NRR Project: 'One O' Clock Jump' (1937)

 

NRR Project: ‘One O’ Clock Jump’

Written by Count Basie and his Orchestra

Performed by Count Basie and his Orchestra

Recorded July 7, 1937

3:02

First of all, I must recommend John Wriggle’s masterful and comprehensive essay on this piece at the National Recording Registry, which you can read here. It tells you everything you need to know!

I can only add my personal observations. William James Basie (1904-1984) came to Kansas City in 1927, and became enamored of what can be termed a Kansas City style of jazz – extended solos over improvised riffs. The scene was remarkably active for the size of the city it was in; soon the influence spread across the country, shaping swing music in its image.

Basie played with Walter Page’s Blue Devils for a couple of years, then fell in with Bennie Moten’s band. When Moten died, unexpectedly, in 1935, Basie built a new band for himself based primarily on Moten’s veterans. Several remarkable soloists were part of the ensemble – including Hot Lips Page, Buck Clayton, Jimmy Rushing, Lester Young – that a kind of ever-springing inventiveness marked their collaborations.

And they truly were collaborations. “One O’ Clock Jump” is a “head arrangement” – that is, one the band has worked out without writing down the music. This kind of facility is impressive enough in itself, but the progression of melody and countermelody in “Jump” is nothing short of amazing. It starts out with Basie on piano, backed by the rhythm section, tossing off a nimble musical thought. The thought is passed and elaborated on, contrasted, toyed with, a genuinely improvised little masterpiece.

This kind of composition is anathema to most composers, but it’s the soul of jazz.

The National Recording Registry Project tracks one writer’s expedition through all the recordings in the National Recording Registry in chronological order. Nest time: Bonaparte’s Retreat.