In the history of Jazz music, there is only one bandleader that has the distinction of having his orchestra still performing sold out concerts all over. The work, with members personally chosen by him, for over 30 years after his passing. Pianist and bandleader William James "Count" Basie was and still is an American institution that personifies the grandeur and the excellence of Jazz. The Count Basie Orchestra, today directed by Scotty Barnhart, has won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once, won 18 Grammy Awards, performed for Kings, Queens, and other world Royalty, appeared in several movies, television shows, at every major jazz festival and major concert hall in the world.
Count Basie occasionally cautioned young sidemen who were feeling their oats not to play bebop in his band, which was rooted in the rhythmic and harmonic soil of the swing era. How, then, could Basie be expected to make an album with Dizzy Gillespie, one of the progenitors of bop? Happily. Before he began evolving bebop, Gillespie was a swing-era musician. He and Basie operated from a common store of jazz knowledge and wisdom. Masters of time and the blues, they had no difficulty accommodating one another, none at all. This 1977 album is built on the blues. The limitless possibilities inherent in the form summoned the inventiveness, flexibility, and enthusiasm of all the players. Bass and drums are by Ray Brown and Mickey Roker, musicians unquestionably qualified to make music with two of the seminal figures in jazz. Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tape, and pressed at Quality Record Pressings for optimal sound quality, this Analogue Productions 180-gram reissue is an exceptional audiophile disc. Housed in a gatefold Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket. 180-gram vinyl Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket Tracklist: Side A 1. Back to the Land 2. Constantinople 3. You Got It Side B 1. St. James Infirmary 2. Follow the Leader 3. Ow!
From his earliest days in territory bands in the Southwest, Count Basie had a secret: How to make a collection of instrumentalists generate rhythmic thrust so irresistible that no listener's foot could remain motionless. Basie's swing was the opposite of tense. Relaxed is what it was, and powerful. Through five and a half decades, Basie never lost the ability to infect a band with his swing magic. This edition of his swing machine, recorded just a couple of years before his death, is evidence of the continuing force of that magic. Cut from metal parts mastered by Doug Sax from the original analog master tape. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings for superior sound quality, and housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on single pocket jacket. 180-gram vinyl Cut from parts mastered by Doug Sax from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in Stoughton Printing tip-on single pocket jacket Tracklist: Side 1 1. Way Out Basie (4:19) 2. St. Louis Blues (7:13) 3. Beaver Junction (4:43) 4. Lester Leaps In (4:57) Side 2 1. Blues For The Barbecue (10:27) 2. I Don't Know Yet (4:10) 3. Ain't That Something (4:15) 4. Jumpin' At The Woodside (3:20)
Basie Jam is two sides of some of the best swing ever recorded. This record was produced by Norman Granz and Pablo Records. Granz, responsible for one of the greatest jazz labels ever - Verve - knew what he was doing in a studio. The Big Band sound of Count Basie and the other orchestra leaders dominated dance halls and the airwaves for almost two decades. This late 1973 session features the Count with an eight-piece band. As the title indicates, this recording is like a jam session, so all the tracks are based around the blues. After a classic Basie Piano intro the first track 'Doubling Blues' swings like mad, but then you notice there's something different going on when the solos start. What's different is that Basie is playing Organ for most of the rest of the track and the difference is amazing. The little Piano phrases that we're all so used to hearing Basie play aren't there. Then after six minutes the piano comes back in and we finish track with Basie as we started. For more of Basie's organ playing have a listen to 'One-Nighter' - a lovely medium tempo number on which he plays a restrained introductory solo, before Zoot Sims plays the opening tenor sax solo. The running time is just under 50 minutes, and with only five tracks on the album that tells you that the musicians were given plenty of opportunity to stretch out. They do, and it's well worth getting a copy of this album. Cut from metal parts mastered by Doug Sax from the original analog master tape. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings for superior sound quality, and housed in a handsome Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket. 180-gram vinyl Cut from parts mastered by Doug Sax from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket Tracklist: Side 1 1. Doubling Blues (6:57) 2. Hanging Out (9:23) 3. Red Bank Blues (8:50) Side 2 1. One-Nighter (11:30) 2. Freeport Blues (9:44)
It could be argued that no two pianists could be more unalike than Count Basie, the master of understatement, and Oscar Peterson, the avatar of speed, power, and embellishment. The contrast in their approaches is part of what made their collaborations riveting. But the fact is that Basie, who held great power in reserve, could let it rip (and stride) when the mood struck him. And Peterson is capable of judiciously applying all that horsepower to achieve the most delicate effects. Both kinds of role reversals occur here. As the album title indicates, the great common denominator between the two is the observance and interpretation of time, not only in the sense of overall swing but of placement of notes and phrases. Their unaccompanied duet in the first choruses of 'Rent Party' provides an emphatic demonstration. Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tape, and pressed at Quality Record Pressings for optimal sound quality, this Analogue Productions 180-gram reissue is everything jazz fans expect from an audiophile reissue. Housed in a single pocket Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket. 180-gram vinyl Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in Stoughton Printing tip-on single pocket jacket Tracklist: Side A 1. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You) 2. Soft Winds 3. Rent Party Side B 1. (Back Home Again In) Indiana 2. Hey, Raymond 3. After You've Gone 4. That's the One
After Basie and his band sailed out of Kansas City in the mid-'30s, presenting to the world a light, fantastic 4/4, a new rhythmic paradigm was born. Columbia was Basie's recording studio home for much of the '30s and '40s, when many of his milestone recordings were made. Interspersed with tracks by Basie and band are some exceptional small group sides, plus a friendly skirmish with Duke Ellington in a classic battle of the bands. Highlights include performances by Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, among others.
