Oliver's New Life band gets into the swing of Basie centennial

Yet, as much as Basie's legacy has been captured on recordings and celebrated in commentary over the years, we approach the 100th anniversary of the bandleader's birth in 2004 (he died in 1984) with little of the fanfare accorded Duke Ellington's centennial five years ago.

One bandleader's efforts to draw attention to Basie's centennial will be on display tonight and tomorrow night at the Regattabar in Cambridge. Kendrick Oliver leads his New Life Jazz Orchestra, along with guest vocalist and Kansas City native Kevin Mahogany, in a program billed as "Swingin' the Blues: Celebrating Count Basie and the Kansas City Sound."

"When you say `Kansas City,' the first thing I think about is blues and soulfulness, and I think that out of all the groups that were famous through jazz history, Count Basie's band epitomized the blues," Oliver says during a phone interview. "His impact on music is so underrated in my mind. I remember everybody was doing something for [the Duke Ellington centennial] and, true enough, he deserved it. But being a Basie enthusiast and loving his music like I do, I'm doing my part to bring the credit I think he deserves."

The New Life Jazz Orchestra's acknowledged debt to Basie will come as no surprise to anyone who's seen the band perform (Oliver formed the band in 1995 while studying at Berklee) or heard its 2003 debut recording, "Welcome to New Life." The players bring the same impeccable timing, ensemble unity, and rhythmic drive to such well-known Basie tunes as "Jumpin' at the Woodside" and "Moten Swing." But most of all, they infuse their repertoire with that least definable element, the Count's calculated yet easygoing sense of swing.

"If you look at Basie's music," Oliver says, "articulating the notes is not very difficult, but grasping the swing style is something very hard to do. I think you can teach guys to read music really well and become good soloists. But as far as being soulful and being able to swing, it's either in you or it's not."

The band's sense of swing has been enhanced by arrangements sent by two of Basie's arrangers, Frank Foster and Neal Hefti. Tenor saxophonist Foster, who led the orchestra for a decade after Basie died, has been a guiding light for New Life. "He's probably my biggest influence," Oliver says. "I've admired him since I was a high school kid. I talk to him quite frequently, and he's always, if he can, helping me out and sending me charts."

In fact, Oliver says, it was Foster's stories of playing with Basie that led Oliver to create his tribute.

As much as Oliver wants to pay homage to Count Basie, however, he's conscious of the fact that jazz is a living organism that needs constant nourishment. "We've taken some of the famous standards like `Jumpin' at the Woodside,' and `Splanky,' and some not-so-familiar Basie songs, and we put the Basie element on it, but we also add our little tinge on it as well," Oliver says. "Some things will be like `Wow, it'll take you back to the 40's' but then we'll put the hint of New Life Jazz Orchestra in there or the hint of Monica Lynk (the band's regular vocalist) or Kevin Mahogany that brings a new sound to it. Not only are we celebrating Count Basie, but we're also exposing the new sound that we're trying to bring to the table."

Lynk, whose fate with the band was sealed when Oliver overheard her singing in her Berklee dorm room and assumed he was hearing a Billie Holiday recording, agrees that the tribute needs to go beyond mere imitation.

"I think you have to respect what people did before you and honor that, and then you have to feel the music yourself and invoke your own emotion," says Lynk, who will deliver her own take on a Basie hit closely associated with vocalist Joe Williams, "Every Day I Have the Blues." Has the 28-year-old experienced blues of her own? "Well," Lynk says, "I think every musician and every singer that's been in this business for awhile has experienced the blues at one point or another."

No matter whether the band's playing Basie or an Oliver original, there's no mistaking a New Life performance, according to its leader. "I always tell guys in the band, I don't have many rules," Oliver says. "You show up on time and have a good time. That's like a prerequisite to get in the band. We don't want any stiff guys who just sit around and want the check, we want guys to come and have fun. I think the one thing the audience always appreciates is that we're having a good time and that loosens them up so they have a great time."

Adds Lynk: "This is going to be some soul-stirring, foot-stomping, hand-snapping music, and you better not miss it."