Pat Taub
Guest Post by Michael Steinman
I used to think of the pianist, composer, bandleader Count Basie, whose birthday was August 21st, as a monumental figure of the jazz I love. Maybe he is no more to readers than a dimly remembered figure. As I’ve aged, though, I think of him as a spiritual guide – not in anything he said, but in the spacious sweet life his art tacitly encourages us to lead.
Paradise, 1940: Count Basie, Freddie Green, Walter Page, Jo Jones, Charlie Christian, Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Benny Goodman at Columbia Records
And we need him now, because this century seems hard, for all its vaunted technological strides. Modern “edginess” and self-absorption make me cringe.
Two examples from the street in suburban New York I live on.
As I drive cautiously through congested areas, people in earbud-cocoons, staring down into their screens, walk directly in front of my car. I brake; I do not shout at them. But I think, “Your arrogance and defiance of common sense weighs on me. I bet you’ve never heard of Count Basie.”
The author laments our self-absorbed populace who show little regard for oncoming cars while on their phones.
Yesterday I walked to the local train station. Ahead of me was an older man with a cane, moving with difficulty. He, his wife, and I arrived at a section of recently laid cement — like a small rivulet — that we had to step over. His wife went first, then the nearby workers looked at him, for he hesitated, and yelled, laughing, “JUMP!” He managed to get across, serenaded by mocking laughter. I got across without incident, but with sadness I had not bargained for.
There it is. Self-absorption, small cruelties, unkindness, the lack of generosity, the self held high instead of an awareness of community.
Unkind, rude behavior seems all too prevalent today
What does all this have to do with Count Basie?
Here’s the first spiritual lesson; a friend posted it on Facebook:
I was moved, and wrote:
I wish this century allowed us to live our lives the way that rhythm section played — joyously, gently, precisely, modestly making room for everyone else, graciously creating beautiful spaces. LIVE THE BASIE WAY is a motto I imagine, although perhaps too much explaining would be needed.
The Basie rhythm section was a loving, spiritually aligned community. Basie’s name was on the music stands, but everyone knew that he was merely the figurehead, with the deep wisdom to let everyone hear Walter Page, string bass; Freddie Green, guitar; Jo Jones, drums. Basie created a little republic of generous easy interdependence. Kindness and equality, not ego.
Even though 1942 was a dark year, Basie knew intuitively that we could mesh with the cosmos, keep it afloat and have it keep us afloat, if we picked the right medium-tempo. Thus, love with open arms enacted in a swinging 4/4. Taking it easy, stepping on no one’s feelings, finding the gracious way, without strain. Cooperation rather than isolation, built on the understanding that we are all aimed in the same direction.
Imagine a world that moved this way, an irresistible perpetual motion machine, this its heartbeat:
