Customer Reviews

Swinging Singing Playing

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I honestly acknowledge the great effort Dennis Wilson has made in producing this record. The result however is - at least to me - disappointing. May be someone who has passed his sixties still clings too much to the old Basie slogan 'Swing it man and you can't miss'. And this is exactly what is missing: Freddie Greens guitar, John Claytons bass and the Count on piano. To me the perfect arrangements are just too modern and the Basie groove is absolutely unpresent. Consequently I like 'Jessica's Day' (the old Quincy Jones composition and arrangement) best. May be Dennis Wilson has not spent enough time in the original Basie orchestra to inhale the Basie spirit.Or may be I am just too much pretending about old times...

Basie Trombonist Dennis Wilson (thankfully not the "Beach Boy" drummer of the same name) writes tremendous arrangements in the Basie bag, mostly backing singers like Janis Siegel (3 selections), Nnenna Freelon (2), Jamie Cullum and Jon Hendricks. He also swings hard in the all-band selections, giving the "ghost" Count Basie band more than just signs of life -- call them sounds of immortality. I heard Janis Siegel sing some these arrangements (and others) on the 2011 Jazz Cruise, and I can you that there's a lot more music available by Dennis Wilson. I hope he records more records like this. One a year would be great.