Basie Plays Hefti is an album released by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie performing the compositions and arrangements of Neal Hefti recorded in 1958 and originally released on the Roulette label. Basie, Hefti, and producer Teddy Reig had collaborated six months earlier on the album E=MC2.

AllMusic awarded the album 4 out of 5 stars and its review by Scott Yanow states, "The Count Basie Orchestra was in top form for this set". - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3_5dlh5094&list=OLAK5uy_lGtAGSYCUpaG-vlJ_H70WtUhQAToTJuZI

#CountBasie #Swing #BigBand #NealHefti #RouletteRecords #Jazz #Music

The Legend (subtitled From the Pen of Benny Carter) is an album by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie featuring tracks composed by Benny Carter recorded in 1961 and originally released on the Roulette label.

The Count does Carter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00N1VxEvpWk

#countbasie #bennycarter #bigband #swing #jazz #rouletterecords

Dinah '62 Review by John Bush

...Dinah '62 finds one of the foremost interpreters in vocal jazz treading merrily through a set of standards informed by Fred Norman's modern and commercially slanted big-band arrangements. Despite a few trad vocal backgrounds, most of these charts never overwhelm the songs or Washington's performances, and sometimes add to them; this version of the decades-old "Red Sails in the Sunset" benefits from its earthy electric guitar and organ. The singer brings a lifetime of experience to these songs, carrying the soporific world-weariness of Johnny Mercer's "Drinking Again" but then skating rompishly over the light novelty "Destination Moon." Washington is far more willing to indulge in histrionics than earlier in her career, but still exhibits remarkable control over her vocalizing, whether light or forceful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-YtU0S_fZk&list=PLmeKTdKNuSVsqp9JUZwKFBfy0TNzYYKTO&index=1

#dinahwashington #vocaljazz #drinkingagain #dinah62 #rouletterecords

Count Basie Story is a double album by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie featuring tracks originally performed by his orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s rerecorded in 1960 as a celebration of its 25th anniversary and first released on the Roulette label.

AllMusic awarded the album 3½ stars and its review by Scott Yanow states, "These sides were hotly contested when originally issued because of the contrast in accents between the 1937 band and the later one. The sound is so different that it cannot be compared to the pure and bluesy dance band swing of the originals; it is amped up and brassy, with charts (written by Royal or Neal Hefti) that stress tempo and sophisticated ensemble playing rather than riff-based solos, busyness, and dynamics. For any serious Basie fan, these sides are essential" - Wikipedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJpqA52tz3U&list=PLK3Y4zrQVzgJaeDx6J55hrAsR6umkJXAN&index=1

#countbasie #bigbandjazz #swing #nealhefti #rouletterecords

#NowPlaying Randy Weston - Uhuru Africa (Roulette, 1977).

The title track, a suite in four movements, is monumental : a 24-piece big band playing Melba Liston’s arrangements of Weston’s music, fueled by African rhythms, with poetry and lyrics by Langston Hughes.

With Freddie Hubbard, Yusef Lateef, Sahib Shihab, Cecil Payne, Kenny Burrell, Ron Carter, Max Roach, Babatunde Olatunji and so many more great musicians…

French pressing.

#RandyWeston
#RouletteRecords