Collects late 30's recordings featuring Lester Young and Count Basie – 20 tracks in all. CD

Nothing basic about this album by Count Basie – as the album has the legend working for the MPS label – whose own big band scene he really helped inspire! The band here is really dynamic – working with great arrangements from Chico O'Farrill, who's inherent sense of groove really gets things going from the start – which creates plenty of energy for the horn work by players who include Bobby Plater and Marshall Royal on alto, Eric Dixon on flute and tenor, Eddie Lockjaw Davis on additional tenor, Grover Mitchell on trombone, and Oscar Brashear and Sonny Cohn on trumpets. Basie himself plays piano – with that legendary punctuated style that's still quite strong at this point – and titles include "M Squad", "Blues In My Heart", "Sweet Lorraine", "Red Roses For A Blue Lady", "As Long As I Live", and "I've Got The World On A String". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer set from Count Basie – recorded during the height of his years at Roulette! The back cover of the record proclaims that "Basie Is Back Home" – clearly a bit by Birdland to lay claim to being the Count's home address, which is a bit of a challenge to his KC roots! Whatever the back story, though, the set's a nice one – swinging hard in that completely tight 60s mode, with a great lineup that includes Frank Foster and Budd Johnson on tenor, Thad Jones on trumpet, Bennie Powell on trombone, and Freddie Green on guitar – a really great group who definitely make the record a cooker! Tracks include "Good Time Blues", "Segue In C", "Little Pony", "Discommotion", and "Whirly Bird", which has a vocal by Jon Hendricks! LP, Vinyl record album

Basie was getting all over the place during the 50s – and this set's a great little concert recorded in London! The album's classic Basie for Verve – with Joe Williams on vocals on 3 tracks, and a tight group that includes Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Benny Powell, Matthew Gee, and Frank Foster. Titles include "Flute Juice", "Nails", "Blues Backstage", "Corner Pocket", "Roll Em Pete", and "Well All Right Okay You Win". LP, Vinyl record album

The genius of Basie meets the genius of Quincy Jones – a 60s pairing that's every bit as great as the 50s pairing of Basie and Neal Hefti! Jones and Basie worked together in a number of settings during the 60s – including a very successful album for Frank Sinatra on Reprise – but here, the pair are really going full-on and hard-swinging, in a fresh style that's got all the hipness of Quincy's budding talent in the 60s, played with the deeply soulful manner of the still-great Basie band of the time. Titles include "Rat Race", "For Lena & Lennie", "The Big Walk", "Meet BB", "Jessica's Day", "Muttnik", and "Quince". LP, Vinyl record album

A really wonderful back to basics session for Basie – featuring arrangements by longtime band members Frank Foster, Erick Dixon, Bobby Plater, and Thad Jones! The set also features vocals on 2 tracks by bluesy vocalist Richard Boone – a singer with a really great scatting approach – but overall, the real strength is the horn section, particularly Al Aarons, Dixon, and Eddie Lockjaw Davis – who all get in some very nice solo work. Tracks are mostly older numbers, Basie-ized – and played with a laidback tone that's a real contrast from the higher energy early 60s recordings. Titles include "Squeeze Me", "Frankie & Johnny", "Boone's Blues", "I Got Rhythm", and "Hey Jim". LP, Vinyl record album

Late 40s recordings that have the Basie band getting nice and lean – but still with vocals from Jimmy Rushing, tenor from Buddy Tate and Paul Gonsalves, and trumpet from Harry Sweets Edison! CD

With Freddie Green on guitar, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Eric Dixon on tenor, Grover Mitchell, Harlan Floyd, and Dick Boone on trombone, Roy Eldridge, Al Aarons, Gene Goe, and Sonny Cohn on trumpet, Marshall Royal on alto and clarinet, Bobby Palter on alto and flute, Norman Keenan on bass, and Ed Shaughnessy on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Features 17 tracks recorded with his orchestra – including 3 unissued alternate takes – plus 3 more tracks recorded with his sextet. CD

The 70s Count Basie Band in all their glory – recorded live in extremely tight formation at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival! Despite the live setting, the recording quality here is impeccable – easily on a par with most of the group's studio dates from the decade, especially in the way that Basie's piano thunders out in front of the rest of the group! Players include Sonny Cohn, Bobby Mitchell, Al Grey, Jimmy Forrest, Eric Dixon, and Freddie Green – and although tracks are short, they're still filled with a good sense of surprise – that Basie dynamics that really started kicking in during the 50s, and which held on strong on records like this! Titles include "The More I See You", "Night In Tunisia", "The Heat's On", "Freckle Face", "Splanky", "I Needs To Be Bee'd With", "Lil Darlin", and "Bag Of Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

