Congratulations to Scotty Barnhart and the Count Basie Orchestra for its 2024 Grammy Award in the Large Jazz Ensemble Album category for the Candid Records album Basie Swings The Blues!
Barnhart and the CBO were the cover story in the December 2023 issue of Jersey Jazz Magazine. Trumpeter/Music Director Barnhart told Jersey Jazz‘s Jay Sweet that the idea of combining the Basie Orchestra with some of the great blues singers and guitarists came to him while delivering a speech at Basie’s induction into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2019. The blues artists who performed on the album included George Benson, Keb Mo’, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Bobby Rush, and Bettye Lavette.
Accepting the award, Barnhart said the album “was truly a collaborative effort with our special guests, and it is yet another honor for the legendary Count Basie that, 66 years after winning his first Grammy (1958), his orchestra is still winning them and performing at the highest level. We thank The Recording Academy and everyone who voted for us.”
Barnhart began playing the trumpet when he was nine years old, joining the Basie Orchestra in 1993. In the Jersey Jazz interview, he pointed out that he is “very protective of Mr. Basie’s legacy. I want to preserve it, which is what I always work on.”