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Count Basie Orchestra: Count Basie Orchestra: Swinging, Singing, Playing

By Robert J. Robbins
September 22, 2009
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Count Basie Orchestra

Swinging, Singing, Playing

Mack Avenue

2009

Although over a quarter-century has elapsed since the passing of

Count Basie

piano
1904 - 1984

" data-original-title="" title="">Count Basie in 1984, the bandleader and pianist's legacy has proved one of the most durable from the big band era, and the Basie band's Swinging, Singing, Playing maintains the Basie tradition and carries it triumphantly into the new millennium. Dennis Wilson (not to be confused with his late Beach Boys namesake), who served in the Basie trombone section from 1977-87, first under Basie himself, then under

Thad Jones

trumpet
1923 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Thad Jones and

Frank Foster

saxophone
1928 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Foster, returns to conduct the current ensemble in eleven of his own Basie-styled charts, including four original compositions. (Wilson is now Professor of Music at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor).

"Giant Blues Flag Waver" is Wilson's compositional opening salvo, in which the traditional Basie groove joins forces with

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," with tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence, drummer Marion Felder and guest pianist

Geri Allen

piano
1957 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Geri Allen in the solo spotlight. Another guest, bassist

Rufus Reid

bass, acoustic
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Rufus Reid, captures solo honors on "Naiomi's Blues," which Wilson named for his daughter. Wilson says that he composed "Dark Morning" on the very day of Basie's death. It has remained unrecorded until here, where it receives a midnight-blue velvet treatment reminiscent of

Neal Hefti

trumpet
1922 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Neal Hefti's "Li'l Darlin'" and

Henry Mancini

composer / conductor
1924 - 1994

" data-original-title="" title="">Henry Mancini's "Dreamsville." It's highlighted by Michael Williams' bucket-muted trumpet saluting

Freddie Hubbard

trumpet
1938 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Freddie Hubbard.

The 87-year-old scat master

Jon Hendricks

vocals
1921 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Jon Hendricks teams with the thirtysomething British show business prodigy

Jamie Cullum

vocals
b.1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Jamie Cullum at the piano on the Basie-meets-

James Brown

vocals
1933 - 2006

" data-original-title="" title="">James Brown (plus a hint of

Joe Zawinul

keyboards
1932 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Zawinul's "Birdland") "Blues On Mack Avenue," which also features Wilson in a plunger-muted solo saluting the late Basie trombonist

Al Grey

trombone
1925 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Al Grey, in addition to an open statement by Wilson's Basie predecessor

Curtis Fuller

trombone
1934 - 2021

" data-original-title="" title="">Curtis Fuller. (The album closes with the iconic Basie piano tag, on which Cullum maintains the final chord in a nod to The Beatles' "A Day In the Life," accompanied by Hendricks' laughter).

Flutist

Frank Wess

saxophone, tenor
1922 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Frank Wess, a Basie veteran of nearly three decades (he introduced the flute into the Basie repertoire while doubling on alto and tenor), rejoins the band for

Quincy Jones

arranger
1933 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Quincy Jones's "Jessica's Day," nearly 50 years after he first recorded the tune with Basie. Wilson has expanded Wess' flute lead on the original recording, Basie One More Time (Roulette, 1960), into a fully-realized solo feature, and the octogenarian Wess succeeds brilliantly.

In 1985, the Basie ensemble under Thad Jones appeared on

The Manhattan Transfer

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">The Manhattan Transfer's Grammy-winning Vocalese album (Atlantic, since reissued on Rhino), and one of the vocal quartet's founding members, Janis Siegel, reunites with the band in tributes to

Ella Fitzgerald

vocals
1917 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Ella Fitzgerald and

Sarah Vaughan

vocals
1924 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Sarah Vaughan, both of whom enjoyed long associations with Basie.

Andre Previn

piano
1929 - 2019

" data-original-title="" title="">Andre Previn's late-1950s paean to hipness "Like Young" is firmly in "First Lady Of Song" vein, while "Close Your Eyes" and "I Have Waited So Long," composed by Vaughan herself and featuring just the sax section led by the superb Marshall McDonald, echo "The Divine One," as Vaughan was nicknamed. Thad's older brother, the nonagenarian

Hank Jones

piano
1918 - 2010

" data-original-title="" title="">Hank Jones, provides outstanding piano accompaniment to all of Siegel's vocals.

The album's sole liability is vocalist

Nnenna Freelon

vocals
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Nnenna Freelon on "Too Close for Comfort" and

Jerome Kern

arranger
1895 - 1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Jerome Kern's "Yesterdays." She sings flat on the latter and her attempts at scat do not match those of either Siegel or Hendricks elsewhere on the CD ("Yesterdays" is redeemed by the electrifying drumming of Basie veteran

Butch Miles

drums
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Butch Miles. Cullum's vocal contribution is the Oscar Levant/Stanley Adams standard "Blame It On My Youth," which Wilson indicates as a salute to

Tony Bennett

vocals
1926 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Tony Bennett, whose A Swingin' Christmas (Sony/Columbia, 2008), featuring the Basie band, was recorded just a few months earlier. On all other "Counts," however, Swinging, Singing, and Playing is an absolute winner.

Tracks: Too Close for Comfort; Giant Blues Flag Waver; Like Young; Jessica's Day; Blame It On My Youth; Close Your Eyes; Naiomi's Blues; Yesterdays; I Have Waited So Long; Dark Morning; Blues On Mack Avenue.

Personnel: Dennis Wilson: conductor, composer, arranger, trombone; Bill Hughes: leader, bass trombone; Marshall McDonald: lead alto sax; Grant Langford: alto sax; Doug Lawrence: tenor sax; Doug Miller: tenor sax; John Williams: baritone sax; William "Scotty" Barnhart: trumpet; Michael Williams: trumpet; Kris Johnson: trumpet; James Zollar: trumpet; Dave Keim: lead trombone; Clarence Bank: trombone; Alvin Walker: trombone; Barry Cooper: bass trombone; Tony Suggs: piano; Will Matthews: guitar; James Leary: bass; Marion Felder: drums. Guest Artists: Nnenna Freelon: vocals; Janis Siegel: vocals; Jon Hendricks: vocals; Jamie Cullum: vocals, piano; Geri Allen: piano; Hank Jones: piano; Rufus Reid: bass; Butch Miles: drums; Frank Wess: flute; Curtis Fuller: trombone.

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Personnel

Count Basie

piano

Album information

Title: Count Basie Orchestra: Swinging, Singing, Playing | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Mack Avenue Records

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