JAZZ REVIEW : A New Band Captures the Count Basie Sound at the Grand Avenue Bar

A new band was introduced Monday evening at the Grand Avenue Bar, 10 of whose 16 members performed at one time or another with Count Basie. Among them was the leader, drummer Gregg Field, who brought to the job a library of arrangements by Ernie Wilkins, Neal Hefti, Sam Nestico and other Basie writers.

As luck would have it, the Basie sound was very fresh in the mind of this reviewer, who on Sunday had heard the actual Basie orchestra, conducted by Frank Foster, in a concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. There are few experiences more exciting than hearing that unique ensemble roaring its way through “Whirly Bird,” with Duffy Jackson’s drumming all but levitating the band in a wild climactic chorus.

Obviously the band that stays together plays together, and the Basie men, who work steadily all year round, are about as together as is possible to be, whereas Field’s musicians had nothing in their collective background but a couple of rehearsals. The surprise, though, was not how much but how little they suffered by comparison.

Field may not be as dynamic a drummer as Jackson, but his sidemen are blessed with the reading expertise, the team spirit and the solo power to assure a rare level of conviction. After cruising compellingly through “Splanky,” “Black Velvet” and “Corner Pocket,” they brought fresh beauty to “Blue and Sentimental,” a ballad that Basie wrote and recorded in 1938 (with Kim Richmond’s alto sax now in the main role).

The tenor saxes of Thom Mason and Herman Riley were more aggressively contemporary than would be expected from a Basie style group; but Dennis Rowland, who spent eight years singing with the Count, brought authenticity and showmanship to a pair of blues that began decades ago with two of his predecessors, Jimmy Rushing and Joe Williams.

The Field band offers startling proof of the timelessness inherent in this legend: Snooky Young, in the trumpet section, first played with Basie in 1942, whereas the saxophonist Danny House left the band only last year. Jazz of this caliber laughs at generation gaps, and its truth goes marching on.