First off, this album is inaccurately titled. Though the cover photo shows
Count Basie with two lavishly dressed Brits, the recording was made in its entirety from a 1956 concert in Gothenburg, Sweden. As far as the music, it represents the
Basie band in a classic time period, playing many well-known, long-lasting, and beloved tunes that everybody will recognize. It's also a band loaded with legendary
Basie sidemen like
Freddie Green,
Sonny Payne,
Thad Jones,
Frank Foster,
Frank Wess,
Joe Newman,
Marshall Royal,
Charlie Fowlkes, and on three tracks,
Joe Williams. The warm, effusive, happy jazz of
Count Basie is well recorded with distinction, presence, good stereo separation, and the restrained yet punchy sound
Basie always presented with dignified class. Whether it's the trombones taking over on "Jumpin' at the Woodside," the low-key sonance of "Shiny Stockings," the roaring horns during "A Foggy Day," or the under-two-minute, hard-charging "One O'Clock Jump," this music is all immediately identifiable and unmistakably
Basie.
Buster Harding's "Nails" is a blues jam with
Green's strumming more audible amidst the echoes of the repeat traditional instrumental line of "my mama done told me" paraphrased from "Blues in the Night," while the
Ernie Wilkins feature for
Frank Foster, "Flute Juice," is a nimble excursion based on the changes of "I Got Rhythm." With
Williams, the band backs the erudite deep-throated singer on a choogling "Alright, Okay, You Win," the quick "Roll 'Em Pete" (where the singer jives about his "gal way up on the hill"), and "The Comeback" (where
Williams declares his return to his baby over a stairstep construct). "Corner Pocket" remains the ultimate signature head-nodding
Basie tune, but "Blee Blop Blues" might be seen as a jab or tease at bop, when it is solidly in that genre. This solid document of
Count Basie's "hits" come highly recommended, despite the disingenuous marketing ploy of it being based somewhere else. [Four extra tracks are included on the CD version, including an up-and-down version of "Yesterdays," a cute, medium-tempo untitled jam with
Basie's piano firmly stamped on it, the explosively crazy three-minute
Wilkins ditty "Sixteen Men Swinging," and
Neal Hefti's "Plymouth Rock," which is a more lyrical vehicle, easygoing and trumpet-infused (possibly
Thad Jones, although he's unidentified as the soloist).] ~ Michael G. Nastos