Count Basie rewrites history – updating his older work for the Roulette Records years, in this hip collection that features lots of new arrangements from Frank Foster – and rich performances from his great group at the time! The recordings are all new, as are the conceptions of the tunes – so there seems to be even more syncopated swing in the rhythms than on any of the older takes on the material – that fresh sound that the group grew into with Neal Hefti – still going strong here in Foster's hands. So although the tunes are Basie classics – and classics from other bands of the 30s and 40s – the performances and solos are plenty fresh! Titles include "Swinging The Blues", "Out The Window", "Texas Shuffle", "Down For Double", "Lester Leaps In", "Topsy", "Taps Miller", "Shorty George", "Jive At Five", and "Dogging Around". LP, Vinyl record album

Small group work – with Eddie Cleanhead Vinson on alto sax, Joe Pass on guitar, and Willie Cook on trumpet. CD

Material recorded before Frank Sinatra's famous appearance at The Sands with The Count! CD

A classic collection of material from Count Basie – with some sides from 1942, a few from 1946, and a few great ones from the revival years at the start of the 50s! We love these last ones the best – and titles include classic readings of "Little Pony", "Beaver Junction", "I'm Confessin", and "One O'Clock Jump". 40s material includes "Mutton Leg", "Stay Cool", "Ay Now", and "Ride On". LP, Vinyl record album

We totally dig Basie's work from the mid 60s! He was working with Quincy Jones at the time – and Quince laid down some very soulful arrangements that used the best jazz elements of the Basie group to turn out some great pop instrumental tracks with a very groovy sound. This album's a perfect example of that format, as it features some great Basie sidemen, grooving nicely to Quincy's hip swinging arrangements of pop material like "Walk, Don't Run", "Fly Me To The Moon", "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big", and "One Mint Julep". CD

Thad Jones, Snooky Young, Wendell Culley, and Joe Newman on trumpet, Benny Powell, Henry Coker and Al Grey on trombone, Frank Wess on alto and tenor saxophone and flute, Marshall Royal on alto saxophone and clarinet, Billy Mitchell on tenor saxophone, Frank Foster on tenor saxophone, Charlie Fowlkes on baritone saxophone, Count Basie on piano, Freddie Green on guitar, Eddie Jones on bass, Sonny Payne on drums, and Joe Williams on vocals. CD

A quartet date with Basie on piano, Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, Ray Brown on bass, and Mickey Roker on drums. Titles include "Back To The Land", "Constantinople", "You Got It", "St James Infirmary", "Follow The Leader" and "Ow". CD

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Hard to believe it took a few decades in the careers of both players for them to record together – but that's exactly what you've got here – a landmark meeting of Count Basie and Duke Ellington from the early 60s, near the tail end of Duke's classic stretch on Columbia! Teo Macero produced the session with just the right amount of care and class to keep the whole thing from being an exercise in cliche – and there's a surprising amount of depth here that you might not expect – the best modern elements of Duke's orchestra on Columbia, coming into play with a bit more of the fire and vamp of the Basie group at the time! Titles include "Battle Royal", "Wild Man", "Segue In C", "Jumpin At The Woodside", "To You", and "Take The A Train". LP, Vinyl record album

A cool meeting of talents – and one that makes for some of the grooviest Count Basie material of the 70s! The vibes of Milt Jackson are a very welcome addition to the Basie groove here – an instrumental sound that didn't always show up in the Count's work, and which brings an extra soulful swing to the proceedings – ringing out with that rich tone that Milt developed in his years away from the MJQ! Horn players include some familiar Basie names, plus Fred Wesley in the trombone line – and titles include "The Comeback", "Lady In Lace", "Lil Darlin", "Good Time Blues", and "Basie". LP, Vinyl record album

With Niels Pedersen on bass, Louis Bellson on drums, Johnny Griffin on tenor sax, Roy Eldridge on trumpet, and Milt Jackson on vibraphone. LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent work from that wonderful 50s moment when Count Basie was really reinventing his band – stripping things down, getting nice and lean, and putting in this soulful kick to the rhythms that really helped modernize the groove! The set's a mix of arrangements from Ernie Wilkins, and a few more by Neal Hefti – both in that masterful sense of space that helped this Basie band really isolate its key soloists on record – not just the Count's fantastic lines on piano, but also work from Freddie Greene on guitar, Joe Newman and Thad Jones on trumpets, Benny Powell on trombone, Marshall Royal on alto, and both Frank Wess and Frank Foster on tenor and flute! Titles include "Big Red", "Lollypop", "Dolphin Dip", "Low Life", "Slats", "Move", and "Flute Juice". CD

