Ellington's Theme Song 'One O' Clock Jump

Country Basie was the most closely associated with the blues tradition. Had early experience as a piano player and bandleader in Kansas City, Missouri. One of their memorable song was “One O’clock Jump,” written by count Basie and Harry James; performed by the Count Basie and His Orchestra, recorded in 1937 by Decca. This was the Count Basie Orchestra’s theme song which was an excellent example of the Kansas City bands’ relaxed but energetic rhythmic approach. Structure of the tune: ten choruses of twelve-bar blues, the basic arranging technique involves heavy use of riffs and call-and response patterns, divided between the brass and reeds.
The recording begins with an eight-bar piano boogie-woogie introduction and two improvised twelve-bar
Born in Washington, D.C., the son of a navy blueprint maker, Ellington came from a middle-class background and received formal musical training at a young age. His first band, The Washingtonians, played syncopated dance music in New York in the early 1920s. In 1923, an expanded and improved version of the band debuted at a Broadway nightspot called the Kentucky Club. From 1927 to 1931, The Ellington band appeared at the Cotton Club in Harlem and The band often had to accompany “exotic” revues, and Ellington developed a style that he called “jungle
Benny made his first records under his own name in 1927 and was a freelance musician during the depression years. Benny Goodman career was boosted by no one other than John Hammond, Hammond arranged Goodman’s first recording dates with Columbia and pushed the band in the direction of the more strongly jazz-influenced music played by blackest dance bands. In 1934, the Goodman Band appeared on the NBC radio show Let’s Dance. The Goodman Band embarked on a tour in summer 1935 and the tour did not begin successfully. Audiences were not interested in the “hot” arrangements that the band wanted to play. The tour bottomed out in Denver; audiences wanted their money back while the band was a huge success when it reached California and performed at the Palomar Ballroom. Because of this success it signaled the birth of the swing