SwingDJs

Count Basie recorded two albums with Louie Belleson and Ray Brown -- just the three of them -- in the 70's (80's?) called For The First Time and For The Second Time. I just got 2nd Time in the mail. It is a triumph of minimalism, taking his trademark sparseness to the extreme. I dunno about dancing, although there are probably some good dance tracks -- but this music really makes me want to sit with some green tea and contemplate nature. The next logical step would be an album of Count Basie sitting at a piano in the studio playing nothing at all. It's seriously breathtaking music.

Anyway. Anyone else heard these albums?

"(Un)Easy Does It" every now and then. Love the whole cd...classic Basie.

He never did a solo album, did he?

I have the first one but not the second.

all i can think of is the piano solo he took on From Spirituals To Swing at the Carnegie in the 30's (avail on that concert's box set)

If your looking for Basie in a small intimate setting, check out the video:



This is a 30 min tv broadcast from 1965 or so. Has Basie, Freddie Green, Bass and Drums. Great video to watch.

I'm not sure much of it is dance music, but a few times Basie does some short doodling while talking. It is a neat show.

What is also interesting is the pairing of this video with the Gillespie and Coltrane. Talk about 3 extremes in jazz music. Can't get much varied than these 3 seperate videos.

Highly recommended video.

Jerry_Jelinek wrote:If your looking for Basie in a small intimate setting, check out the video:



...[snip]...

Highly recommended video.

I was going to mention it too. It's a very interesting series. You can also get them as cds. I think the Jimmy Rushing has him playing solo piano.

Yakov wrote:Count Basie recorded two albums with Louie Belleson and Ray Brown -- just the three of them -- in the 70's (80's?) called For The First Time and For The Second Time. I just got 2nd Time in the mail. It is a triumph of minimalism, taking his trademark sparseness to the extreme. I dunno about dancing, although there are probably some good dance tracks -- but this music really makes me want to sit with some green tea and contemplate nature. The next logical step would be an album of Count Basie sitting at a piano in the studio playing nothing at all. It's seriously breathtaking music.

Anyway. Anyone else heard these albums?

You might like this track Basie, Count _Trio Blues (132) _Jam- Montreux '77


I'm not sure if you've already gone through them, but there's some Basie rhythm section selections on the Complete Decca, songs like "The Dirty Dozens", "The Fives", "Red Wagon", and "Dupreee Blues".

Yakov wrote:The next logical step would be an album of Count Basie sitting at a piano in the studio playing nothing at all. It's seriously breathtaking music.

Thanks Yakov - I'll have to check it out. Your comment reminded me of some solo piano stuff by Duke Ellington on "Okeh Ellington" - a really nice version of Black Beauty that is just solo piano.

I also found a couple of good solo piano tracks on "Louisiana Piano Rhythms" - Sunny Side of the Street by Allen Toussaint and Rum and Coca Cola by Dr. Longhair. I've found folks like to dance to solo piano as long as the tempo doesn't drift; it makes a nice contrast to combo and big band tracks during a set.