Jumpin' at the Woodside
| "Jumpin' at the Woodside" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Count Basie | |
| Released | December 17, 1938 |
| Recorded | August 22, 1938 |
| Genre | Swing |
| Label | Decca |
| Writer(s) | Count Basie, Eddie Durham |
"Jumpin' at the Woodside" is a song first recorded in 1938 by the Count Basie Orchestra, and considered one of the band's signature tunes. When first released it reached number 11 on the Billboard charts and remained on them for four weeks. Since then it has become a frequently recorded jazz standard.
The song was recorded on August 22, 1938 for Decca and was released on December 17 of that year. It charted as high as #11 and was on the charts for four weeks. That original 1938 recording features solos by Lester Young (tenor sax), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Earle Warren (alto sax) and Herschel Evans (clarinet).
The song is considered one of the Basie bands "signature" tunes. a "favorite" and even "a definition of swing."
While many liner notes credit the tune only to Basie, historians and others also credit band member Eddie Durham. Like many Basie numbers of that era, it was a "head arrangement" collaboratively created by the band. Sullivan indicates Durham wrote the tune in 1937 and then Basie refined it. The tune was based on earlier songs such as Jammin' for the Jackpot and John's Idea. Durham had left the band by the time it was recorded.
The word "jumpin" in the title is a triple entendre – it means lively as in "the joint is jumping", a synonym for dancing or a synonym for sex.
The location in the title refers to the Woodside Hotel, which was located on Seventh Avenue at 142nd Street in Harlem (and has since been demolished). It was operated by Love B. Woods, an African american who operated a number of "dingy flophouses", some of which had "unsavory reputation[s]". But the Woodside distinguished itself by becoming a popular place for jazz musicians and Negro league baseball teams to stay while in New York during segregation. Later, Woods would become better known for his involvement in operating the Hotel Theresa, a much more upscale hotel that was called the "Waldorf of Harlem".
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