JOE WILLIAMS AND COUNT BASIE`S BAND PLAYED SOME SUPER COOL KANSAS CITY BLUES IN DETROIT ONE LAST TIME
The main recognised forms go something like Texas, Delta, Memphis, St.Louis, Chicago
and the lesser know California Blues, also known as skip blues. Charlie and The Nightcats was considered to be the definitive purveyors of this niche form of the blues, which is heavily inspired by 1940`s big band and jazz.
Another obscure form of the blues which is barely known of outside the USA is a blues vocal/jazz band form known as Kansas City Blues. It is basically an extinct form of the blues, these days only the copycats remain.
Essentially, KC blues can be regarded as more jazz than blues, Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe Turner, Joe Williams (not Big Joe Williams) and Walter Brown are considered to be the holy four when it comes to the best of the best with Kansas City Blues.
All of them were just singers I think, they may have had instrumental abilities but they become a little famous for their interpretation of singing the blues with a brass band backing them, quite often in the be-bop format.
These guys are now all passed away, the man of the hour tonight, Joe Williams died at the age of 80 in 1999. All four of these guys, as well as the likes of Jimmy Witherspoon, recorded most of their best music back in the 40`s, 50`s and 60`s, but Joe Williams managed one latter day gem in 1992, a live album recorded at the Orchestra Hall in Detroit with the Count Basie Orchestra.
I am fairly positive that Williams and the Basie Orchestra collaborated together on many other occasions, Williams recorded with Count Basie himself when he was still alive, but I can only go off the album I have and this is the one.
If you are wondering by the way how blues ever got to being re-located into the deep heart of America in somewhere like Kansas, it`s not too hard to work out.
If you are wondering by the way how blues ever got to being re-located into the deep heart of America in somewhere like Kansas, it`s not too hard to work out.
Blues originally was shipped up the Mississippi River from the Deep South of Louisiana, that`s your answer.
It was always a lot more personal than the likes of streetwise Memphis Blues. Anyhow, this great show which Williams and the Count Basie Orchestra put on in Detroit, when Williams was 74 years old, is a very sparce and ear catchingly acoustic performance which brings some classic old croon back to life one last time before old age got the better of Williams.
Obviously the acoustics at the Orchestra Hall in Detroit weren`t exactly perfect or suited to a big band concert, but it`s still great to hear the blues vocal genius of Joe Williams and the stomping swing of Count Basie`s band together one last time.
The album come out on the Telarc Jazz label,
I should point out it was directed by Count
Basie`s famous band leader Frank Foster. It
is definitely worth having in your collection
if you like blues and like some jazz and you
get a little tired of instrumental jazz with
no singing. Kansas City blues is super cool!
Comments
Post a Comment