Customer Reviews

Complete Atomic Basie

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Of course this is not the ground-breaking band that featured Lester Young and the Basie rhythm section in the late 30s, but it's a great band, with more power and drive than that band, and just as much swing. Did I really say that? The power comes from abigger band and better recording techniques. Lockjaw Davis's presence is wonderful. Whirlybird and Flight of the Foobirds are super cuts. This is NOT the first Basie disk you should buy, but it is about #6, and since #1-4 (the three disk set of Basie on Decca and Vols. 1,2,3 on Columbia) are in my top 10 jazz disks overall, this is a high recommendation. The Best of Jazz issue of Basie is superb by the way, if you only want to buy one.

Though I prefer the Basie band of the 30's, this is an awesome collection of later work from 1958, enhanced by kickin' arrangements by Neal Hefti. Hefti is better known for working with Sinatra in the 50's, but I feel his work with Basie is more innovative and vibrant than his collaboration with Frank. Another plus is the sound quality on this disc, which greatly surpases anything Basie recorded in the Depression. You can really hear the brass section, especially when you pump up the volume, and how can you not do that considering this is the inimitable Basie? The trumpet solos really soar and Basie's distinctive one-fingered approach to the piano is highlighted by the mixing here. My two favorite tracks have got to be the fantastic Whirlybird, closely followed by Lil' Darlin'. Again, the arrangements on these tracks is first rate and the sound quality is awesome.

The only reason I am not giving this collection 5 stars is because I prefer the Basie band in a live setting, when they would always pull out the stops and just swing it to the ceiling. Check out Basie at the Sands for an example of his band in a live forum. Otherwise, this disc is stellar all the way!

This is wonderful from top to bottom. Basie's band swings powerfully, precisely and freely. Hefti's tunes and arrangements are the best. If you want to hear the sound of sixteen very happy great musicians at the top of their form, check this out!

With all that happened in jazz after be-bop, big band jazz may be the last genre you land on. Listen to Steely Dan and this takes you to Miles, and Miles piggybacks you to Coltrane. If you are a rock person, it can take years to discover jazz prior to 1960. You are probably a jazz modernist, and big band seems like grandpas music.

Well, I am here to tell you, this logic is just wrong, and you need look no further than this album. Atomic Basie is big blues with warm, loving arms. The arrangements are lush as on any Beatles or electric Miles album. 1950s music, this comes at you with the embrasing sound of tube recording. This is a varried blues, with tons of instrumental textures, and nuances. Happy little chord subtitutions pop from Basie's charts constantly.

Soon, you are hooked, cuddling with this most mainstreem and inviting of jazz like a puppy in a blanket. The sophistication here, and there is plenty, comes from the layering of the instruments. The suave shading Basie puts in every messure. The little toots of muted horns that work as part of a rich whole. Nothing will stand out like a Coltrane solo or a Tony Williams drum abstraction, but the genius is the synergy of sound--the subtle little entrences and exits that you discover over years of hearing Atomic Basie.


So go ahead--listen to Ascention, Mahavishnu, Henry Cow, all the stuff that has become part of the diet for true music freaks like us.

But do yourself a favor: DIG ON THIS, too.

The Complete Atomic Basie is a fun, eminently listenable swinging romp with one of the greatest of Count Basie's bands. Much of that is thanks to great arrangements by Neal Hefti. (Impress your friends by telling them that he also is repsonsible for the theme from the Odd Couple.) But certainly its greatness is due to the band itself. You'll hear incredibly tight ensmeble playing on "Flight of the Foo Birds" and great low end brass on "Teddy the Toad". If you're a seasoned jazz listener you'll love it because so many of these tunes have become standards; if you're new to jazz, you'll love it because it's easy to listen to. Either way, buy it! Be warned though that the recording quality is a little below par.

