tenor saxist Sam Donohue, who played a bit with Goodman, Krupa, Dorsey, Herman and Kenton while leading his own band from 1940-48. He had a fantastic sound on the sax, a bit like Herschel Evans in warmth, and his band was a mix of Basie swing and Herman’s Herd sophistication. Donahue shows his allegiance to Basie by featuring him on piano for “It Counts A Lot” while arrangements by Hermanite Ralph Burns includes a nifty “Flo Flo”. The saxes can be lush as on “Do You Care” or hep cats on “Pick Up The Groove” while luscious vocalist Irene Daye oozes out “Do You Care” and Eberle-influenced Andy Blaine croons out “I’ll Never Tire of You”. The charts are creative, with a “Cherokee”ish “Gypsy Love Song” and 2nd Herdish “Suicide Leap” as well as a wild JATP frenzied “Saxa Boogie” and extroverted “Tacos, Enchiladas and Beans” with a Sinatra-esque Bill Lockwood on “I’ll Get Along Somehow”. You’ll scratch your head over why this Midwesterner never got more fame; he’s a ringer!