Author: Count Basie

Format: Best of

PartNumber: 7.24E+11

Release Date: 01-10-2013

Details: Amazon.caBristling with excitement and electricity, this 1958 album represents the finest accomplishment of Count Basie’s “New Testament” big band. His “Old Testament” band of the late 1930s, featuring stars Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Dickie Wells, and Buck Clayton, perfected the blues-drenched, straight 4/4 rhythm of Kansas City swing. Building on the blues foundation, this 1950s band features more ambitious compositions and a more dynamic sound and incorporates more modern developments. One constant, however, is the anchoring rhythm guitar of Freddie Green. As always, Basie can dig deeply into robust stride statements or choose each note as if he had to pay for them separately. Neal Hefti, the primary composer and arranger here, marvelously captures the strengths of each individual musician. His arr