Count Basie

Ray Charles and Count Basie Orchestra – Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006/2012) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · August 16, 2023 · Comments off

Ray Sings, Basie Swings combines archival, never-before-heard Ray Charles vocal recordings with brand-new performances by the Count Basie Orchestra. This ground breaking album gives listeners the unprecedented experience of hearing Ray Charles at the dazzling peak of his vocal prowess. Ray Sings, Basie Swings was created with the most up-to-date recording and mixing technology, offering sound quality that is state-of-the art.

The producers discovered archival reels of Ray Charles and the Count Basie Orchestra performing live together in 1973. Although the vocals were superior, the remaining elements were of extremely poor quality. They decided to bring the current Basie Orchestra into the studio and, using the latest technology, they carefully and painstakingly laid down a new instrumental backdrop for Charles’ towering vocals.

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Count Basie – Not Now, “I’ll Tell You When” (High Definition Remaster) (1960/2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · June 13, 2023 · Comments off

Not Now, I’ll Tell You When is an album by pianist and bandleader Count Basie featuring tracks recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Roulette label.

AllMusic awarded the album 3 stars and its review by Scott Yanow states, “Because of the obscure repertoire, this is a fine LP for veteran Basie collectors. The band is in its usual swinging form”.

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Count Basie – Live at Fabrik Hamburg 1981, Vol. 1 (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · April 19, 2023 · Comments off

Previously unreleased recording of the Basie All Stars, some of biggest names from Count Basie’s band – minus the legendary bandleader.

Already during Basie’s lifetime, some of his most loyal followers formed the “All Stars”. The alto saxophonist Marshall Royal, Basie’s eternal concertmaster, took the lead in this. (Marshall probably played the same role for Basie as Johnny Hodges did for Duke Ellington. He passed away in 1995).

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Count Basie, Joe Williams – Just the Blues (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · January 8, 2023 · Comments off

Jazz fans who discovered Count Basie and Joe Williams in the decades that followed Basie’s association with Roulette between 1958 and 1962 have been frustrated with the limited availability of many of these recordings in the era of the compact disc. This 1960 LP features Joe Williams with Count Basie & His Orchestra singing a mostly blues set with one exception, the torch song “Trav’lin’ Light.” The chemistry between the band and the singer is impeccable, as always, with Basie’s economical piano adding just the right touch when needed, and Williams is in great voice, though some unnecessary reverb added at the date proves to be distracting. A remake of the band’s earlier version of Walter Brown’s hit (co-written with Jay McShann) “Confessin’ the Blues” is swinging, while Al Grey’s growling trombone sets the stage for Williams in Leroy Carr’s “Night Time Is the Right Time.” There are misfires, including an overdone “Keep Your Hand on Your Heart,” while Williams seems to bog down “Mean Mistreater” after a promising instrumental introduction. But the vocalist more than makes up for any shortcomings with a perky original blues he brought to the session, “Lyin’ Woman.” Although this music was reissued as a part of The Complete Roulette Studio Recordings of Count Basie & His Orchestra, the sellout of that limited-edition set will make it tougher to find this rewarding music until the album is reissued separately on its own CD.

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Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie – Ella And Basie! (1963/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · January 6, 2023 · Comments off

Originally released in 1963 and featuring an unbelievable line up of future and current all-stars of the time (including Eric Dixon, Urbie Green, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Freddie Green, to name just a few), Ella and Basie! is an exhilarating session. Ella sounds ferocious and electrifying. Basie’s work, conduction and arrangements are steady and make for the perfect complement to the legendary vocalist. A smokin’ session with good vibes all around–highlighted by the stellar versions of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” “Them There Eyes,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” and the sweet, sultry “Satin Doll.” While they did record more session later on, Ella and Basie! remains one of those classic sessions that will be remembered long after your first listen. A real hallmark and essential in the canon of Ella Fitzgerald.

Ella And Basie! was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010.

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Duke Ellington and Count Basie – First Time! The Count Meets the Duke (1961) [Reissue 2002] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · December 31, 2022 · Comments off

At first glance this collaboration should not have worked. The Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras had already been competitors for 25 years but the leaders’ mutual admiration (Ellington was one of Basie’s main idols) and some brilliant planning made this a very successful and surprisingly uncrowded encounter. On most selections Ellington and Basie both play piano (their interaction with each other is wonderful) and the arrangements allowed the stars from both bands to take turns soloing. “Segue in C” is the highpoint but versions of “Until I Met You,” “Battle Royal” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” are not far behind.

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Count Basie – Count Basie And The Kansas City 7 (1960/2010) SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · December 4, 2022 · Comments off

Count Basie and the Kansas City 7 is an album by American jazz bandleader and pianist Count Basie featuring small group performances recorded in 1962 for the Impulse! label. The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating “One of Count Basie’s few small-group sessions of the ’60s was his best”.

