Jazz Articles about Count Basie

Columbia/Legacy Signature Series: Count Basie & The Brecker Brothers

by Jim Santella
May 13, 2007

Memories stay intact with treasures like these. Columbia/Legacy's claim that their Signature Series includes “the greatest songs by the greatest artists has considerable credibility. Personal opinions notwithstanding, these are indeed among of the best recordings to come out of the Columbia, Bluebird and Arista labels and the series looks set to preserve a valuable portion of jazz history. Each disc comes with thorough discographical annotation, a brief biography of the artist, and a few photos.

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Count Basie Orchestra: Basie Is Back

by Jack Bowers
November 20, 2006

No, the Count isn't literally back... in fact, he's never really been away, as the Count Basie Orchestra has kept rolling along under a series of leaders since Basie's death in April 1984. This latest incarnation, directed by the Count's longtime bass trombonist Bill Hughes, was recorded in concert in October '05 at Denryoku Hall in Sendai, Japan. Following in the footsteps of Basie's Old Testament and New Testament bands, Aaron Woodward writes in his liner notes, “We are calling ...

Count Basie: Good Time Blues

by Donald Elfman
October 3, 2005

Is there any sound more timeless in all of jazz than that of the Basie Orchestra? The title of this new Pablo release might be a perfect description of the essence of the Basie band--except one might add the word swingin'. This is the band that perfected a sound and a feeling that define what's best about jazz, and especially big band jazz: brilliant ensemble sound; players who understand the notion of playing together, but also of making smart and ...

The Count Basie Orchestra and Vocalist Lizz Wright

by Victor L. Schermer
May 11, 2005

The Count Basie Orchestra and Vocalist Lizz Wright The Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, PA May 6, 2005

During this past concert season, the Mellon Jazz Festival at the Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, has offered a number of double bills, perhaps to provide variety and contrast, suggest comparisons, and include more artists. The pairing of rising star Lizz Wright with the venerable Count Basie Orchestra made for a powerful dialectic between soulful ballads with a backup of two guitars ...

Count Basie & His Orchestra: Good Time Blues

by Chris M. Slawecki
March 15, 2005

Recorded in Budapest, this previously unissued 1970 performance proves that nobody could make feeling the blues swing good and hard like Count Basie. Especially when fronting a typically first-rate orchestra, in this case featuring Eddie “Lockjaw Davis on tenor sax, returning son Harry “Sweets Edison (who first played with Basie in the late 1930s) on trumpet, and guitarist Freddie (no nickname given) Green.

This encyclopedic set runs as wide and broad and deep as a river, featuring arrangements ...

Count Basie: 100th Birthday Bash & The Count Basie Story

by Joel Roberts
December 16, 2004

This past August marked the 100th anniversary of Count Basie's birth and in recognition of that august event, reissued are some of the big band master's finest sides from the late '50s and early '60s. Count Basie Count Basie and Friends: 100th Birthday Bash Blue Note 2004

The indispensable two-disc set Count Basie and Friends: 100th Birthday Bash is a compilation of 28 tunes, about half of them vocal numbers, featuring ...

Ella & Basie '79: The Perfect Match

by Mark Sabbatini
December 14, 2004

Norman Granz' Jazz in Montreux Ella & Basie '79: The Perfect Match Eagle Rock Entertainment 64 minutes 2004

This disc is lucky to emerge from the flames of failed expectations and end up merely average.

Ella & Basie '79: The Perfect Match is an 85-minute concert DVD whose very title is misleading - Count Basie appears for only one song at the end of a good, not ...