Count Basie and Quincy Jones were always a mighty mighty combination – and there's no finer proof of that fact than this sweet little set! Quincy had a way of swinging Basie's group even more than Neal Hefti did – really letting the piano step out front, and swinging the larger horn parts in this mode that was extremely soulful, yet never with the hoke that could sometimes mar a Basie set – a style that was very 60s groovy, and which really helped breathe new life into the Count's ensemble! The album's a killer all the way through – and the tunes are all originals – written by Quincy, and arranged especially for the set – great little numbers that include "Nasty Magus", "Dum Dum", "Boody Rumble", "Count Em", "Belly Roll", and "Lil Ol Groovemaker Basie"! CD

An excellent album of vocals by the great Joe Williams! Joe's always been a fine singer, but with Basie, he really gets the backing he needs to do his work the best. And although this album isn't as authenico as it might be, it still comes from a time when Verve really knew how to handle singers well. Titles include "Our Love Is Here To Stay", "A Fine Romance", "This Can't Be Love", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", and "There Will Never Be Another You". CD

An excellent album of vocals by the great Joe Williams! Joe's always been a fine singer, but with Basie, he really gets the backing he needs to do his work the best. And although this album isn't as authenico as it might be, it still comes from a time when Verve really knew how to handle singers well. Titles include "Our Love Is Here To Stay", "A Fine Romance", "This Can't Be Love", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", and "There Will Never Be Another You". LP, Vinyl record album

Benny Goodman's famous 1938 live date at Carnegie Hall – with work from Teddy Wilson and Count Basie on piano, Lionel Hampton on vibes, Johnny Hodges on alto, Cootie Williams and Buck Clayton on trumpet, and Lester Young on tenor – plus Gene Krupa on drums, on his famous reading of "Sing Sing Sing". LP, Vinyl record album

Tight trio material from the legendary Richard Groove Holmes – caught live at Count Basie's Nightclub in Harlem, working hard and heavy with a trio that features Gene Edwards on guitar and George Randall on drums! This live set is the kind of record that beautifully shows why Groove was so popular with live audiences in the 60s – because he can burn all night long, with no tricks, no gimmicks, just a straight-on soul jazz groove and some amazing work on the Hammond! Most cuts are pretty long – and there's some great groovers on here like Gerald Wilson's "Blues For Yna Yna", a cover of "Girl From Ipanema", Jimmy Heath's "Gemini", and Groove's own "Living Soul". CD

A gem of a record from this pair of Basie-ites – one that allows Joe Williams to hit some different modes than on his fuller records with the Count – set up here in a nicely relaxed groove with trumpeter Harry Sweets Edison! Arrangements are by Ernie Wilkins, but are more laidback than some of his fuller charts – and we love hearing Joe at a level when he doesn't have to punch it out of the park, and can just fall back in a sweet groove alongside Harry's trumpet, which then often gets a spot to solo on the tune. Charles Thompson plays piano – again with a style that's more easygoing than Basie – and titles include "Out Of Nowhere", "Together", "Winter Weather", "By The River Saint Marie", "Alone Together", "Deep Purple", and "Lover Come Back To Me". LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic double-dip into the mighty catalog of Flying Dutchman Records – one of the hippest early 70s imprints in the worlds of jazz, soul, and funk! The blend of music here is great – as the collection features some key cuts by the bigger names on the label, plus some overlooked gems that really get at the all-great spirit of their recordings – pulled together with a vibe that matches the upbeat, positive spirit of the many other entries in the Free Soul series from Japan! There's plenty of vocal cuts on the collection, but some instrumentals too – and the 2CD package features 39 tracks in all, over 160 minutes of music – with titles that include "Money Honey" by Esther Marrow, "Love Each Other" by Leon Thomas, "Soulful Strut" by Steve Allen, "Heavy Soul Slinger" by Bernard Purdie, "When You Are Who You Are" by Gil Scott-Heron, "Bridges" by Cesar 830, "The Creator Has A Master Plan" by Louis Armstrong, "A Chance For Peace" by Lonnie Liston Smith, "Head Start" by Bob Thiele Emergency, "Tite Rope" by Harold Alexander, "Nicole" by The Cyrkle, "From This Moment On" by Shelly Manne, "He Don't Appreciate It" by Esther Marrow, "Mama Soul" by Harold Alexander, "Just In Time To See The Sun" by Leon Thomas, "This Is The Me Me" by Richard Groove Holmes, "I Think I'll Call It Morning" by Gil Scott-Heron, "El Arriero" by Gato Barbieri, "Footprints" by Lonnie Liston Smith, "Gypsy Queen" by Count Basie, and "See Saw Affair" by Cesar 830. CD

