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Count Basie: Swingsation
by AAJ Staff
Known for his wide and wild orchestral arrangements, William “Count" Basie also demonstrates a calmer, more concentrated attitude on this first volume of GRP’s new “Swingsation" series (which also features classic collections of Ella Fitzgerald, Jimmie Lunceford and Lionel Hampton, among others). From a liliting take on Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose" (featuring sax man Lester Young, trumpeter Buck Clayton and a taste of “Tea For Two") and a restrained romp through Basie’s own “One O’Clock Jump," to an appropriately-titled “Blue ...
Continue ReadingCount Basie: Basie Meets Bond
by C. Andrew Hovan
Leave it to one of the most swinging big bands of its time to make a silk purse out of a cow’s ear. Visiting themes from James Bond movies, arrangers Chico O’Farrill and George Williams craft hip and bristling versions of what might appear to be less than complimentary pieces for jazz exploration. But then O’Farrill was a master writer and he proved that this Bond thing wasn’t just a fluke when a year later in 1966 he helped to ...
Continue ReadingCount Basie Orchestra directed by Grover Mitchell: Count Basie Orchestra: Count Plays Duke/Rosemary Clooney and The Count Basie Orchestra: At Long Last
by C. Michael Bailey
What’s In a Name. Almost all of the most famous big bands of the Swing era of the ‘30s and ‘40s live on in one incarnation or another. They tour, playing what can be considered the “greatest hits” from the band’s heyday book with a few inventive covers and new original pieces thrown in. The bands are typically very competent and their performances are flawless and professional. Aside from the occasional interesting or compelling arrangement, these performances can be boring. ...
Continue ReadingRosemary Clooney / Count Basie Orchestra: At Long Last
by Jack Bowers
An early front–runner in the race for most appropriate album title — and most enchanting Jazz/pop album — of the year. If ever there were a symbiotic relationship, this has to be it. Rosie Clooney’s pared–down, smooth–as–syrup vocals and the Basie orchestra’s impetuous brass, reeds and rhythm merge together like bread and butter, ham and eggs, hand and glove. The wonder is that no one thought of it before. But better late than never. The Basie band, which has its ...
Continue ReadingCount Basie: Live at the Sands (before Frank)
by Ed Kopp
The mid-'60s are regarded as a creative low point for the Count Basie Orchestra, but this live recording proves that the Basie band was as stylish and swingin' as ever in 1966, though fewer folks were paying attention. Recorded during a week-long stint at the Las Vegas Sands Hotel, this release compiles material from the band's opening sets prior to their performances with the main attraction that week, Frank Sinatra.Live at the Sands serves as an excellent Basie ...
Continue ReadingCount Basie: Count Basie and the Kansas City Seven
by AAJ Staff
Count Basie developed the concept of the Kansas City Seven in the late 1930's when Basie recorded with a small section of his Big Band. The original members of that aggregation were: Buck Clayton, Dicky Wells, Lester Young, Freddie Green, Walter Page and Jo Jones. Twenty-three years later he selected a group of musician's that would rekindle the fire that was the Kansas City Seven. This contingent featured Thad Jones, Frank Wess, Frank Foster (who currently leads ...
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