Man, what a fast tempo THIS book was! It's covers two years (1936-38) and is the true story of William "Count" Basie, interwoven with glimpses of politics in the United States, popular radio shows and the history of Swing jazz.
The author has done fantastic research to provide the reader with a real feeling of being in the clubs with the bands, in the White House with Eleanor Roosevelt, or flying with Amelia Earhart. There are lots of short chapters, interspersing black history, US politics, big-band jazz and then-current events.
I really enjoyed reading about the clubs and the descriptions of the music, I didn't know before reading this that broadcast radio could make or break an upcoming band back then, and it was crucial that they play a club with a network radio hookup. Basie started in Kansas City but the local radio station could only be heard for a few hundred miles so they didn't get a break there. A promoter in Chicago heard them one night on his car radio and got them out of KayCee. Basie and his band finally made it big in New York City.
I subscribed to Down Beat magazine for years when I was in Junior and Senior High School in Minnesota and jazz was my passion (I played a rented baritone sax in the school concert band and a tenor sax in after-school stage band). Down Beat was quoted a number of times in the book, and I was always reading about the hot jazz clubs in the famous jazz cities on either coast. When I went into the Navy in 1971 I thought I'd be in heaven when I was sent to San Francisco, the West Coast mecca for jazz. But the clubs had a 21 age limit, they all served alcohol and I was only 19, so I talked the bouncers at a few of them into letting me stand just inside the door all night. When the Grateful Dead was on all the Top 40 AM stations I was really into the underground FM jazz stations :-)
When this book ended I wished there were another 200 pages to read! The author writes so well you can FEEL the drums of Gene Krupa when she describes the historic Carnegie Hall jam session. Count Basie was really brought to life in this book, it's a history book meant to be read and enjoyed!
AKA Glenn
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my lovely wife Merri AKA Paisley
