Count Basie Recommendation

After hearing Count Basie back Frank Sinatra on a recording, I would like to buy a CD or SACD by Count Basie that is well recorded. I would prefer one in stereo. Any recommendations?

 

Count Basie is one of my favourite artists - I never get tired of listening to his recordings.

When people unfamiliar with jazz think of big band they usually visualize Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey and syrupy schmaltz. Basie was nothing like this - his band was built on the blues and he was a major influence on rhythm & blues and rock & roll. Plus, even in his sixties he could drink most anyone under the table and then go play a session until 6 am.

As for well-recorded Basie recordings, I would generally recommend the Roulette Records era from 1957 to 1962. This was one of Basie's greatest bands (especially Sonny Payne on drums and Snooky Young on lead trumpet) and they benefitted from the "live in the studio" sound of the recording studios and engineers of that time.

There are only a handful of Roulette-era Basie albums available on CD in North America (on the EMI/Capitol label), but some good ones are;

"Breakfast Dance And Barbecue" (live in Miami from 1959)

"Chairman of The Board" 1958 (this features some amazing sounding recordings from Universal Studios in Chicago)

"The Complete Atomic Basie" (1957 - this is the first Roulette album and has several of his most famous charts. The sound quality doesn't match the other releases but at least they used the original mono tapes rather than the binaural-sounding early stereo sources)

These albums (with the exception of "Atomic") have mostly been re-mixed from the 3-track tapes for CD reissue. I have read that many of the original stereo album masters were lost or damaged over the years. The re-mixing and re-mastering is by Malcolm Addey, a true jazz engineer knows how these records are supposed to sound.

From the same time period is "First Time!" which is credited to both Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Both bands were recorded together at Columbia Record's 30th Street Studio in NYC in 1961. It has a real "live" feel and the music is burning. It is available on both CD and SACD on Sony.

Basie recorded for 50 years and made hundreds of albums, so I'd better stop now before things get out of hand.

John
Vancouver

 

Luckily, late in his career, Count Basie was recorded in very high quality by Norman Granz, for his Pablo label. Furthermore, there are several audiophile issues of these sessions!

These discs are frequently used to test new components by my audiophile friends, who have systems far beyond my administrative salary:

BASIE JAM (1973) Analogue Productions gold disc CAPJ 022

FARMER'S MARKET BARBECUE (1982) Analogue Productions gold disc CAPJ 023

88 BASIE STREET (1983) JVC XRCD 00212

These are among the absolute best-sounding discs you'll hear. The XRCD is a little more detailed/sharp, although a lot of people prefer it. The Analogue Productions discs are out-of-print, but because that label never enjoyed the cache of MFSL or DCC, their OOP discs don't command a lot on the secondhand market.

Granz didn't record junk for the sake of releasing something: these are very good performances worthy of the artist's memory. Good luck!

 

Plus, this album has just been remastered by Steve Hoffman for Analogue Production's 45 rpm vinyl series.

I'd love to hear Steve's experiences working on that recording and also what other Basie (or other big band) recordings he recommends.

John
Vancouver

 

I prefer the Roulette Basie recordings over anything else he did...and what he recorded over the years was all fine.

Start with Atomic Basie and see where that takes you. It's in print and really cooks!

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS805130043&sql=A51uw6j4871y0



If you find that you gotta have more...save up your bucks and get a copy of these two OOP Mosaic sets if you can...you will not be disappointed!

The Complete Roulette Studio Count Basie

The Complete Roulette Live Recordings of Count Basie and His Orchestra (1958-1962)

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. I just ordered "Chairman of the Board" and will go from there.

 

Here's another vote for the Complete Atomic Basie. This is one totally amazing sounding mono CD! And it has one of Basie's trademark tunes, Li'l Darlin'. Absolutely gorgeous!

Assuming you like the 50's material, then it's time to go back to the 30's classics with Lester Young and company. I don't know if the Complete Decca Recordings 3-CD set is still around, but that has all the recordings from perhaps Basie's most classic period.

- Joe

 

If you like the way he's backing Frank Sinatra, be sure to check out "Count Basie Live At The Sands (Before Frank)", which consists of the tracks Basie played before and in between Sinatra's performance at the Sands in February, 1966. The CD had been issued by Reprise in 1998 and may be about to go OOP. Sound quality is also very good - basically "Sinatra At The Sands" minus the crappy sounding vocal mic.

Arne

 

Another vote for "Atomic Basie" - try to find the latest version from Japan housed in a mini LP (RVG Edition -2001). I have my qualms with Rudy, but he did well by this remaster (probably because he kept it mono).

 

The Complete Atomic, for sure, but don't neglect the earlier Deccas!!! The 3 disk set of those late 30's recordings is a must purchase for any jazz collection. A pure pleasure, front to back! And those recordings are at the root of later developments in Jump Blues and R&B (and from there to Rock and Roll). So, if history floats your boat (or you just like to dance), check them out!

L.