Possibly the greatest orchestra of the 1930's swing era, the Count Basie Orchestra remained strong throughout the following decades, even beyond their leader's death in 1984. Winner of 17 Grammy awards, Basie's orchestra remains one of the most popular big bands in the world. The classic collection presented here was recorded in Chicago on October 20, 1969 and features Count Basie (piano), Freddie Green (guitar), Norman Keenan (bass), Harold Jones (drums), Gene Coe, Oscar Brasher, Sonny Cohn, Waymon Reed (trumpet), Grover Mitchell, Mel Wanzo (trombone), Bill Hughes (bass trombone), Eric Dixon, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor sax), Marshall Royal, Bobby Plater (alto sax), Charlie Fawlkes (baritone sax). All selections newly remastered.
This title is part of the aggressively priced, ongoing Priceless Jazz series featuring great artists, eye-catching graphics and informative liner notes. Tracks here include "Honeysuckle Rose," "One O'Clock Jump," "Time Out," "Topsy," "Swingin' the Blues," "Blue And Sentimental," "Texas Shuffle," "Swinging at the Daisy Chain," "Roseland Shuffle," "Boogie Woogie (I May Be Wrong)," "Jive at Five," "Oh, Lady Be Good" and more. [Note: This product is an authorized CD-R and is manufactured on demand].
37 tracks across 2CDs, features brilliant stereo sound and a 16-page booklet, with some tracks appearing for the first time ever on CD. Count Basie's career was revived in late 1957 thanks to the success of the Neal Hefti arranged LP Atomic Basie, which became one of his biggest hits. From then on, the Count Basie orchestra flourished as proven by the two 1969 complete club sets presented here, recorded within two weeks of each other live at La Cabaret Casino in Nassau and the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas. Among the outstanding soloists are the great Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Basie himself, and, on the Las Vegas engagement, guest star trumpet soloist Harry "Sweets" Edison. Most of the Nassau tracks appear here for the first time ever on CD. "This set features updated takes on the Basie songbook's greatest instrumental hits. The music is, of course, great, and the players respond to the excitement of the live audience." - * AllMusic
The essence of Kansas City wafts from the tracks of this album. How could it not, with Count Basie and Joe Turner in charge? The essence, of course, is the blues, and every man in the band is a master of that most basic and most demanding of forms. Their resumes cover every jazz environ from the 12th Street clubs where Southwest swing matured to the Harlem hothouses that germinated bebop. The common language of the blues, and Basie's catalytic keyboard, bind them tightly together in support of Big Joe Turner, a shouter, a smooth talker, a testifier to the power, tenderness, despair, and joy of the blues and of life, which are the same. Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings for superior sound quality, and housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on single pocket jacket. 180-gram vinyl Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket Tracklist: Side 1 1. Honeydripper 2. Honey Hush 3. Cherry Red 4. Night Time Is The Right Time 5. Blues Around The Clock Side 2 1. Since I Fell For You 2. Flip, Flop And Fly 3. Wee Baby Blues 4. Good Mornin' Blues 5. Roll Em' Pete
Vinyl LP pressing. Anyone with more than a merest passing interest in jazz will not need to be told that William Count Basie was one of the most important personalities in the entire history of the genre. As pianist, bandleader, and composer, he was not only one of the most influential figures in shaping the sounds that were central to jazz from the 1930s through to the 1950s, but his bands often provided a springboard for many great names to emerge onto the wider scene. We hope that this musical snapshot of the era at the start of Basie's career as a bandleader offers a fascinating insight into the foundations of his reputation. Pressed on 140g black vinyl, the set includes One O'clock Jump, Good Morning Blues, Every Tub, Swinging The Blues and Blue And Sentimental. Basie once said: If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune... This 14-track LP of songs, which captures Count Basie's Orchestra during a brief but pivotal period in his career, will certainly get you tapping those feet.