Having heard Count Basie and His Orchestra innumerable times in many venues across the country, the Complete Atomic Basie would have to be my favorite CD since it features what I would personally consider to be his best band. "Kid from Red Bank", "Whirlybird", and the smooth "Lil' Darlin'" are superb demonstrations of the range of this entourage.
Many will remember the tune "Blues in Hoss' Flat" as the number featured in Jerry Lewis' movie "The Errand Boy". In that movie Lewis pretends he is a big shot giving orders to imaginary underlings in a corporate board room. The piece provides the drive behind Lewis' great enactment. The movie is worth renting for that scene alone.
The quality of the remastering on this CD is also quite good.

Speaking from a Dj's point of view, this Album's sound quality is great and the songs are some of Basie's best. A must have for any Basie cd collection.

Recorded in 1957 this very high energy,exciting,sensual definitely sultry album whose cover sports an atomic blast, remember this was the late 50's, remains an accurate representation of the music within that remains a top seller in Basie's cannon and undoubtedly worthy of the praise all heap on it as a swinging,arousing, electrifying masterpiece of the genre.
It is all here Basie's piano coyness, licks and all, gorgeously arranged blaring Trumpets, Trombones,Reeds players galore, with Guitar,Bass & Drums all jive together in this non stop cataclysm boasting Basie's regular greats and additions of Eddie Lockjaw Davis whose distinctive playing stands out.
The issue is not categorizing Basie as others do, like Duke he was beyond category, blues.Kansa City, forays into all styles with the greats of the day and now this period ushering his stay with Roulette and Neil Hefti, the arranger and composer of these pieces.
Even the mix and fidelity of the album is crystal remastered from the original mono tapes.
Whether it was Basie's Decca period,later Columbia,Verve or this late 50's "Modern Jazz" that brought forward his collaborations with the likes of Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra and Las Vegas makes no difference since all are worthy showcasing Basie and the spread he gave his band to stretch out in styles unique to this crucial man.
This complete CD also boasts alternatives and a vocal track with the great Joe Williams, his main singer of the day.

The ATOMIC BASIE must be the top bluesy instrumental jazz album ever recorded,even if it does have the best versions (vocal and instrumental both) of the LATE LATE SHOW I've ever heard. I like 'em all here, but especially the slower cuts like DUET,AFTER SUPPER,SPLANKY, SILKS AND SATINS, AND SLEEPWALKERS SERENADE (both versions),which is well titled too.The clarity of the band,the fact that every player seems as clear as day,with alternating riffs,and the guidance of the guitar and bass,give this 42-year old LP/CD a special sound even today, and surely forever. Go for it!!

Simply put, this is one of the finest big band albums ever made. It has everything you could think of going for it, outstanding musicians, and an arranger who was born for the Basie band.

There has never been a more complimentary arranger for any band than Neal Hefti was for Basie during their brief association. Hefti's own album "Hot 'N Hearty" is ample proof of what a superbly hip arranger he was and what he would later contributed to the Basie band. Hefti never followed trends. Like Pete Rugolo, he set them.

I'll forever be thankful to my dad for introducing this album to me in the somewhat poorly mastered stereo LP version when it was first released in the early days of home stereo. I still have that record and it features the entire band on the right channel and the Basie rhythm section on the left. If you listen to it with head phones it'll drive you nuts! The monaural version released for this cd is much better balanced.

Dang, what more can you ask for in a big band? You get burning swingers like "The Kid From Red Bank (New Jersey, that is!)" and "Whirly Bird", one of the finest muted trumpet solos ever put to wax on the soulful, "Duet" featuring Thad Jones and Joe Newman and an absolutely all-time classic "Li'l Darlin'" where Wendell Cully (again muted trumpet) just breaks your heart. And everyone's already mentioned how Jaws contributed.

My only disappointment is with all the two-fers being released by Nelson Riddle, Billy May and on and on, they didn't include the almost-as-good "Basie Plays Hefti" recorded around the same time. Just glad I kept mine.

Simply put, this is my favorite Basie Album though I wish they'd release the nicely after-hours "String Along With Basie" and "Not Now, I'll Tell You When" just for the flag wavingly superb "Ol' Man River."