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Basie At Birdland
''Basie at Birdland'' is a 1961 live album by the Count Basie Orchestra that was recorded at Birdland in New York City. Reception The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos gave the album four stars, stating, "This has always been one of the more enjoyable live recordings from Basie and company, and still can be easily recommended for novices as well as aficionados of his unflappable ability to swing a band like nobody else." Track listing # "Little Pony" (Neal Hefti) – 2:22 # "Basie" (Ernie Wilkins) – 3:23 # "Blues Backstage" ( Frank Foster) – 4:58 # "Blee Blop Blues" (A. K. Salim) – 2:17 # "Whirly-Bird" (Hefti) – 3:59 # "One O'Clock Jump" (Count Basie) – 0:55 # "Good Time Blues" (Wilkins) – 6:40 # "Segue in C" ( Frank Wess) – 9:18 # "One O'Clock Jump" – 4:41 # "Easin' It" (Foster) – 5:41 # "A Little Tempo, Please" (Hefti) – 3:02 # "Corner Pocket" (Freddie Green) – 5:07 # "I Needs to Be Bee'd With" (Quincy Jones) – 4:23 # "Discommotion" (Foster) – 4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams. Biography Early life and education William Basie was born to Lillian and Harvey Lee Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father worked as a coachman and caretaker for a wealthy judge. After automobiles re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny Cohn
George Thomas Cohn (March 14, 1925 – November 7, 2006), known professionally as Sonny Cohn, was an American jazz trumpeter whose career spanned over six decades. After working for fifteen years with Red Saunders (1945–1960), Cohn went on to spend another twenty four years in Count Basie's trumpet section (1960–1984). Life and career Cohn was born in Chicago, Illinois. Cohn started playing in small groups around the city with King Fleming while he was still a teenager.Campbell, Robert L.; Pruter, Robert and Büttner, Armin "King Fleming Discography" Cohn joined Red Saunders' group in 1945, while Saunders was out of the and wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1961 Live Albums
Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (Koivulahti air disaster): Douglas DC-3C OH-LCC of Finnish airline Aero crashes near Kvevlax (Koivulahti), on approach to Vaasa Airport in Finland, killing all 25 on board, due to pilot error: an investigation finds that the captain and first officer were both exhausted for lack of sleep, and had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol at the time of the crash. It remains the deadliest air disaster to occur in the country. * January 5 ** Italian sculptor Alfredo Fioravanti marches into the U.S. Consulate in Rome, and confesses that he was part of the team that forged the Etruscan terracotta warriors in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. ** After the 1960 military coup, General Cemal Gürsel forms the new government of Turkey (25th government). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jon Hendricks
John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists, such as the big-band arrangements of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He is considered one of the best practitioners of scat singing, which involves vocal jazz soloing. Jazz critic and historian Leonard Feather called him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz", while ''Time'' dubbed him the "James Joyce of Jive". Al Jarreau called him "pound-for-pound the best jazz singer on the planet—maybe that's ever been". Early years Born in 1921 in Newark, Ohio, Hendricks and his 14 siblings moved many times, following their father's assignments as an AME pastor, before settling permanently in Toledo. The house was often full of visiting jazz musicians, for whom Jon's mother provided meals. Hendricks began his sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny Payne
Sonny Payne (May 4, 1926 – January 29, 1979) was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Count Basie and Harry James. Biography Payne's father was Wild Bill Davis's drummer Chris Columbus. After early study with Vic Berton, in 1944 Payne started playing professionally around New York with the Dud and Paul Bascomb band, Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic (1945–1947), Tiny Grimes (between 1947 and 1950), and Lucille Dixon (1948). From 1950 to 1953, Payne played with Erskine Hawkins' big band, and led his own band for two years, but in late December, 1954, he made his most significant move, joining Count Basie's big band for ten years of constant touring and recording. He was originally asked only to temporarily fill in for Basie's ailing regular drummer, but Payne's skillful playing was such a hit with audiences and the band that he was immediately hired to be Basie's permanent drummer. From Count Basie’s autobiography: “Sonny Payne came in there, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Jones (jazz Musician)
Eddie Jones (March 1, 1929, Greenwood, Mississippi – May 31, 1997, West Hartford, Connecticut) was an American jazz double bassist. Jones grew up in Red Bank, New Jersey, and played early in the 1950s with Sarah Vaughan and Lester Young. Jones taught music in South Carolina from 1951 to 1952, and became a member of Count Basie's orchestra in 1953, remaining there until 1962. He recorded frequently with this ensemble, and also played with Basie in smaller ensembles; these featured both Basie sidemen ( Joe Newman, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Thad Jones, Ernie Wilkins) and others ( Milt Jackson, Coleman Hawkins, Putte Wickman). Jones quit music in 1962 and took a job with IBM; he later became vice president of an insurance company. In the 1980s he returned to jazz and played on and off in swing jazz ensembles. Discography With Dorothy Ashby *'' The Jazz Harpist'' (Regent, 1957) With Count Basie *''Dance Session'' (Clef, 1953) *'' Dance Session Album #2'' (Clef, 1954) *'' Basie'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charlie Fowlkes
