For the First Time

Count Basie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Pablo
• ASIN: B000000XIT
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #63,849 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AwEsOmE!, December 8, 1999

By 

Luke - See all my reviews

This review is from: For the First Time (Audio CD)

Ray Brown's bass just DOMINATES this set, and Basie never sounded better on the piano or organ then in this trio setting. Bellson is great too, swinging with brushes and cymbals. But anyone even remotely a fan of Ray Brown should snap this up right now!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Basie's tempos and chops drive this session, December 17, 2010

By 

Gary Coffrin (San Jose, California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For the First Time (Audio CD)

Master musicians all three, and it's Basie's architecture and style that lead this wonderful session.

Basie as a leader always worked his musicians until he found the right tempo. And, this session is no exception. It's almost impossible not to tap your foot to many of these lightly swinging tunes.

Basie learned stride piano and organ technique from Fats Waller--who swung as hard as any pianist ever with a stunning left hand of enormous power and drive. Basie never forgot the appeal of a steady 4/4 beat. (Which explains why Basie employed the definitive rhythm guitarist Freddie Green from 1937 until Basie's death in 1984.)

Basie's soloists always said the reason they sounded so good was because of the Count's comping and the support from the rhythm section he lead from the keyboard. We hear in trio format the tasteful punctuation and minimalistic perfection Basie normally displayed in a big band setting. Additionally, the trio format forces Basie to play much more keyboard than we get to hear with his orchestra.

Basie at age 70 shows his singular focus on finding the right tempo. And, he displays a stunning improvisational ability to always hit the right notes at the right time. Ray Brown's playing is wonderful as always, adding the perfect blues feel and pulse. Louis Bellson adds skillfully to the proceedings, but at times I wonder how Sonny Payne or Jo Jones would have sounded on some of the same tunes.

Recommendation: A must buy for fans of Basie's keyboard work and Ray Brown's bass playing. A great reminder that sometimes tunes swing best at the lowest volume.

Tips for Basie keyboard fans: The DVD with Basie on Ralph Gleason's TV show "Jazz Casual" shows Basie's stride abilities with a dynamic display of keyboard wizardry on Waller's 'Handful of Keys.' The CD "Basie Jam: Montreaux 77" contains the song 'Trio Blues' with the Count reunited with Ray Brown. Basie's solo is so dynamic and the crowd goes so wild that you can hear saxophonist Benny Carter of the next act repeatedly exclaim, "We can't follow that!"

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fantastically nuanced album., June 30, 2008

By 

suburbanrambler "sub-urbanramblings.com" (albuq, nm) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For the First Time (Audio CD)

a fantastically nuanced album! the ear is not bombarded with clanging of instruments, the sometimes barely audible instrumentation forces one to get one's ear closer to the pieces. the brain fills in all the rest. a very smart album.