Everyday I Have The Blues

Performer: Joe Williams (Vocals)
Producer: Michael Cuscuna; Teddy Reig; Michael Cuscuna; Teddy Reig
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Freddie Green (guitar); Frank Wess (flute, alto saxophone); Charlie Fowlkes (flute, baritone saxophone); Marshall Royal (alto saxophone); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis , Frank Foster (tenor saxophone); Joe Newman , Snooky Young, Thad Jones (trumpet); Henry Coker, Benny Powell (trombone); Count Basie (piano); Sonny Payne (drums). Liner Note Author: James Gavin. Recording information: Capitol Studios, New York, NY (09/19/1957-09/25/1959); Universal Studios, Chicago, IL (09/19/1957-09/25/1959). Arrangers: Ernie Wilkins; Frank Foster; Thad Jones. Joe Williams emerged as a jazz/blues singer of the first rank on the 1950 Verve album, COUNT BASIE PLAYS... JOE WILLIAMS SINGS, which, not coincidentally, established the newly refurbished Basie band--the so-called "New Testament" edition--as an up-to-date force to be reckoned with. On this well-produced Roulette title from 1959, Williams and the band reprise their former hit "Everyday I Have The Blues" as a swinging kick-off to an exuberant set of familiar blues and R&B standards. Williams's burnished, elastic voice is in peak form as he essays the '30s Basie classic "Good Morning' Blues" (a nod to the great Jimmy Rushing) as well as Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll" and "Cherry Red." The crisp arrangements by Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins, and Thad Jones emphasize the bold interplay of brass and reeds, and the superior remaster captures this great band's colorful bite in all its glory. Joe Williams had enlivened the Count Basie band for so long that it was natural for Basie and company to return the favor on his 1959 solo LP for Roulette. And with a trio of Basie arrangers -- Frank Foster, Ernie Wilkins, Thad Jones -- providing charts for a rather small group here, the results are excellent. Williams focuses in by opening with his two most famous Basie-era songs, "Every Day I Have the Blues" and "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home." From there, though, he stretches out slightly by singing all manner of songs from the blues and R&B repertoire that work well with his talents, best of all on a pair of Big Joe Turner classics -- "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Cherry Red." The arrangements and playing are excellent, as could be expected from this group, including Jones and Snooky Young on trumpet, Frank Foster and Billy Mitchell on tenor, Freddie Green on guitar, and, of course, Basie himself on piano. ~ John Bush

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