in Red Bank in 1904
NPR taped class for show on musician born
in Red Bank in 1904
BY SANDI CARPELLO
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY staff Middle school music teacher Holcombe Herd teaches his students how to bang on the bongos.
RED BANK — Borough Middle School music teacher Holcombe Herd had never seen a better day.
He met veteran jazz broadcaster Jim Luce, got himself and his students a spot on National Public Radio, and paid the ultimate tribute to his all-time favorite music icon: William "Count" Basie.
"Count Basie either made my life wonderful or ruined it, depending on which way you look at it," said a more than exuberant Herd, who was wiping beads of perspiration off his forehead.
"When I was a kid, I saw Count Basie at the Carlton Theater," said Herd, "and it was a life-changing event. … I remember the Count was up on the stage smiling and kind of mugging to the crowd. He played a short chorus and then yelled out, ‘One Mo’ Once, One Mo’ Twice.’ It was a magical thing. After I heard that, I really wanted to study music."
Luce, who has produced and written award-winning programs on the lives of jazz giants like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong, has recently turned his attention to Basie.
On Oct. 8, Luce visited the Count’s hometown of Red Bank, making a one-hour stop at the Branch Avenue middle school.
At Luce’s request, Herd’s music students each composed their own poetic odes about "the kid from Red Bank" and recited their compositions for use on Luce’s radio program.
Basie was born on Mechanic Street on Aug. 21, 1904.
Luce’s program, which is being composed in honor of what would have been Basie’s 100th birthday, will be broadcast on NPR sometime between February and August.
"[Luce] wanted to see what the next generation was doing," Herd said. "These kids showed him that they accepted Count Basie as a living presence instead of just old music."
After playing some of Basie’s landmark recordings for his class, Herd told his students to ignore the "rules of writing" and compose their own verses from the heart.
"I told them to stop editing and to think like a rapper," Herd said. "Poetry is a different mind-set. It’s a direct extension of the soul."
When Red Bank celebrates Basie’s centennial sometime next year, Herd hopes his students will be able to stand on the stage of the Count Basie Theatre and recite their works in front of a live audience.
"That would be a real breakthrough for the kids," Herd said. "But even so, for these kids to sit with Luce, have him record their poems, and care about them and ask them about their lives is a chance that anyone would want to have. How often do you turn to a kid and ask them if they want to be on National Public Radio?"
Incorporating classical, contemporary and jazz into the music curriculum, Herd, a professional pianist, percussionist and actor who works closely with the Monmouth Conservatory, said his main goal is to encourage music appreciation while teaching his students to find their own form of artistic expression.
"A lot of my students ask me, ‘How do you know that music is good?’ " Herd said. "I tell them, if it’s 50 years later and people are still listening to it, then it’s good."