Duke Ellington & Count Basie - "The Count Meets the Duke: First Time!" (1961) - Columbia Records
Hello Friends,
There's jazz royalty aplenty on this fantastic 1961 LP where the Duke Ellington orchestra and the Count Basie orchestra team up for a big band supergroup.
The bombastic and uptempo Ellington composition, "Battle Royal" kicks things off. Right away you can tell there's a lot of talent in the studio but these professionals are not going to let the sound become too overwhelming or overcrowded sounding.
Thad Jones's subtle and restrained ballad, "To You" is up next and it quiets everything down a bit with its melancholy mood. Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train" and Freddie Greene's "Until I Met You" (formerly known as "Corner Pocket") round out the first side of the LP. The latter features some great, understated dueling pianos courtesy of Count & Duke.
Side Two begins with another Ellington tune, the exotic-sounding "Wild Man". The musicians featured here play like a who's who jazz greats including Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Johnny Hodges, Thad Jones, Cat Anderson, Frank Foster & Paul Gonsalves.
"Segue in C" is from the Basie songbook and "BDB" (for Basie, Duke & Billy) is an original composition from Ellington & Strayhorn written for these sessions.
The closing number, "Jumpin' at the Woodside" is the old Basie standard on steroids.
A highly enjoyable record, the first and (unfortunately) last of its kind! By 1961, the era of the Big Band was long past its prime. The hipsters had all moved onto bebop and the youngsters were embracing Rock & Roll. Basie and Ellington, both pillars of the art form they helped create, would hang around for a few more years and continue to produce some pretty great music. Ellington would pass away in 1974 and Basie, ten years later, in 1984. Giants among giants, they don't make 'em like this anymore! (I'm looking at you Skrillex!)
RATING: 4.5 Quickest Ways to Harlem out of 5
There's jazz royalty aplenty on this fantastic 1961 LP where the Duke Ellington orchestra and the Count Basie orchestra team up for a big band supergroup.
The bombastic and uptempo Ellington composition, "Battle Royal" kicks things off. Right away you can tell there's a lot of talent in the studio but these professionals are not going to let the sound become too overwhelming or overcrowded sounding.
Thad Jones's subtle and restrained ballad, "To You" is up next and it quiets everything down a bit with its melancholy mood. Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train" and Freddie Greene's "Until I Met You" (formerly known as "Corner Pocket") round out the first side of the LP. The latter features some great, understated dueling pianos courtesy of Count & Duke.
Side Two begins with another Ellington tune, the exotic-sounding "Wild Man". The musicians featured here play like a who's who jazz greats including Juan Tizol, Lawrence Brown, Johnny Hodges, Thad Jones, Cat Anderson, Frank Foster & Paul Gonsalves.
"Segue in C" is from the Basie songbook and "BDB" (for Basie, Duke & Billy) is an original composition from Ellington & Strayhorn written for these sessions.
The closing number, "Jumpin' at the Woodside" is the old Basie standard on steroids.
A highly enjoyable record, the first and (unfortunately) last of its kind! By 1961, the era of the Big Band was long past its prime. The hipsters had all moved onto bebop and the youngsters were embracing Rock & Roll. Basie and Ellington, both pillars of the art form they helped create, would hang around for a few more years and continue to produce some pretty great music. Ellington would pass away in 1974 and Basie, ten years later, in 1984. Giants among giants, they don't make 'em like this anymore! (I'm looking at you Skrillex!)
RATING: 4.5 Quickest Ways to Harlem out of 5
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