"Ponytail" refers to both the pulled back hairstyle many women have worn since the beginning of time. It was strictly an efficient way of keeping hair out of the face when working. However, ponytails also refer to common slang for horse's tails. Count Basie plays a relaxed stride piano intro before the saxes begin a quietly repeated riff which the brass follow with humorous asides. Joe Newman is heard on trumpet playing a brief solo before we get to hear a typically underplayed Basie piano solo before the ensemble comes in with an explosively optimistic melody that rolls back the clock to the beginning in an almost true sonata form. The saxes then lead us into a brass filled emotionally satisfying conclusion.