AOTW Aug. 29-Sept. 4 -- The Best of Early Basie

[Spontooneous]

Free For All Paul asked me to do the AOTW honors. I’m grateful.

This one is a pick for the Basie centennial, albeit a couple of weeks late. Over the decades I’ve known this music, it hasn’t lost a single bit of its joyous power for me.

If you’re not familiar with the sounds herein, you owe it to yourself to experience them. They're a central part of the foundation of so many things that followed — not just in jazz, but also in R&B. They're fun to listen to again and again. And in more than a few moments, they represent the cutting edge of jazz in 1936-39.

I picked this anthology because it’s fairly easy to find. The material is also readily available in different packages: the three-disc Complete Decca Recordings, and some other sets on labels such as Classics and Definitive.

If you’re using a different set, the cuts are:

1. Honeysuckle Rose

2. Roseland Shuffle

3. Boogie Woogie

4. One O’Clock Jump

5. John’s Idea

6. Good Morning Blues

7. Topsy

8. Out the Window

9. Don’t You Miss Your Baby?

10. Blues in the Dark

11. Sent For You Yesterday

12. Every Tub

13. Swingin’ the Blues

14. Blue and Sentimental

15. Doggin’ Around

16. Texas Shuffle

17. Jumpin’ at the Woodside

18. Shorty George

19. Panassie Stomp

20. Jive at Five

21. Oh, Lady Be Good

Some possible lines of discussion: What are your favorite moments here? What have these recordings and these musicians meant to you over the years? And if you’re new to these recordings, what elements here do you connect with most strongly?

More later. But right now, let’s swing out.

Edited August 24, 2004 by Spontooneous

[Big Al]

A great choice! Can't wait to begin discussing this one!

[Spontooneous]

Up for exposure.

A few of my favorite moments here:

-- Buck Clayton's gorgeous obbligato behind Jimmy Rushing on "Don't You Miss Your Baby?" This entire tune is an overlooked treasure. What other band could make the blues so smooth and beautiful without losing the bluesiness?

-- Herschel Evans' earth-shaking entrance on "Sent For You Yesterday."

-- Jack Washington's bari solo on "Topsy." Aw, shoot, EVERYTHING on "Topsy." This is another perfect side.

-- The "Moten Swing" riffs behind Prez's metal clarinet solo on "Blue and Sentimental."

-- Papa Jo's intro to "Panassie Stomp." But Papa Jo was perfect on everything with Basie.

-- The last eight bars of Basie's solo on "John's Idea."

And note that I only mentioned Prez once. He's the guy who ensures that this is music for all time. But to tune out the others and focus on him would be a dreadful mistake.

Edited August 30, 2004 by Spontooneous

[Clunky]

Big omission I know but I don't have any Basie Columbia material, what's the best source, the 4CD box, vinyl ? or just wait for Mosaic to give it the treatment like it's done for Herman?

[Spontooneous]

I don't have the 4 CD Columbia box, and it came in for some sharp criticism on the board (if I had a faster computer I'd hunt it down and link it), but we might be stuck with that box for a long time.

The old Columbia Jazz Masterpieces CD series had at least two Basie volumes, and they hit a lot of the highlights. I'm making do with them, but dreaming of something better.

About 1985, CBS in France issued a fairly complete Basie, with a smattering of unreleased material but none of the alternates, on six 2-LP sets. I've got to admit, a lot of this material dampens my enthusiasm for a complete set.

[Big Al]

It also depends on how much you're willing to live with. IIRC, a lot of the scorn for the Sony set came from completists who were hoping for a complete set. However, if you're looking for a fantastic-sounding overview, the Sony set is about as nice as they come!

Back to the topic at hand, the thing that I love the most about the present set, and for that matter ANY of Basie’s work, is Freddie Green. It’s so subtle as to be almost inaudible, but take it away and it’s like taking away someone’s backbone. It’s THAT important!

And does anyone else find Jimmy Rushing an acquired taste? Maybe my aversion has more to do with wanting to hear more of the instrumentalists than having to hear someone sing. Just my two cents.

[Big Al]

Here's a link to the aforementioned discussion on the Sony box.

[Alon Marcus]

-- Buck Clayton's gorgeous obbligato behind Jimmy Rushing on "Don't You Miss Your Baby?" This entire tune is an overlooked treasure. What other band could make the blues so smooth and beautiful without losing the bluesiness?

Hello, what is an obbligato ?

[mikeos]

Hello, what is an obbligato ?

an elaborate especially melodic part accompanying a solo or principal melody and usually played by a single instrument

a song with violin

[Alon Marcus]

Hello, what is an obbligato ?

an elaborate especially melodic part accompanying a solo or principal melody and usually played by a single instrument

a song with violin

Thank you very much !

[JSngry]

And does anyone else find Jimmy Rushing an acquired taste?

In the sense that food and water are an acquired taste, yeah, I suppose so...

[JSngry]

Too many real highlights to pick just one, but I always get a rush when Jo kicks it up a notch for the out chours of "Honeysuckle Rose".

And Lester deconstructing "Lady Be Good", in stark contrast to his earlier, epochal solo(s) w/Jones-Smith, Inc., that one still induces awe and grins at once.

[Big Al]

And does anyone else find Jimmy Rushing an acquired taste?

In the sense that food and water are an acquired taste, yeah, I suppose so...

[Big Al]

How about that over-amplified clarinet that sends "Jumpin' at the Woodside" into outer space? SWEEEEEEET!!!!