5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Compilation by Pablo!, January 16, 2004
This review is from: Best of (Audio CD)
First of all, the other review on this page is completely wrong. This CD does not feature Neil Hefti compositions, nor does it feature Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. This is an amazing compilation of mostly Bill Holman compositions. Any of you familiar with Bill Holman know that he is a very talented writer/arranger that played tenor sax with Stan Kenton. His writing is witty, bold, and a little bit against the grain for this Basie band. However, the result is a magical array of highly counterpuntal rhythms that drive into seemingly meaningless drones of hardcore swinging jazz with emerging soloists like Roy Eldridge! As a trumpet player, I'm happy to just hear him on this recording, but don't miss Curtis Fuller in the trombone section! What a tight sound Pablo has acheived with this release; the hi-fi recording pays respects to these fine tunes from this legendary group of musicians brought together under the King who loved to drive that backbeat to the ground. This band surely accomplishes that feat, even through Holman's attempt to complicate rhythmic patterns. Unfortunately, there are no liner notes. This is because the music speaks for itself, people. For me, Flirt (Track 4) is the highlight of this Best Of. Listeners might also enjoy the fact that tracks 6 & 7 are quintet only featuring Eldridge(t), Johnny Griffin(ts), Niels Pederson(b), Louie Bellson(d), Milt Jackson(v), & Basie tickling the ivories. They're also live! To me, this is a quintessential Basie recording. Get it now!
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