"Jumpin' at the Woodside" is a song first recorded in 1938 by the

Count Basie Orchestra The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 19 ...

, 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 Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive li ...

Song details

The song was recorded on August 22, 1938 for

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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

Earle Warren Earle Warren (born Earl Ronald Warren; July 1, 1914 – June 4, 1994) was an American saxophonist. He was part of the Count Basie Orchestra from 1937. Early life Warren was born in Springfield, Ohio, on July 1, 1914. "He played piano, banjo, an ...

(alto sax), Buck Clayton (trumpet), Lester Young (tenor sax), and Herschel Evans (clarinet). The song is considered one of the Basie band's "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 Woodside Hotel

The location in the title refers to the Woodside Hotel, which was located on Seventh Avenue at 142nd Street in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

(and has since been demolished). It was operated by Love B. Woods, an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

who operated a number of "dingy flophouses", some of which had "unsavory reputation . 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 The Hotel Theresa is located at 2082-96 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard between West 124th and 125th Streets in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. In the mid-20th century, it was a vibrant center of African American life i ...

, a much more upscale hotel that was called the "Waldorf of Harlem". The band stayed at the Woodside repeatedly and even rehearsed in the basement of the hotel. Singer

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

(who sometimes performed with the band) also stayed at the Woodside in 1937 when the band was playing at the Roseland Ballroom.

Other recordings and appearances

The song was used in famous Lindy Hop dance numbers by the troupe Whitey's Lindy Hoppers in the Broadway show '' Hellzapoppin'' as well as other shows of that era. The routine was recorded in the 1941 film version which can be seen on

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(though the movie was released with different music over the sequence for licensing reasons). In addition to numerous Basie recordings over the years, the song has been recorded by a number of artists including Lionel Hampton, Monk Montgomery,

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

, Django Reinhardt, Buddy Rich, and others. In 1957, Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics to the tune to be performed by

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were an American vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross. From 1962 to 1964, Ross was replaced by vocalist Yolande Bavan. History The group formed in 1957 and recorded their f ...

. The appearances of Gene Gene the Dancing Machine on '' The Gong Show'' would be prefaced with the opening bars of the song. The song is heard in the 1993 film ''

Swing Kids The Swing Youth (german: Swingjugend) were a group of jazz and swing lovers in Germany formed in Hamburg in 1939. Primarily active in Hamburg and Berlin, they were composed of 14- to 21-year-old Germans, mostly middle or upper-class student ...

'' and in broadway musicals such as 1999's '' Swing!'' and 2010's '' Come Fly Away''. In the video game Fallout 76, the Count Basie version of the song is played on the in-game radio station 'Appalachia Radio'.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jumpin at the Woodside Count Basie 1938 songs 1938 singles 1930s jazz standards Songs about New York City