The story behind puzzle No. 42
Count Basie and His Orchestra · Single · Decca · 1938
Count Basie's band came out of Kansas City playing riffs that built and built. Jumpin' at the Woodside is one of the clearest definitions of swing on record.
The Basie band recorded Jumpin' at the Woodside for Decca on August 22, 1938. It became one of the band's signature tunes.
It is credited to Count Basie and Eddie Durham. Durham wrote the tune in 1937, Basie refined it, and the band shaped it into a head arrangement worked out together rather than written down in full.
The Woodside was a hotel on Seventh Avenue at 142nd Street in Harlem. During segregation it was a popular place for jazz musicians and Negro league baseball teams to stay while in New York.
The building has since been torn down, but the record keeps its name alive.
The solos go by fast: Earle Warren on alto saxophone, Buck Clayton on trumpet, Lester Young on tenor saxophone and Herschel Evans on clarinet.
Underneath, Basie's rhythm section keeps a light, even pulse, with Freddie Green's guitar chopping out every beat.
Who's on it
Keep listening
Pair it with One O'Clock Jump (puzzle No. 32) and Lester Leaps In (puzzle No. 10) for three sides of Basie's Kansas City sound.
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