COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1943-1945 | The Classics Chronological Series – 801 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This interesting CD mostly reissues the V-Discs of Count Basie's Orchestra, performed during a time when the musicians' union strike kept the Basie band off records. Lester Young is heard back with Basie on five numbers from May 27, 1944. Otherwise, the band was much more stable than most swing bands of the war years, making it to December 1944 when it was able to resume its recordings for the Columbia label. There was not much change in the orchestra's swinging style during this era, as can be heard on such enjoyable pieces as "G.I. Stomp," "Yeah Man!," "Circus in Rhythm," two versions of "Taps Miller," and "Old Manuscript." Scott Yanow  Tracklist + Credits :

BENNY GOODMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936-1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 858 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The addition of Harry James to Benny Goodman & His Orchestra in January 1937 gave Benny Goodman one of the greatest trumpet sections ever with James, Ziggy Elman, and Chris Griffin all able to play both solos and lead. Gene Krupa's drumming became increasingly assertive during this period, adding excitement to the band even if Goodman was not sure that he enjoyed the change in the group's sound. Helen Ward's decision to retire at the end of 1936 was unfortunate (she would never regain the fame that she had at that moment) and it would take Goodman much of 1937 before finding the right vocalist. But with that trumpet section, Jess Stacy, Krupa, and the Benny Goodman Trio and quartet, not to mention the leader's clarinet, this was a classic band -- the most popular in the music world. Among the many highlights on this CD are the Benny Goodman Trio's version of "Tiger Rag," the Benny Goodman Quartet on "Stompin' at the Savoy," Ella Fitzgerald guesting on "Goodnight My Love," "Peckin'," and the original studio version of "Sing, Sing, Sing." Scott Yanow
Tracklist :

BENNIE MOTEN's KANSAS CITY ORCHESTRA – 1929-1930 | The Classics Chronological Series – 578 (1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

From 1929-30, the Bennie Moten Orchestra could hold its own with fellow big bands like Fletcher Henderson, Paul Whiteman and McKinney's Cotton Pickers, although it was the least known nationally of the four. The third of four Classics CDs completely reissuing Moten's recordings finds the young Count Basie taking over the piano slot and such stars joining the band as singer Jimmy Rushing and (by 1930) trumpeter Hot Lips Page. With cornetist Ed Lewis, Eddie Durham on trombone and guitar, clarinetist Harlan Leonard and Buster Moten (on accordion) also heard from, this was a mighty orchestra, as displayed on such numbers as "New Goofy Dust Rag," "The Jones Law Blues" and "New Vine Street Blues." The four imported Classics sets are certainly more complete than the two CDs put out domestically by Bluebird. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    That Certain Motion    3:00
 Bennie Moten
2    It Won't Be Long    2:47
 Bennie Moten
3    When Life Seems So Blue    2:50
 Bennie Moten
4    Loose Like A Goose    2:54
 Bennie Moten
5    Just Say It's Me    2:52
 Bennie Moten
6    New Goofy Dust Rag    2:38
 Bennie Moten
7    Rumba Negro (Spanish Stomp)    2:47
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
8    The Jones Law Blues    3:05
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
9    Band Box Shuffle    2:27
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
10    Small Black    3:18
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
11    Every Day Blues (Yo Yo Blues)    3:05
 Eddie Durham / Bennie Moten
12    Boot It    3:13
 Bennie Moten
13    Mary Lee    3:15
 Bennie Moten / Speckled Red
14    Rit-Dit-Ray 2:46
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
Vocals – Willie McWashington
15    New Vine Street Blues    2:58
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
16    Sweetheart Of Yesterday    2:37
 Bennie Moten / Carl Sigman
17    Won't You Be My Baby? 3:11
 Bennie Moten / Jimmy Rushing
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
18    I Wish I Could Be Blue    3:08
 Count Basie / Eddie Durham / Bennie Moten
19    h! Eddie    2:54
 Eddie Durham / Bennie Moten
20    That Too, Do 3:18
 Count Basie / Eddie Durham / Bennie Moten
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
21    Mack's Rhythm    3:00
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten
22    You Made Me Happy    3:20
 Eddie Durham / Bennie Moten
23    Here Comes Marjorie    2:53
 Bennie Moten / Henri Woode
Credits :    
Banjo – Leroy Berry (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 23)
Brass Bass – Vernon Page (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 23)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Jack Washington (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 23)
Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Harlan Leonard (tracks: 1 to 3, 6 to 23)
Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Woody Walder
Cornet – Booker Washington (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 23), Ed Lewis (tracks: 1 to 3, 5 to 23)
Directed By – Bennie Moten
Drums – Willie McWashington
Piano – Bennie Moten (tracks: 1 to 6), Count Basie (tracks: 7 to 23)
Piano Accordion, Piano – Buster Moten
Trombone – Thamon Hayes (tracks: 1 to 3, 6 to 23)
Trombone, Guitar – Eddie Durham (tracks: 7 to 23)
Trumpet – Oran "Hot Lips" Page (tracks: 17 to 23)

