Count Basie
THE BAND OF
DISTINCTION (2-CD SET)
Personnel:
Joe Newman,
Joe Wilder, Thad Jones, Johnny Mandel (tp), Henry Coker, Benny Powell (tb),
Marshall Royal, Ernie Wilkins, Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Charlie Fowlkes
(saxes), Count Basie (p, org), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Gus Johnson
(d)
Reference: FSRCD 588_2
When this
particular edition of Basies band began rolling in 1953, some observers thought
its soloists were not up to the quality of past Basie units. Within a few
months, this opinion was shown to be well wide of the mark. Almost
single-handedly, Count Basie had given the band business a jolt with this group
and, Basies own immeasurable contributions aside, it was the instrumentalists
themselves who made it a band of distinction.
Joe Newman
became one of the most consistent trumpeters in jazz; trombonists Benny Powell
and Henry Coker had few equals in modern jazz; meanwhile, vigorous tenors Frank
Wess and Frank Foster were on their way to a revered place in the Basie jazz
pantheon. And the rhythm section, with Freddie Green, Eddie Jones, Gus Johnson,
and the Count, was unique in the big band field.
Blazing
power and a zest for blowing was how one critic described Basies band of
distinction. In 1955 it was voted the worlds top jazz band in Down Beats annual
readers poll. For those who will be hearing this Basie band for the first
timewe envy you!
Tracklisting:
CD 1
01. Plymouth
Rock (Hefti) 3:42
02. Blues Go
Away! (Wilkins) 3:20
03. Peace
Pipe (wilkin) 2:28
04. Straight
Life (Mandel) 4:31
05. Bubbles
(Hefti) 3:59
06. Softly
with Feeling (Hefti) 3:06
07. Cherry
Point (Hefti) 3:19
08. Basie
Goes Wess (Wess) 3:53
09. Right On
(Green) 2:38
10. The
Blues Done Come Back (Wilkins) 3:36
11. Slow but
Sure (Albam) 3:43
12. You for
Me (Hefti) 3:10
13. Shes
Just My Size (Wilkins) 4:29
14. Soft
Drink (Jones) 3:06
15. Two for
the Blues (Hefti) 2:48
16. Blues
Backstage (Foster) 4:35
17. I Feel
Like a Newman (Albam) 2:53
18. Down for
the Count (Wilkins) 6:01
CD 2
01.
Stereophonic (Wilkins) 2:23
02. Sixteen
Men Swinging (Wilkins) 3:03
03.
Ska-Di-Dle-Dee-Bee-Doo (Hefti) 3:35
04. Perdido
(Tizol) 4:53
05. Mambo
Mist (Barnes) 4:05
06. Eventide
(Doggett) 4:38
07. Two
Franks (Hefti) 3:15
08. Aint
Misbehavin (Waller-Razaf-Brooks) 3:41
09. Rails
(Gillespie-Harding) 5:55
10. Blee
Blop Blues (Basie) 2:50
11. Basie
Talks (Basie) 3:57
12. Two
Franks (Hefti) 3:08
13. It Could
Happen to You (Burke-Van Heusen) 3:33
14.
Ska-Di-Dle-Dee-Bee-Doo (Hefti) 3:20
15. Slow but
Sure (Albam) 4:26
16. Bubbles
(Hefti) 4:08
17. Dont
Blame Me (McHugh-Fields) 3:44
18. You for
Me (Hefti) 3:39
19. Straight
Life (Mande) 4:59
20. Two for
the Blues (Hefti) 3:18
21. Basie
Goes Wess (Wess) 2:49
Total time: 146:07 min.
Sources - CD 1:
Tracks #1-10
issued on "Dance Session" (Clef MG C-626).
Tracks
#1,5,7,9-13,14,15 & 17 also issued on "King Of Swing" (Clef MG
C-724).
Tracks
#11-15 & 17 issued as "Dance Session #2" (Clef MG C-647).
Tracks #16
& 18 from "Basie" (Clef MG C-666), later issued as "The Band
of Distinction" (Verve MG V-8103).
Sources - CD 2:
Tracks #1,2
& 5 from "Dance Sessions #2".
Tracks
#3,4,6-9 issued on "Basie" and "The Band of Distinction".
Tracks
#10-21 are radio broadcasts.
Personnel on CD 1:
Tracks #1-2:
Reunald Jones, Paul Campbell, Wendell Culley, Joe Newman (tp), Johnny Mandel
(b-tp), Henry Coker, Benny Powell (tb), Marshall Royal (cl, as), Ernie Wilkins
(as, ts), Frank Wess, Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bs), Count Basie (p),
Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Gus Johnson (d). Arrangements by Neal Hefti
(#1) and Ernie Wilkins (#2).
Recorded at
Radio Recorders, Los Angeles, California, on August 13, 1953.
Tracks
#3-10: Reunald Jones, Wendell Culley, Joe Newman, Joe Wilder (tp), Henry Coker,
Benny Powell (tb), Marshall Royal (cl, as), Ernie Wilkins (as, ts), Frank Wess,
Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bs), Count Basie (p, org on #6), Freddie
Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Gus Johnson (d). Arrangements by Ernie Wilkins
(#3,10), Johnny Mandel (#4), Neal Hefti (#5-7), Frank Wess (#8) and Freddie
Green (#9).
Recorded at
Fine Sound, New York City, on December 12, 1953.
Tracks
#11-18: Reunald Jones, Wendell Culley, Joe Newman, Thad Jones (tp), Henry
Coker, Benny Powell, Bill Hughes (tb), Marshall Royal (cl, as), Ernie Wilkins
(as, ts), Frank Wess (fl, ts), Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bs), Count
Basie (p), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Gus Johnson (d). Arrangements by
Manny Albam (#11,14,17), Neal Hefti (#12,15), Ernie Wilkins (#13) and Frank
Foster (#16,18).
Recorded at
Fine Sound, New York City, on August 16, 1954.
Personnel on CD 2:
Tracks #1-9:
Reunald Jones, Thad Jones, Wendell Culley, Joe Newman (tp), Bill Hughes (tb, p
on #3), Henry Coker, Benny Powell (tb), Marshall Royal (cl, as), Ernie Wilkins
(as, ts), Frank Wess (fl, ts), Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bs), Count
Basie (p, out on #3), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Gus Johnson (d).
Arrangements by Ernie Wilkins (#1,2,4,11 & 13), Neal Hefti
(#3,7,12,14,16,18,20), Frank Foster (#6,8), Buster Harding (#9), A.K. Salim
(#10), Manny Albam (#15), Johnny Mandel (#19), Frank Wess (#17,21), unknown
(#5).
Recorded at
Fine Sound, New York City, on August 17, 1954.
Tracks
#10-21: same personnel, with Bixie Crawford (vcl on #13).
Recorded
live at "The Savoy Ballroom," Cleveland, Ohio, July 1954.
Original
studio recordings produced by Norman Granz.
Reissue
produced by Jordi Pujol and "Beethoven" Jean-Michel Reisser.
24-Bit
Digitally Remastered