SwingDJs

I have Basie's Breakfast Dance Barbeque and although the version on it is good, I know there must be a much better one out there...What version is your fave?

My current favorite is the one off of "Live At The Sands"

I have to agree w/the Sands version.

If you don't already have it, the one that's probably most familiar to you is going to be off Atomic Basie, but IMO the Sands' and Breakfast Dance versions are a lot more interesting.

I don't even own the cd, but the Sands is my fave too.

Benny Goodman's. nah, j/k.

I like the one off of The Golden Years Box set. I like it because it's more up-tempo (160 or 170bpm), and comes with a lot of energy. It's from some Paris concert which I don't think I have yet...

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... kqikzjbbf9

What Reuben and Drew said.

Same.

Kalman

CafeSavoy wrote:Benny Goodman's. nah, j/k.

Actually, Goodman does have a GREAT version on one of the "Yale Library" CDs. Soft and subdued, it creates a bit of a different tone than the customary Basie versions.

I have several off the Mosaic Live Roulette set, one of which is my favorite. I don't know the name of the album on which it was originally released.

If I remember correctly, the "Live at the Sands" version sounds like they are trying to rush through to the end of the song because they are bored playing it.

Here, here! My favorite version is by far from Live at the Sands. They swing their asses of on that one. There have been numerous occassions where I felt the DJ before me wasn't playing much swing in their set (or as much as I like) and I've used that as my first song to set the new mood.

For completely different feels, try Hank Crawford "South Central" or Christian McBride "Gettin' to It"

And while we're talking about Splanky, too, Sonny Stitt does a version of Deuce's Wild from "The Good Life" that breaks into Splanky at the end. as does Sonnymoon for Two from The Three Sounds "Here We Come"

Just wanted to cast one more vote for Live at the Sands. Every once and awhile I pull out a different version just to make sure I'm not in a rut, but then realize I don't like whatever different version it was as well.

I like the George Gee version.

*duck*

Lawrence wrote: If I remember correctly, the "Live at the Sands" version sounds like they are trying to rush through to the end of the song because they are bored playing it.

I was mistaken. It's the version of "Mellow Tone" that sound rushed on that CD.

Um... "In A Mellow Tone" isn't even on that CD.

Great discussion about one of my favorite songs. But how to pick one essential version? Here are my current two favorite versions which I play often:

George Gee - Swingin' Live (132 bpm / 3:18 )
Count Basie - Live at the Sands (154 bpm / 3:52)

George Gee's version feels right "in the pocket" for me and he definitely does it justice, but the faster one from "Live at the Sands" injects some added energy which just feels right at times.

And a few runners-up:

Count Basie - The Complete Atomic Basie (121 bpm / 3:36)
Count Basie - Blues Alley (135 bpm / 5:42)
Count Basie - On The Road (144 bpm / 3:49)

The studio version of "Atomic Basic" is a bit slower but works at times. The other two fall somewhere in energy between George Gee's and Basie's "Live at the Sands" recording and feel great for dancing.

I don't think I've ever played the version from Breakfast Dance and Barbecue as it feels a bit too mellow and slow (118 bpm).

Of course at a similarly slow tempo, Joey DeFrancesco's version from Swingin' Blue has a great late-night swinging soul-jazz organ feel, and I definitely bust it out once in a while.

The Real Group's version was quite popular for a while, but I only hear it played as the occasion novelty track these days.

I've never been overly moved by Benny Goodman's or Tito Puente's versions.

Jesse