BENNIE MOTEN's KANSAS CITY ORCHESTRA – 1930-1932 | The Classics Chronological Series – 591 (1991) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The final of the four "complete" Bennie Moten Classics CDs, which contain all of the orchestra's recordings except for a dozen alternate takes, has the band's final selections from 1930 (including some vocals by Jimmy Rushing) and then all of the music from Moten's classic final session of Dec. 13, 1932. With trumpeter Hot Lips Page, trombonist Dan Minor, Eddie Durham (the main arranger) on trombone and guitar, baritonist Jack Washington, Ben Webster on tenor, bassist Walter Page and pianist Count Basie, the orchestra at times almost sounds like the Count Basie big band of 1937. "Toby," the original version of "Moten Swing," "The Blue Room," "Milenberg Joys," "Lafayette" and "Prince of Wails" are among the many memorable selections. Highly recommended. Scott Yanow
Tracklist :
1    The Count    3:10
 Tom Gordon
2    Liza Lee 3:01
 Bud Green / Sam H. Stept
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
3    Get Goin' (Get Ready To Love) 3:00
 Tot Seymour
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
4    Professor Hot Stuff    3:21
 Count Basie / Eddie Durham / Bennie Moten
5    When I'm Alone 3:15
 Bennie Moten / Jimmy Rushing
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
6    New Moten Stomp    2:52
 Bennie Moten
7    As Long As I Love You (Jeanette) 3:07
 Bennie Moten / L. Wood
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
8    Somebody Stole My Gal 3:02
 Leo Wood
Vocals – Count Basie
9    Now That I Need You 3:00
 Count Basie / Bennie Moten / Pinetop Smith
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
10    Bouncin' Round    3:08
 Bennie Moten
11    Ya Got Love 3:14
 Al Goodhart / Al Hoffman / Oliver Nelson
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
12    I Wanna Be Around My Baby All The Time 2:55
 George W. Meyer / Joe Young
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
13    Toby    3:24
 Eddie Barefield / Bennie Moten
14    Moten Swing    3:18
 Bennie Moten
15    The Blue Room    3:18
 Lorenz Hart / Richard Rodgers
16    Imagination 3:25
 B. Russell
Vocals – The Sterling Russell Trio
17    New Orleans 2:59
 Hoagy Carmichael
Vocals – Jimmy Rushing
18    The Only Girl I Ever Loved 3:10
 Bobby Ziegler
Vocals – The Sterling Russell Trio
19    Milenberg Joys    2:45
 Walter Melrose / Jelly Roll Morton
20    Lafayette    2:45
 Count Basie / Eddie Durham
21    Prince Of Wails    2:49
 Elmer Schoebel
22    Two Times 3:07
Sauberg
Credits :    
Banjo – Leroy Berry (tracks: 1 to 21)
Bass [String] – Walter Page (tracks: 13 to 22)
Brass Bass – Vernon Page (tracks: 1 to 12)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Eddie Barefield (tracks: 13 to 22)
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Jack Washington (tracks: 1 to 21)
Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Harlan Leonard (tracks: 1 to 12)
Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone – Woody Walder (tracks: 1 to 12)
Directed By – Bennie Moten
Drums – Willie McWashington
Piano – Count Basie
Piano Accordion, Piano – Ira "Buster" Moten (tracks: 1 to 12)
Tenor Saxophone – Ben Webster (tracks: 13 to 21)
Trombone – Dan Minor (tracks: 13 to 21), Thamon Hayes (tracks: 1 to 12)
Trombone, Guitar – Eddie Durham
Trumpet – Booker Washington (tracks: 1 to 12), Ed Lewis (tracks: 1 to 12), Oran "Hot Lips" Page, Joe Keyes (tracks: 13 to 21), Dee Stewart (tracks: 13 to 21)

