Released in 1999 to cash in on the resurgence of interest in swing music among post-baby boomers,
Atomic Swing manages to transcend its immediate commercial purpose. It is the first 20-bit remastering of the Roulette library, and the sound quality alone makes it worth picking up. The 13 tracks present were cut by
Basie over a six-year period with
Morris Levy's Roulette Records, and they're a strong mix despite only three of the numbers coming off of the legendary
Atomic Mr. Basie album. Most of the rest is from afterwards -- amazingly, only two of the numbers here -- "The Late, Late Show" and "Taps Miller" -- overlap with Capitol's existing
Best of the Roulette Years, so duplication is a minimum, and the sound is amazingly good. The brass on "Moten Swing" and the broader numbers has equally impressive measures of richness and presence, while softer, moodier pieces like "The Midnight Sun Never Sets" display surprising warmth (but
Eddie Jones' bass and
Freddie Green's guitar also seem very close). There are no notes, but that's not a problem -- the session listing says most of what needs saying.