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Count Basie – Live At The Sands (Before Frank) (1998) [MFSL 2013] SACD ISO + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · December 4, 2022 · Comments off

Frank Sinatra’s collaborations with Count Basie were among the singer’s better ventures back into jazz in the early 1960s, and led not only to a couple of great studio albums, and one superb live Sinatra album, but also to Basie’s being signed to the Sinatra-founded Reprise label in the mid-’60s. The 53 minutes of music captured on Live at the Sands was recorded during the opening sets from three different shows in late January and early February of 1966, by Basie and his band during the engagement with Sinatra at the Sands Hotel that yielded that live Sinatra album. Maybe that raises the expectations, because this release is a slight disappointment — the band sounds OK, but except for Basie himself and drummer Sonny Payne, it seems like they’re walking their way through some of this repertoire. There are a number of good moments here: “I Needs to Be Bee’d With,” “Flight of the Foo Birds,” “Satin Doll,” “Blues for Home,” and “This Could Be the Start of Something Big” (which is worth hearing for the ensemble work and Eric Dixon and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis’ solos); the band finally takes flight, but compared with some of the recordings of complete shows by Basie that are nothing less than great, a lot of this is secondary. Given the fact that it was Sinatra’s set that was going to be taped for release for certain, the band may, indeed, have been holding back during its own set, for good reason. Even the audience response says it, positive and polite but not excessive — they were there for Sinatra, and nothing Basie and company did were likely to bowl them over, so why make the effort? It’s not a bad set, and some of it — “Makin’ Whoopee” (especially the call and response on the piano), “Corner Pocket,” and “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” — has great appeal. But this is overall a legendary band doing a somewhat less-than-legendary set, during some gigs that, in fairness, yielded up a great live album elsewhere. The quality is solid live sound, in crisp stereo from a nicely controlled mid-’60s venue, using state-of-the-art equipment.

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Count Basie – Supreme Jazz (2006) MCH SACD ISO + DSF DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

SACD / DSD By admin · November 8, 2022 · Comments off

William James “Count” Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, Basie formed his own jazz orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two “split” tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry “Sweets” Edison and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams. Count Basie introduced several generations of listeners to the Big Band sound and left an influential catalog.

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Count Basie & Joe Williams – Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings (1955/2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · October 31, 2022 · Comments off

Joe Williams’ debut as the featured vocalist in Count Basie’s band was one of those landmark moments that even savvy observers don’t fully appreciate when it occurs, then realize years later how momentous an event they witnessed. Williams brought a different presence to the great Basie orchestra than the one Jimmy Rushing provided; he couldn’t shout like Rushing, but he was more effective on romantic and sentimental material, while he was almost as spectacular on surging blues, up-tempo wailers, and stomping standards. Basie’s band maintained an incredible groove behind Williams, who moved from authoritative statements on “Every Day I Have the Blues” and “Please Send Me Someone to Love” to brisk workouts on “Roll ‘Em Pete” and his definitive hit, “All Right, OK, You Win”.

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The Count Basie Big Band – Basie Swings (2002) [DVD-AUDIO ISO]

DVD-A By admin · May 23, 2019 · Comments off

This audio DVD features the Count Basie big band performing various songs from his career. While these performances are available elsewhere, collectors may be interested in the remastered sound. (more…)

Frank Sinatra with Count Basie & The Orchestra – Sinatra At The Sands (1966) [DVD-Audio 2003] FLAC 24bit/192kHz

DVD-A By admin · December 6, 2014 · Comments off

Frank Sinatra with Count Basie & The Orchestra – Sinatra At The Sands (1966/2003)
FLAC 2.0 Stereo (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 76:34 minutes | 2,98 GB
DVD-Audio to Hi-Res FLAC – Source: Reprise Records (2003) | Covers

In many ways, Sinatra at the Sands is the definitive portrait of Frank Sinatra in the ’60s. Recorded in April of 1966, At the Sands is the first commercially released live Frank Sinatra album, recorded at a relaxed Las Vegas club show. For these dates at the Sands, Sinatra worked with Count Basie and his orchestra, which was conducted by Quincy Jones. Like any of his concerts, the material was fairly predictable, with his standard show numbers punctuated by some nice surprises. Throughout the show, Sinatra is in fine voice, turning in a particularly affecting version of “Angel Eyes.” He is also in fine humor, constantly joking with the audience and the band, as well as delivering an entertaining, if rambling, monologue halfway through the album. Some of the humor has dated poorly, appearing insensitive, but that sentiment cannot be applied to the music. Basie and the orchestra are swinging and dynamic, inspiring a textured, dramatic, and thoroughly enjoyable performance from Sinatra. (more…)