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936-1938 – The Classics Chronological Series – 503 (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Bill (Count) Basie first shows up on record at the end of the 1920s, playing piano with Bennie Moten & the Kansas City Orchestra. Legend has it that Basie became a "Count" after Moten teasingly referred to him as "that no-account Basie." Classics No. 503 presents Basie's first recordings as a leader. On October 9th, 1936, a five-piece band cut two instrumental stomps and a pair of blues with vocals by Jimmy Rushing. Since Basie was breaking a contract by recording for the Vocalion label, the band was billed as "Jones-Smith, Inc." The "Jones" was drummer Jo Jones, and the "Smith" was trumpeter Carl Smith, filling in that day for Buck Clayton, who had a split lip. Basie opened up "Shoe Shine Boy" with a bit of his own brand of Harlem stride piano, powerfully supported by Walter Page's bass fiddle. Lester Young, shining like the rising sun, was making his very first appearance on phonograph record. Strong as nails, full of ideas and rhythmic enthusiasm, Young was obviously happy to be cooking in front of the microphone that day. On the 21st of January, 1937 the Count Basie Orchestra became a phonographic reality, utilizing former members of Walter Page's Blue Devils and Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra. Basie honored his Harlem roots by dishing up a smart instrumental treatment of Fats Waller's "Honeysuckle Rose," and a stomp dedicated to Waller's preferred cathouse, the Daisy Chain. "Roseland Shuffle" is remarkable for the extended "conversation" between Lester Young's sax and Basie's piano. Jimmy Rushing is often narrowly categorized as a blues singer rather than a versatile jazz vocalist who could sing anything, including the blues, with extraordinary passion. Rushing had developed himself as a singer of pop songs with Moten, so it's not surprising that he does so well with "Pennies From Heaven." Rushing often made it seem as though he himself had written the songs he sang. He did all he could with "Boo Hoo," a cutesy Guy Lombardo hit made into a smoking instrumental in 1937 by Fats Waller His Rhythm & His Orchestra. Waller sang on his own version of "Smarty," while Basie was wise enough to keep it instrumental. This left more room for a solo by Herschel Evans, who shared clarinet and tenor sax responsibilities with Lester Young. The March 26, 1937 version of "Boogie Woogie" is a big band expansion of the blues shuffle recorded with the small group five months earlier, and the effect is anything but redundant. What an amazing band! "One O'Clock Jump" made its very first appearance in July of '37, featuring Lester Young in all his glory. Compare his solo with that of Herschel Evans' on "John's Idea" and you'll be savoring one of the greatest tenor sax dichotomies in the history of big band jazz. Evans sounds like Coleman Hawkins or Chu Berry. Young sounds like Young and nobody else. In just a few years, half the tenors in the world would be trying to sound exactly like him. 1937 and '38 were wonderful years for this group of musicians. Things evolved steadily. New energies gradually began to pervade the ensemble: Earle Warren, Freddie Green, Eddie Durham, Benny Morton. Each man brought his personality along with his chops. The future looked, and was, very bright for Basie's Orchestra. What a treat to catch this wonderful band as it perpetually reinvented itself for all to hear. arwulf arwulf

