Noël Akchoté - KCS (Kansas City Sessions) (2017)

The original Kansas City Five was a quintet taken from the Count Basie Orchestra and comprised of trumpeter Buck Clayton, the pioneering electric guitarist Eddie Durham (who was also a trombonist and a key arranger for Basie), acoustic guitarist Freddie Green, bassist Walter Page and drummer Jo Jones. They recorded four titles on Mar. 18, 1938. On Sept. 27, with the addition of Lester Young, (mostly on clarinet but also doubling on his customary tenor), the Kansas City Six recorded “Way Down Yonder In New Orleans,” “Countless Blues,” “Them There Eyes” and “I Want A Little Girl.” The latter track is particularly remarkable for it finds Young on clarinet sounding (both in his tone and in his choice of notes) exactly like altoist Paul Desmond in the mid-1950s! In addition to Young’s contributions, these two sessions are most notable for Durham whose electric guitar solos, the first in jazz, predated Charlie Christian by a year.