Have you ever got the feeling as a jazz musician that you were born about 40 years too late?  Must have been something to hear jazz in club after club at places like 52nd street in New York or in Kansas City.  Imagine being there when Charlie Parker was just starting to sit in at clubs in downtown Kansas City.   Yea, civil rights was still years away and musicians probably led alot less romantic lives then we think, but just the fact that jazz was actually popular and “hip” to the masses.  You could hear Basie’s band play any night of the week there during the 30′s.  On that note, here is a video from a bygone era – Basie’s band backing up legendary Billie Holiday.