Includes tracks by Les Baxter, Sam Butera, George Auld, King Curtis, Bill Perkins, Plas Johnson, Count Basie, Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle and Louis Prima. CD

A classic album featuring music from The Sound Of Jazz – the legendary 1957 TV show that brought together some of the greatest talents then working in jazz! Unusual for TV, the show really seemed to capture the players at their best – and recorded some tremendous live performances that were among the most moving ever filmed by the artists involved. Highlights include "The Train & The River" played by the Jimmy Giuffre Trio, "Fine & Mellow" sung by Billie Holiday, "Rosetta" and "Wild Man Blues" by the Red Allen All-Stars, "Blues" by Jimmy Giuffre & Pee Wee Russell, "I Left My Baby" by Count Basie with Jimmy Rushing, "Dickie's Dream" by Count Basie, and "Nervous", a solo piano number by Mal Waldron. CD

George Benson more than earns the title on this one – given that most of the tracks feature backings from the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Frank Foster – a great ensemble who really help keep things soulful throughout! Despite the date of the set, the feel here is a bit more classic than most of Benson's work from the time – as the group bring a full acoustic soul to the record – a swelling, swaying brace of horns that seems to push George's vocals a bit more than usual – past that simply sweet style that was the usual Benson bag. There's a range and depth here that's really surprising – a quality that goes past the hokey title, which might make you expect less from the record – and although there's a few brief moments that get slightly contemporary, these pass quickly in favor of a classic groove. Titles include "On Green Dolphin Street", "Without A Song", "Ready Now That You Are", "Basie's Bag", "Skylark", and "How Do You Keep The Music Playing". CD

A great little set that collects 36 tracks by singer Henri Salvador – one of the darlings of the Parisian postwar scene, and a very talented vocalist with a range of styles that runs from Latin jazz to breezy ballads to more tropical-inflected work. The package is a great introduction to Salvador's work – much of which shares the same Latin pacing as Serge Gainsbourg's earliest sides (of the "Colour Cafe" era). Titles include "Une Ile Au Soleil", "Les Papous", "Fugue En Rire", "Faut Rigoler", "Dracula Cha Cha Cha", "Blouse Du Dentiste", "Ma Pipe", "Juanita Banana", and "Count Basie". 36 tracks in all – and a very groovy collection throughout! CD

A very cool package – one that has Frank Sinatra narrating his career in music – as he performs re-recorded versions of classics, with backings by Nelson Riddle, Johnny Mandel, Count Basie, Gordon Jenkins, Don Costa, and Billy May! The spoken bits are wonderful – and the whole thing is one of the best "texts" you could ever find on the Sinatra persona in the 60s! LP, Vinyl record album

A massive collection of classic jazz– includes Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Art Tatum, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, and many others! LP, Vinyl record album

The Readymade crew turn their talents to a host of tracks from the legendary Brunswick Records – serving up a really joyous mix of Chicago soul that definitely lives up to the best side of their sound! Brunswick soul is usually a lot more upbeat and positive than that of some of their contemporaries – filled with pride and power that really comes through in the grooves chosen for this excellent set – a mix of vocal and instrumental cuts that really remind us why we love Windy City soul from this time so much! Titles include "Where Would I Go" by Ginji James, "California Montage" by Young Holt Unlimited, "Stop Look & Listen To Your Heart" by Barbara Acklin, "Whispers" by Erma Franklin, "Sunny" by Young Holt Trio, "Love The One You're With" by Herman, "Girl I Need You" by The Artistics, "I Had It All The Time" by Tyrone Davis, "This Love Is Real" by Jackie Wilson, "Uptight" by Count Basie & Jackie Wilson, and "Sugar Sugar" by Willie Henderson. CD

A smoking set of all-star performances – recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1954, and with a sense of tremendous talent that may well blow away some of the Jazz At The Philharmonic sets of the time! The material here is heavy on Count Basie performances – excellent material from that period when he was really hitting full power again on Verve – with strong solos from Frank Foster and Frank Wess on reeds, plus work from Joe Newman on trumpet! Lester Young's tenor also joins Basie's group at one point – and Sarah Vaughan sings with the group too – but the set also features some more Verve-like performances – from Charlie Parker on alto, and Billie Holiday on vocals, who gets almost one side of the record to herself. There's a huge amount of material on the double-length set – and titles include "My Funny Valentine", "Cool Blues", and "The Song Is You" by Charlie Parker; "Them There Eyes", "My Man", and "Lover Man" by Billie Holiday; "Saturday", "Time", "That Old Devil Moon", and "Don't Blame Me" by Sarah Vaughan; and "Lullaby Of Birdland", "Sure Thing", "Perdido", "Blues Backstage", and "You For Me" by Count Basie. CD