For the young Count Basie in Kansas City, the jam session was a way of life. When he took over the Bennie Moten band, through his ascendancy to the heights of the Swing Era and to the very end of his career, Basie remained one of the great jam session men. In his laconic, authoritative way, he galvanized sometimes disparate musicians into cohesive units with a singleness of purpose, to make beautiful music that swung. The leadership of a big band was demanding, but Basie always found time to … MORE