With Count Basie, Cleanhead Vinson, and Willie Cook all gone, there is cause for gratitude that Norman Granz thought in 1981 to bring them together with a great rhythm section. The result was one of the happiest of Basie's celebrated 'Kansas City' sessions for Pablo. Cook and Vinson, marvelous soloists who deserved wider fame, were both great bebop players able to tailor their work to Basie's more elemental requirements without condescending or losing anything essential. Additionally, as he demonstrates to a fare-thee-well on 'Wee Baby,' Vinson was a terrific blues shouter. In his small groups, Basie the pianist was on more prominent display than in the big band, and there are plenty of reminders here that his keyboard talent encompassed much more than wryness and subtlety. Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings for superior sound quality, and housed in a handsome Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket. Musicians: Count Basie, piano Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, double bass Louis Bellson, drums Joe Pass, guitar Eddie Vinson, saxophone Willie Cook, trumpet 180-gram vinyl Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket Tracklist: Side 1 1. Walking The Blues 2. Blues For Little Jazz 3. Vegas Drag Side 2 1. Wee Baby 2. Scooter 3. St. Louis Blues 4. Opus Six
Virtually to the end, Count Basie was at the piano in front of the band that was his natural environment for more than half a century, inspiring music that defined the verb 'to swing.' In this collection recorded a little more than a year before he died, Basie divided the performances between the big band and a small group. In his last couple of decades, Basie went into the Pablo studios frequently with combos ranging in size from two (the pianist and Zoot Sims) to the octet heard here. In this case, the small group came out of the big band and featured the bright young trumpeter Bob Summers along with veteran trombonist Booty Wood and saxophonists Eric Dixon and Chris Woods. In large group or small, Basie and guitarist Freddie Green were at the heart of the rhythm, lifting the proceedings to a rarified plane of swing never to be duplicated after they were gone. Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape. Pressed at Quality Record Pressings for superior sound quality, and housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on single pocket jacket. 180-gram vinyl Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape Pressed at Quality Record Pressings Housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket Tracklist: Side 1 1. Mr. Softie 2. Moten Swing 3. She's Funny That Way 4. Right On, Right On Side B 1. Me And You 2. Crip 3. Bridge Work 4. Easy Living
Track Listing 1. Hey, Pretty Baby 2. Seventh Avenue Express 3. Walking Slow Behind You 4. Mister Roberts' Roost 5. Don't You Want a Man Like Me 6. South 7. You Call Yourself a Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing) 8. Sophisticated Swing 9. House Rent Boogie 10. Basie's Basement 11. Brand New Wagon
Personnel includes: Count Basie (piano); Jimmy Rushing (vocals); Preston Love, Rudy Rutherford, C.Q. Price, Earl Warren (alto saxophone); Paul Gonsalves, Buddy Tate (tenor saxophone); Jack Washington (baritone saxophone); Ed Lewis, Snooky Young, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, Jimmy Nottingham, Gerald Wilson (trumpet); Bill Johnson, Ted Donnelly, George Matthews, Eli Robinson, George Washington (trombone); Freddie Green (guitar); Walter Page (bass); Jo Jones, Butch Ballard (drums).
Recorded between January 3 and December 12, 1947.
But for the fact that it only has 11 tracks, this mid-priced compilation (not to be confused with the identically titled Bluebird collection covering Basie's early-'30s recordings with the Bennie Moten band) could easily get the highest rating. And this could be the place to start for any rock fans wondering what Basie was about, at least some of the time. This disc shows Basie and company (especially singer Jimmy Rushing) working in an R&B mode, doing such songs as Willie Dixon's "You Call Yourself the Jungle King (I Found Out You Ain't a Doggone Thing)," "Hey, Pretty Baby," "Brand New Wagon," and "Walking Slow Behind You." Rushing and the band sound like they're pushing toward Chess Records' turf. And the astonishing thing is that they pull it off -- if these records had sold in any serious number, Basie and Rushing might have had a whole second career in R&B, right up there with Big Joe Turner. There's a minimum of annotation, and not all of the sound is quite perfect -- amazingly, the 1991 remastered "Basie's Basement" featured here has a click or two in evidence, for which there's no excuse. But the sound quality everywhere else is pretty much beyond reproach, and there's also one number here, "Mister Roberts' Roost," a laidback instrumental prominently featuring Basie's piano, that's otherwise unavailable.
