Count Basie Quartet: 1968

Count Basie's piano is deceiving. We're so used to hearing the pow of his band after one of his abbreviated blues introductions that we forgot just how glorious a player he was. In the following video, we have a chance to hear and see Basie's minimalist swing style develop in the raw, without brass or reeds crashing in. As you listen, you realize that the band was really an explosive extension of Basie's pianistic sketches. You also get to hear Basie stripped down, which provides a fuller sense of how mighty he was as a modest blues stylist. And dig the history of Basie's theme, One O'Clock Jump. Here's the Count Basie Quartet on Ralph J. Gleason's Jazz Casual TV show in August 1968...