America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years

Count Basie's Columbia years have long been debated, subject to apocryphal written data and legend because of the willy-nilly nature of his tenure with the label and its subsidiaries. Producer Orrin Keepnews has thus assembled America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years, a compilation of Basie's Columbia years that not only makes sense historically; it is a treasure trove for listening. Aesthetics played a grand part in the decision-making process here, as did sound reproduction and discographical accuracy. Over four CDs, the Basie/Columbia collaboration is split into three parts. On disc one and roughly half of two, the small-group recordings are presented, from the original Smith-Jones quintet sessions in 1936 through the 1957 octet recordings. These bands include the 1936 Smith-Jones group that introduced Lester Young and bassist Walter Page to the world via recordings and also included Jimmy Rushing, Jo Jones, and of course, Carl "Tatti" Smith. In addition there is Basie's Bad Boys group, which listed Buck Clayton, Shad Collins, Dicky Wells, and Freddie Green in addition to Basie, Young, Rusing, Page, and Jones. Two selections from these sessions, "Goin' to Chicago Blues" and "Live and Love Tonight," display Basie's considerable abilities on the organ. Though these sessions were recorded in 1939, they didn't appear until 1951 on a 10" LP. Basie's Kansas City Seven -- the previous rhythm section with Lester and Buck -- also recorded in 1939 and are notable for introducing "Lester Leaps In," the saxophonist's signature tune into the canon. From 1942, there are eight cuts from Count Basie & His All American Rhythm Section, which added Don Byas to the smaller band on four. Finally there are two different octet sessions: the Neal Hefti-arranged 1950 octet session with Buddy DeFranco, Buddy Rich, Charlie Rouse, Serge Chaloff, Jimmy Lewis, and Clark Terry as well as Green and Basie, and another octet from 1957 with Wardell Gray, Gus Johnson, and Rudy Rutherford in the mix. There are 30 selections in all from the small groups. On the remainder of disc two and all of three, the Basie orchestra, beginning with the 1939 John Hammond session that resulted in "Rock-a-Bye Basie," is showcased. There are 39 cuts from the various Basie big bands that recorded for the label, including the Young, Clayton, Sweets Edison band that recorded "12th Street Rag," "Pound Cake," and "Nobody Knows" among others. The 1940 band arranged by Don Redman brought Buddy Tate, Vic Dickenson, and Earle Warren to the orchestra and recorded "Five O'Clock Whistle" and "One O'Clock Jump." Bands from 1941-1951 are also included with performances such as "Avenue C," "Stay on It," "Beaver Junction," "Hob Nail Boogie," and "Blue Skies." Finally, disc four portrays the live-in-the-club side of the band taken from radio broadcasts during the musician's union recording bans. The 1939 band recorded at the Famous Door has been often bootlegged but has never sounded this good. A rare broadcast from the Southland Theatre Restaurant from 1940 is excerpted here, and for the conditions it was recorded in, sounds amazing, as does the Cafe Society Uptown gig from 1941, which has also been bootlegged to death with dubious quality before now. In addition to the music, there is a very exhaustive set of notes that diaries the band's progress through the era and offers fine documentation as well as commentary about the developments of the band through the swing and bop eras. America's #1 Band: The Columbia Years and Miles Davis' Complete Jack Johnson Sessions -- also a Legacy production -- were the first real entries into the jazz Christmas present bag for 2003. Apart from that, this set in particular makes sense of a previously only sporadically documented period in the Basie repertoire and catalog. This is painstakingly executed reissue project is top-shelf for the Basie collector. ~ Thom Jurek, Rovi