Customer Reviews

Basie Plays Hefti

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Look, Basie fand have been hoping this would be released on CD for years. One of his best Roulette efforts that EMI in the USA has stubbornly kept locked in the vaults. This Japanese issue is the only way at present to get this on CD- in this case packaged in a mini-LP sleeeve with the original liner notes and cover art.

The album is as memorable as ever. The transfer is from a stereo master tape that is starting to show it's age. Expect a few minor drop outs and one major one within the first 5 seconds of the very first cut. The hiss level is about what you would have expected for 1959. A more careful transfer might have helped these problems along, but it might just be that the tape is this far gone.

If you are a Basie fan this album certainly belongs in your collection.

I love these mini LPs from Japan. I also love the Count Basie Band. But our friends from Japan messed this one up pretty badly. First, the original Roulette label used for the CD face is the orange and yellow edition, which is NOT the original red, yellow, blue & green bars over white label. Second, the sound is not the beautifully restored sounds you will get from Mosiac Records. Instead, it is an older master which was used on the 1987-1988 Vogue releases from France. So as the other reviewer points out, you will hear a lot of tape dropouts. This is particularly notable this Basie series of CDs from Japan. Hopefully (but I doubt it will happen) the Japanese company will re-release the ENTIRE line of Basie Roulette recordings (and Maynard too, please!) and get it right the second time around.