John Hammond, record producer and talent scout and a man responsible for many a jazz musician’s success and career, first heard Count Basie in 1937, broadcasting from the Kansas City, and loved the distinctive sound of the Kansas City (KC) jazz. He subsequently brought it to national attention. Count Basie’s Orchestra is known primarily for its impeccable rhythm section that drives a hard and persistent swing, and it usually plays head arrangements, i.e. arrangements worked out by the players themselves based on what other sections where already playing, and were never written down. The vid showing “One O’clock Jump”, another Swing Era anthem, is one such example.
