Swing in style with the Count Basie Orchestra

“It was one of the biggest hits Basie ever had,” orchestra leader Bill Hughes said. “To this day it’s a miracle it didn’t turn out to be his theme song, because it’s played so many times.” Hughes and his 18-member band — plus one vocalist for good measure — will no doubt honor that request, along with his true theme song “One O’clock Jump” Sunday when they perform two shows at Blues Alley. And when they share anecdotes with the audience they may tell of how the “Count” got his name.

It has been said that a radio announcer labeled William Basie “Count” knowing there was already a “Duke” Ellington, an “Earl” Hines and the “King” of swing, Benny Goodman. Basie, as the “Count” would stay true to swing his entire life.

“There was a style of playing in Kansas City back in the early ’30s that was the precursor of swing,” Hughes continued. “They were called ‘little big bands’ back then and there were more horns than anything else.”

The style that set Basie apart from other big band leaders is the very composition of Bill Hughes’ band today, with five saxophones, four trombones and four trumpets. Ironically, though, keeping that swing sound fresh each night is the job of the rhythm section, Hughes contends, which is the bass fiddle, the piano, the drums and the guitar.

“The energy of the band comes from them; the energy flows from them,” he said. “And we’re still playing swing the way Mr. Basie intended it.”

The style works and appeals to the multigenerational group that crowds venues to see them perform.

“They are the best big band on the planet,” Blues Alley manager Kris Ross said. “We take out the first row of the house and the audience is in the band.”

Literally — as fans and band members share memories and anecdotes like this one, perhaps:

The man who made a worldwide hit with his “April in Paris” died in the month of April in 1984. His swing, however, lives on.