Arthur Prysock & Count Basie

Count Basie, Arthur Prysock | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B0000046Y9
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,821 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

CD featuring Count Basie and Arthur Prysock.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Natural Combination, August 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Arthur Prysock & Count Basie (Audio CD)

This is apparently the only album which Prysock and Basie recorded together and one wonders why the two men chose not to reunite. This is a wonderful album. Basie's great BIG band is at its most brash and magnificent and Prysock fits in perfectly; sounding almost as if he'd been singing with the band for years. So many of the recordings on this album are so good they sound pretty well definitive, especially "Gone Again", "I Worry 'Bout You" and even Ellington's great "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me". Prysock's deep yet wide-ranging and characterful baritone is ideal for interpreting high quality standard material. If you like the Basie sound and have an appreciation for the leader's ability to back great vocalists (and Prysock was, despite his relative anonymity) with style and enthusiasm, then this album is an essential purchase.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crooner Prysock & Swinging Basie Magic ! ! !, November 28, 2001

By 

Eddie Landsberg "My 10th year as a reviewer !... (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Arthur Prysock & Count Basie (Audio CD)

As soon as you get this CD, run to your CD player, set the highs and lows just right and before you lay back to get whisked away to the soulful and swingin' side of heaven (listening to it straight through) listen to tracks 5 and 6 - - I got this CD because I'm a Jazz organist... and at many of the spots I play, when you walk you walk through the door, the first thing you're going to hear is some PRYSOCK on the juke box. You're going to hear it... you're going to feel it... you're going to smell it.. that distinct bass vibrato, the bluesy romantic crooning... and 90% chance, the next selection in the Juke box will be some Jimmy McGriff.

Arthur Prysock, despite his enormous following in "some circles" never really got his kudos in others, and I'm happy I found him. What I found equally interesting when I got this CD were the tracks featuring Count Basie on Organ. It is a relatively little known fact - - but Count Basie was actually one of the first Jazz musicians to "doodle" on the Hammond... his musings would pave ground for the heavy swinging Wild Bill, and later, the young JOS from Norristown. - - As I listened to "I Could Have Told You" and glanced down at the label, it should have come as no surprize that the CD was recorded by Mr. Blue Note himself - - Rudy Van Gelder - - In fact this recording actually represents The Count's only recording at Rudy's place !

All in all, the Count's (and Dick Hyman's) organic augmentation here and there represent only a few moments of the album... and rightfuly so take a back seat of course to the man of the hour... the unrivaled Arthur Prysock, who's powerful, rich and emotional voice is well supported by the tightly swinging and well arranged Count Basie Orchestra. -- Though this CD is a bit "brighter" and more swinging than the darkly romantic bluesy ballads that I feel epitomize the PRYSOCK SOUND, and there are even a few moments he seems a bit pushed, this CD definitely serves as an incredible meeting of Jazz greats - - It is definitely a classic bluesy and swinging moment captured in time !

Follow this CD up with Dakota Staton's I WANT A COUNTRY MAN...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing like the big band music, March 13, 2007

By 

Luci DMari "Luci D'Mari" (Highland, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Arthur Prysock & Count Basie (Audio CD)

I heard the song "Don't go to Strangers" on the Internet. It is one of my favorites so I found the artist and learned that he did this album with Count Basie. I listened to excerpts of each song and knew that I wanted it in my collection. I knew Count Basie was one of the best but I had never heard of Arthur Prysock. Needless to say I've heard of him now. I enjoy the CD immensely.