 

Scheduled for this October;

Count Basie & His Orchestra -"America's # 1 Band: The Columbia Years" (Columbia/Legacy)
- 4 CD compilation of master takes from the Columbia labels in the '30s, '40s & '50s
- features nearly a full disc of unreleased live broadcast material


Many collectors were hoping for a complete set of Basie's Columbia recordings to coincide with his 100th birthday in 2004. That set would probably fill 8 or 9 CDs, so apparently Sony didn't think it was commercially viable. Still, it will still be good to have replacements for the mid-eighties Columbia compilations CDs which have controversial sound quality.

But why at this point is Sony releasing a career retrospective of one of their key artists and not offering it as an SACD hybrid?

Perhaps Mosaic Records will get the rights to release the complete recordings at some point (and hopefully they will have advanced into the SACD format by that time).

And speaking of Basie on SACD;

"April in Paris" (Verve) on SACD scheduled for Sept. 30

 

Also check out the live album from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. The concert reunited the band with some famous alums like Lester Young and Jimmy Rushing. Sounds like everyone is having a ball.

 

Yes to ATOMIC BASIE and other Roulette-era sides, yes to the later Pablo recordings too. Yes to APRIL IN PARIS, perhaps his best-known album and one I never tire of even if it's a bit smoother than usual for this swing god.

I must also put in a plug for BASIE STRAIGHT AHEAD, which is on Dot and has been issued on CD but may be out of print. I think this title dates from the mid 60's, and it features many songs and arrangements by Sammy Nestico that I played in my high school stage band. Some really cookin' stuff on there, including "The Magic Flea" and "Switch in Time" and "Hayburner"--some really catchy and toe-tapping tunes, even if the band wasn't in one of its classic phases at this point. Worth seeking out.

Long live the Count!

 

History makes my boat dance, so I KNOW I gotta get this set. Basie understood something about time, something crucial, precise, and joyful. My man.

 

Hi John,

I like that "syrupy schmaltz" ... as do a few others around here - including your host ... but I am sure you were only trying to make a distinction between the styles of music ...

Based on yours and MagicAlex's recommendation, I schlepped off to my favorite used CD store in search of a copy of "The Complete Atomic Basie" ... which they had - but with too many scratches for my taste ... so I continued to look at the other Basie selections and there was a copy of the first 2 discs from Mosaic's "The Complete Roulette Studio Count Basie" which includes all the tracks from "The Complete Atomic Basie" plus 20 more tracks ... great music ... Thanks for the recommendation.

BTW, I was fortunate enough to attend a half a dozen or so parties in the '70s here in Dallas where Count Basie and his band provided the music ... he was great ... I didn't appreciate it as much then as I do now.

 

Regarding Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and schmaltz;

Yes, I was attempting to describe the stereotype - not insult anybody's taste in music.

I've got the Mosaic set, and the first two discs have some great stuff, including the "Basie Plays Hefti" LP and the fantastic sounding March 4 1958 session recorded at Universal in Chicago.

That's great - I wish I had been lucky enough to see him.

 

I second JDW's recommendations - you can't beat the Roulette Atomic era Basie for sheer swing and swagger, brilliantly recorded (for it's day). Chairman of the Board is well worth a listen, and the live Breakfast Dance and Barbecue has some phenomenal playing on it - and is pretty nicely recorded. I also have "Basie Plays Hefti" on Mofi LP - if you could score a copy of that, you would be a happy camper.

The "First Time" SACD, with the Basie & Ellington bands I reckon is a must have. I don't have the SACD, but I have a Japanese MasterSound version (very nice) as well as the 20-bit version with lots of extra tracks. Some great performances on that disc.

I wish I had been into Basie when the two Mosaic sets were available - all the studio and live recordings of the Roulette Basie on two sets - awesome. I can't imagine Capitol/Blue Note releasing that stuff again in a comprehensive way, but I live in hope.

 

Peabody here...

Anyone know anything about last year's Verve LPR CD of "King of Swing" from 1953-54? Rather a lot of money for just the album (no extras). I'm thinking it's mono.

 

I'll disagree ... The Atomic Basie match for the 30's Decca sides. For me, and I realize I may be a lone dissenter, it's the 30's Basie band that does it.


No overblown brass is a huge plus, but you may find the sonics not so hi-fi.


Paul

 

I'm another fan of the small group albums on Pablo where you get to hear a lot of his piano. My favorite is Basie & Zoot with Zoot Sims, Louis Bellson and John Heard. Also fine is For the First Time (not to be confused with the earlier mentioned First Time w/Ellington), a trio with Bellson and Ray Brown.

 

The recordings are mono - the remastering is by Jeff Willens at Universal Mastering Studios East. 9 of the 10 tracks were recorded at Fine Sound in NYC. The sound is fine to my ears - I can't comment more because I've never heard other LP or CD sources to compare...

This CD has a cardboard mini-LP cover that completely recreates the original album packaging (but no extra music tracks or liner notes).

 

Thanks for the info. Are the performances typical of his band for the time or would there be something better to get?

 

... I like the "Basie Plays Hefti" tracks better than the "Atomic Basie" tracks ... did a TV show use "Cute" in the opening credits? ... I know I have heard that melody somewhere.

 

I just bought the SACD "First Time"...Excellent! It's a Sony, so I won't have to worry about spindle cracks.