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1938-1939 | The Classics Chronological Series – 504 (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The second Count Basie release on the Classics label, 1938-1939 offers a generous helping of the prime, groundbreaking swing the group brought to the national limelight from 1936-1942. These original Decca sides include everything from full-band charts by arranger Eddie Durham and fine vocals by Jimmy Rushing and Helen Humes to rare cuts of Basie accompanied only by his rhythm section. And, of course, there are many fine solos by star instrumentalist and jazz legend Lester Young, who came up with Basie between 1936-1940. In addition to Young's fine tenor saxophone statement on "Every Tub," other stellar contributions are made by trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, trombonist Dickie Wells, and unsung reed player Herschel Evans, whose tenor solos on "Blue and Sentimental," "Doggin' Around," and his own composition "Texas Shuffle" especially stand out. Throughout the set, rhythm section members drummer Jo Jones, bassist Walter Page, and guitarist Freddie Green provide the kind of streamlined swing that not only became manna for dancers during the late '30s, but also garnered the admiration of jazz musicians all over the world. This is a nicely varied and highly gratifying set of Basie tunes. The sound is great too. [For those who want to get all of Basie's Decca sides on one collection instead of spread out over individual discs, there's MCA's 3-CD set Original American Decca Recordings.] Stephen Cook  

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1939 Vol.2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 533 (1990) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The Count Basie Orchestra may not have been the number one band popularity-wise in 1939 (Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw were ahead of Basie), but it was certainly the most swinging ensemble. With Buck Clayton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dicky Wells, Lester Young, and Buddy Tate as major soloists, Jimmy Rushing and Helen Humes providing vocals, and the Basie rhythm section saying so much with so little, few bands were in Basie's league. This set has a variety of Columbia/Vocalion recordings from 1939, including the two-part "Miss Thing," "You Can Count on Me," "Song of the Islands," "I Left My Baby," and two numbers from a small-group date ("Dickie's Dream" and "Lester Leaps In"); there are plenty of gems to choose from, although one does regret the lack of any alternate takes, as is Classics' custom. Scott Yanow

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1939-1940 | The Classics Chronological Series – 563 (1991) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

The Count Basie Orchestra continued to grow in strength during the period covered by this CD, with Vic Dickenson replacing Benny Morton in the trombone section, high-note trumpeter Al Killian taking over for Ed Lewis, and Tab Smith being added as an alto soloist. Among the classics recorded by the definitive swing band are "I Never Knew," "Tickle Toe," "Louisiana," "Easy Does It," "Somebody Stole My Gal," "Super Chief," and a remake of "Moten Swing." This set would be well worth acquiring if only for the Lester Young solos, and there is much more to savor including spots for Buck Clayton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dicky Wells, Buddy Tate, Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, and Basie himself. Scott Yanow

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1941 | The Classics Chronological Series – 652 (1992) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Even after the loss of Lester Young, the Count Basie Orchestra was still in fine form on the recordings on this CD, which end right before Pearl Harbor. Trombonist Dicky Wells is mostly absent (he would be back) and Helen Humes had departed (replaced temporarily by singer Lynne Sherman). Meanwhile, Buck Clayton had blossomed as a writer (as can be heard on "Fiesta in Blue"), the band recorded such fine numbers as "Diggin' for Dex," "More Than You Know," and "Harvard Blues," and singer Paul Robeson guested on a tribute to boxer Joe Louis, "King Joe." Scott Yanow

COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1947-1949 The Classics Chronological Series – 1107 (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Classics #1107 focuses on the final three years in the initial career of Count Basie's big band, 1947-1949. While the classic Lester Young era had already been shaped ten years earlier, this version of the Basie band still featured a bevy of talent including Sweets Edison, Clark Terry, Emmett Berry, Melba Liston, Paul Gonsalves, and Dickie Wells. The majority of vocals are handled by Jimmy Rushing, including the last he would record with Basie, "Walkin Slow Behind You." Jeanne Taylor, Bobby Troup, Taps Miller, and Billy Valentine also make brief vocal appearances. These initial 1947 cuts were recorded right before the second record ban in December of that year. Basie's orchestra would not record again until 1949 when the big-band era was coming to a close and the record ban ended. In 1950, Basie had to restructure the orchestra into a small combo until he could financially reform the big band a few years later. Al Campbell