SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Count Basie died in 1984. Count Basie Orchestra is still going strong. And to celebrate their 80th year, they've released their first holiday album, "A Very Swingin' Basie Christmas."
(SOUNDBITE OF COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA SONG, "LET IT SNOW")
SIMON: "A Very Swingin' Basie Christmas" was created under the direction of the Count's longtime trumpeter Scotty Barnhart. He joins us now from our studios at NPR West. Thanks so much for being with us.
SCOTTY BARNHART: Oh, thank you.
SIMON: And that's Ellis Marsalis we're hearing, right?
BARNHART: That's right. That's right.
SIMON: Well, what you have here is an album - obviously a legendary orchestra named for a music and cultural legend, playing legendary songs. To join all of this, a tenor who needs no introduction as a legend singing "It's The Holiday Season."
BARNHART: That's right. Johnny Mathis.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IT'S THE HOLIDAY SEASON")
JOHNY MATHIS: (Singing) It's the holiday season and Santa Claus is coming round. The Christmas snow is white on the ground. And when old Santa gets into town he'll be coming down the chimney top.
SIMON: Wow. Was it important for you to get Johnny Mathis on this record?
BARNHART: I think so.
SIMON: Did I call it a record? That's - oh...
BARNHART: (Laughter) Yeah, you can do that.
SIMON: OK, 'cause it's Johnny Mathis. It was important to get him though as part of the project.
BARNHART: I think so because right when the Christmas season begins, when you in, you know, the department stores and malls or just driving along, you start playing Christmas music, his music is pretty much the first thing you hear.
SIMON: Absolutely, yes.
BARNHART: So it's just important to do that, I think.
SIMON: On this CD, "Jingle Bells," "Let It Snow," "Little Drummer Boy," "Winter Wonderland." These are songs we all know pretty well. What gives them the Basie touch?
BARNHART: We just have a certain way to play that Mr. Basie developed over 50 years as he sat at that piano and conducted and figured out how to edit arrangements and things like that. And the musicians followed his lead, and it just became a signature sound. So when you - you know, when you put it on, in two seconds you'll know it's us.
SIMON: And you've been at the orchestra for more than 20 years.
BARNHART: Yes, almost 23 years now, yes.
SIMON: Can you explain the Count Basie touch to us?
BARNHART: Oh, man. It's - well, I just have to go back to the first time I heard it. When I first heard the orchestra, I was around 9 or 10 years old. And the first thing that I thought was, wow, that's same thing I hear in church every Sunday because to me, it was just an extension of one of our gospel choirs at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. You know, Dr. King, Sr., had four choirs there and one of them used the Hammond B3 organ. And the organist would use his feet to walk the baselines on, you know, the pedals. So when I heard Basie and I heard the baseline move in the same type of way, I said, oh, that's what they're doing. So it was just a more sophisticated version of the gospel choir. But the touch of Basie, really I would probably have to - if I had to put my finger on it, it would have to be dynamics and tempo because this orchestra has a way of playing dynamics, again, unlike any other orchestra. We can play softer than any orchestra and we can play louder than any other orchestra. But it's the way that we do the both of them together is what really gives our particular type of a sound.
SIMON: And tell me a bit about some of the bluesy treatment you give some of these songs. Let's listen to the kind of bluesy rendition you give to - I don't mind saying - my favorite, "Little Drummer Boy."
BARNHART: OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA SONG, "LITTLE DRUMMER BOY")
SIMON: Now that's a beautiful rendition. So you have what sounds like, the one, is it a snare, a trap, what is it?
BARNHART: Yeah, that's the snare. That's Clayton Cameron on the snare drum, yes, with the brushes.
SIMON: Yeah.
BARNHART: And...
SIMON: And then that wonderful - that wonderful horn.
BARNHART: (Laughter).
SIMON: It sounds like the - you know, it sounds like the little drummer boy talking.
BARNHART: Well, I just used the plunger. I mean, when I put the plunger on - anytime you play with the plunger, that automatically gives it a particular type of a sound and feel. And I just wanted to do something different with it and I just played the melody. But with the plunger playing it, it just gives you a whole different feel to it.
SIMON: Yeah. In addition to Johnny Mathis, you have a number of outstanding vocals on this CD. Tell us what you can about Carmen Bradford.
BARNHART: Oh, Carmen is unbelievable. She was Mr. Basie's last vocalist that he heard before he passed away. And Carmen is just - she's just perfect in every respect. I mean, she's graceful, she swings, she has perfect, you know, perfect intonation and she's a beautiful person. And when you work with someone like that, you just - I just sit there - you know, I stand there when we're on stage together and I just look at her and smile and listen to what she's doing. And sometimes I almost forget to cut the band off or something 'cause I'm checking her out.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS")
CARMEN BRADFORD: (Singing) Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on our troubles will be out of sight. Have yourself a merry little Christmas...
SIMON: This song always gets me anyway. But I mean what a beautiful rendition. I'm just lucky we're not here when she gets to the part through the years we'll always be together 'cause I don't think I could go on.
BARNHART: (Laughter) I hear you, man. I understand.
(SOUNDBITE OF COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA SONG, "SILENT NIGHT")
SIMON: Is it particularly gratifying when you're a first-class performer to be performing at holiday shows during the holidays?
BARNHART: Oh, yes.
SIMON: Yeah.
BARNHART: Absolutely. I mean, no matter where we play, I mean, people understand that it's the Count Basie Orchestra and there's a particular buzz in the air. You can feel the excitement when we go to - even if it's a club or a high school or a concert hall, we can feel that when we walk in to play. And again, it's all because of Mr. Basie. He was a great guy, a nice guy and one heck of a musician and leader.
SIMON: Scotty Barnhart is a trumpeter and bandleader of the Count Basie Orchestra, and their new CD is "A Very Swingin' Basie Christmas." Thanks so much for speaking with us.
BARNHART: Thank you very much for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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