kansas city 5, 6 and 7: ?!?!

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Yakov · #1 Post by **Yakov** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 11:40 am

I'm trying to figure out the whole kansas city 5/6/7 thing. these are basie bands. did they exist in several different periods? i heard on a cd labeled "kansas city 5" a really slow sweet version of "Jive at Five." Where is that? What're the best KC5/6/7 CDs to get?

falty411 · #2 Post by **falty411** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:42 pm

From Allmusic.com:

In the late '30s, some musicians who worked for Count Basie borrowed the name of Elmer Snowden's band that had played more than a decade earlier and recorded some of the best small ensemble jazz of the '30s and '40s. Basie himself revived the name in his later years. In 1977, he gathered some old friends together to record such songs as "Just at Five," "One O'Clock Jump," and "Memories of You" as the Kansas City Five.

on the original Kansas City 5:

Banjoist Elmer Snowden, who was from Baltimore and Washington and had no connection with Kansas City, ran the Kansas City Five in the 1920s. Cornet player Bubber Milley, who helped launch Duke Ellington's career, was the Kansas City Five's most famous member. Snowden started the band after his Washingtonians grew into the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The Kansas City Five also featured Jake Frazier on trombone, Louis Metcalf on cornet, Bob Fuller on clarinet and alto sax, and Louis Hooper on piano. The group did some recording in New York from 1924-1925.

Swingwombat · #3 Post by **Swingwombat** » Wed Jan 28, 2004 5:39 pm

This is the version that I have with the slower Jive at Five. I play it sometimes as it just makes me wanna dance everytime I hear it. It is a fairly long version (5:20mins) so I don't play it all the time or people look at me funny

Di