1 Dance Of The Gremlins 4:04 2 G.I. Stomp Arranged By – Buck Clayton 2:15 3 Yeah Man Arranged By – Horace Henderson 2:43 4 Rhythm Man Arranged By – Jimmy Mundy 2:38 5 Kansas City Stride Arranged By – Dicky Wells 4:15 6 Beaver Junction Arranged By – Buster Harding 3:38 7 Circus In Rhythm Arranged By – Buster Harding 3:41 8 Aunt Hagar's Country Home Vocals – Earle Warren 3:19 9 Gee, Baby Ain't I Good To You? Arranged By – Don Redman Vocals – Jimmy Rushing 4:05 10 Basie Strides Again (Along Avenue C) Arranged By – Buck Clayton 3:00 11 Harvard Blues Arranged By – Tab Smith Vocals – Jimmy Rushing 4:30 12 Taps Miller Arranged By – Buck Clayton 3:21 13 Jimmy's Blues Vocals – Jimmy Rushing 2:55 14 I Didn't Know About You Vocals – Thelma Carpenter 3:17 15 Red Bank Boogie Arranged By – Buck Clayton 2:35 16 Taps Miller Arranged By – Buck Clayton 5:08 17 Jimmy's Blues Vocals – Jimmy Rushing 3:23 18 Take Me Back, Baby Vocals – Jimmy Rushing 3:08 19 Playhouse Nº2 Stomp (Variations On "I Got Rhythm") Arranged By – Count Basie 4:56 20 Old Manuscript Arranged By – Don Redman 3:25 21 On The Upbeat Arranged By – Don Redman 3:52
Alto Saxophone – Earle Warren, Jimmy Powell (tracks: 5 to 21) Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone – Caughey Roberts (tracks: 1 to 4), Ronald "Jack" Washington (tracks: 1 to 4) Bass – Rodney Richardson (tracks: 5 to 21), Walter Page (tracks: 1 to 4) Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone – Elman "Rudy" Rutherford (tracks: 5 to 21) Drums – Jo Jones (tracks: 1 to 10), Joe Marshall (tracks: 16 to 21), Rossiere "Shadow" Wilson (tracks: 11 to 15) Guitar – Freddy Green Piano, Directed By – Count Basie Tenor Saxophone – George "Buddy" Tate, Don Byas (tracks: 1 to 4), Lester Young (tracks: 5 to 10), Eli "Lucky" Thompson (tracks: 11 to 21) Trombone – William "Dicky" Wells, Eli Robinson, Louis Taylor, Robert "Buster" Scott (tracks: 1 to 4), Ted Donnelly (tracks: 5 to 21) Trumpet – Al Killian (tracks: 5 to 21), Al Stearns (tracks: 12 to 15), Buck Clayton (tracks: 1 to 4), Ed Lewis (tracks: 1 to 11, 16 to 21), Harry Edison, Joe Newman (tracks: 5 to 21), Eugene "Snooky" Young (tracks: 1 to 4)
Recorded: Jul 1943-Jan 11, 1945
This interesting CD mostly reissues the V-Discs of Count Basie's Orchestra, performed during a time when the musicians' union strike kept the Basie band off records. Lester Young is heard back with Basie on five numbers from May 27, 1944. Otherwise, the band was much more stable than most swing bands of the war years, making it to December 1944 when it was able to resume its recordings for the Columbia label. There was not much change in the orchestra's swinging style during this era, as can be heard on such enjoyable pieces as "G.I. Stomp," "Yeah Man!," "Circus in Rhythm," two versions of "Taps Miller," and "Old Manuscript." ---Scott Yanow, allmusic |