Personnel: Count Basie (piano); Gus Johnson (vocals, drums); Jimmy Rushing, Taps Miller, Billy Valentine (vocals); Freddie Green (guitar); Earle Warren, C.Q. Price (alto saxophone); Gene Ammons (tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone); Jimmy Tyler, Weasel Parker, Georgie Auld, Paul Gonsalves (tenor saxophone); Jack Washington (baritone saxophone); Clark Terry, Emmett Berry, Gerald Wilson, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Jimmy Nottingham (trumpet); Dicky Wells, Ted Donnelly, Melba Liston, George Matthews (trombone); Butch Ballard (drums).

Liner Note Author: Dick Katz.

Recording information: Los Angeles, CA (04/11/1949-02/06/1950); New York, NY (04/11/1949-02/06/1950).

Illustrator: Joel Spector.

The cuts on this anthology were recorded with Count Basie's legendary 1940s band nearing the end. These cuts were mostly unissued and show a band still capable of playing joyous blues and vigorous swing, but also close to exhausting its creative juices. Most cuts are entertaining; some, like "Hit That Ball," and are enjoyable period pieces, but none of them equal the vitality or drive in the great music Basie made earlier in the decade. The really intriguing numbers are the three tunes by Basie with a sextet, but J. August's forgettable vocals mar "If You See My Baby," and "Sweets" offers crackling trumpet solos from Harry Edison contrasted by highly derivative tenor solos from George Auld. This disc isn't great or classic Basie, but it provides insight into a critical and seldom-evaluated period in his legacy.