Charles Baker Fowlkes (February 16, 1916 – February 9, 1980) was an American baritone saxophonist who was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra for over twenty-five years. Early life Fowlkes was born in New York City on February 16, 1916. He studied alto and tenor saxophone, clarinet, and violin before settling on the baritone saxophone (he occasionally played flute). Later life and career Fowlkes spent most of his early career in New York. He played with Tiny Bradshaw (1938–1944), Lionel Hampton (1944–1948), and Arnett Cobb (1948–1951). Fowlkes joined Basie's orchestra in 1953 and remained with it until his death; the main interruptions during his time with Basie were absences due to managing the career of his wife, vocalist Wini Brown. He died in Dallas on February 9, 1980. Discography With The Count Basie Orchestra *'' The Count!'' (Clef, 1952 955 *'' Basie Jazz'' (Clef, 1952 954 *'' Dance Session'' (Clef, 1953) *'' Dance Session Album #2'' (Clef, 1954) *'' Basie'' (C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Budd Johnson
Albert J. "Budd" Johnson III (December 14, 1910 – October 20, 1984) was an American jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who worked extensively with, among others, Ben Webster, Benny Goodman, Big Joe Turner, Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, Count Basie, Billie Holiday and, especially, Earl Hines. Life and career Johnson initially played drums and piano before switching to tenor saxophone. In the 1920s, he performed in Texas and parts of the Midwest, working with Jesse Stone among others. Johnson had his recording debut while working with Louis Armstrong's band in 1932 to 1933, but he is more known for his work, over many years, with Earl Hines. It is contended that he and Billy Eckstine, Hines' long-term collaborator, led Hines to hire "modernists" in the birth of bebop, which came largely out of the Hines band. Johnson was also an early figure in the bebop era, doing sessions with Coleman Hawkins in 1944. In the 1950s he led his own group, and did s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marshal Royal
Marshal Walton Royal Jr. (December 5, 1912 – May 8, 1995) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and clarinetist best known for his work with Count Basie, with whose band he played for nearly twenty years. Early life and education Marshal Royal Jr. was born into a musical family in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. Career Royal's first professional gig was with Lawrence Brown's band at Danceland in Los Angeles, and he soon had a regular gig at the Apex, working for Curtis Mosby in Mosby's Blue Blowers, a 10-piece band. He then began an eight-year (1931–1939) stint with the Les Hite orchestra at Sebastian's Cotton Club, which was near the MGM studios in Los Angeles. He spent 1940 to 1942 with Lionel Hampton, until the war interrupted his career. With his brother, Ernie, he served in the U.S. Navy in the 45-piece regimental band that was attached to the Navy's preflight training school for pilots at St. Mary's College in Moraga, California. The band played for bond rallies, regimental ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Coker
Henry Coker (December 24, 1919 – November 23, 1979) was an American jazz trombonist. Biography Coker was born in Dallas, Texas, United States. He made his professional debut with John White in 1935. From 1937 to 1939 he played with Nat Towles's territory band, then moved to Hawaii to play with Monk McFay. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Coker returned to California, playing with Benny Carter (1944–46), Illinois Jacquet (1945), Eddie Heywood (1946–47), and Charles Mingus (late 1940s). Coker fell ill from 1949 to 1951 and played little. After his recovery he worked with Sonny Rollins and then joined Count Basie's band, playing and recording with him from 1952 to 1963. Coker worked as a studio musician in the 1960s, then toured with Ray Charles from 1966 to 1971. He worked freelance and in film and television studios in the mid-1970s, returning to Basie briefly in 1973 and Charles in 1976. Osie Johnson wrote a tribute to him entitled "Cokernut Tree" in 1955. Coker app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quentin Jackson
Quentin "Butter" JacksonFeather, Leonard & Gitler, Ira ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'' , US, 2007 (January 13, 1909 – October 2, 1976) was an American jazz trombonist. Career In the early stage of his career, Jackson worked with Cab Calloway for ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Benny Powell
Benny Powell (March 1, 1930 – June 26, 2010) was an American jazz trombonist. He played both standard (tenor) trombone and bass trombone. Biography Born Benjamin Gordon Powell Jr in New Orleans, Louisiana, he first played professionally at the age of 14, and at 18 began playing with Lionel Hampton. In 1951 he left Hampton's band and began playing with Count Basie, in whose orchestra he would remain until 1963. Powell takes the trombone solo in the bridge of Basie's 1955 recording of " April in Paris". After leaving Basie, he freelanced in New York City. From 1966 to 1970 he was a member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, playing on Monday nights at the Village Vanguard. Among other engagements, he played in the house band of the '' Merv Griffin Show'', and when the show moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1970 Powell also relocated there. He did extensive work as a session musician, including with Abdullah Ibrahim, John Carter, and Randy Weston. Later in his c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
