Atomic Swing

Performer: Count Basie
Artist: Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis; Thad Jones; Frank Foster; Frank Wess; Billy Mitchell; Joe Newman; Freddie Green
Engineer: Bobby Arnold
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Count Basie (piano, arranger); Frank Foster (arranger, tenor & baritone saxophones, bass clarinet); Freddie Green, Buster Harding, Ernie Wilkins, Eddie Durham, Buck Clayton, Quincy Jones, Neal Hefti, Jimmy Mundy (arranger); Frank Wess (alto & tenor saxophones, flute); Marshall Royal (alto saxophone, clarinet); Eric Dixon (tenor saxophone, flute); Billy Mitchell (tenor saxophone, clarinet); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis (tenor saxophone); Charles Fowlkes (baritone saxophone, flute, bass clarinet); Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn, Fip Ricard, Joe Newman, Thad Jones, Wendell Culley, Snooky Young (trumpet); Al Grey, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell, Henry Coker (trombone); Freddie Green (guitar); Eddie Jones, Art Davis (bass); Sonny Payne, Gus Johnson (drums). Producer: Teddy Reig. Compilation producer: Scott Wenzel. Recorded between 1957 and 1960. Personnel: Count Basie (piano); Freddie Green (guitar); Frank Wess (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Billy Mitchell (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Marshall Royal (alto saxophone); Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis , Frank Foster, Eric Dixon (tenor saxophone); Charlie Fowlkes (baritone saxophone); Flip Ricard, Joe Newman , Snooky Young, Thad Jones, Wendell Culley (trumpet); Henry Coker, Al Grey, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell (trombone); Gus Johnson, Sonny Payne (drums). Audio Remixer: Malcolm Addey. Recording information: Capitol Studios, New York, NY (10/21/1957-07/03/1962). Photographer: Paul J. Hoeffler. Arrangers: Count Basie; Eddie Durham; Ernie Wilkins; Frank Green; Frank Foster; Freddie Green; Jimmy Mundy; Neal Hefti; Quincy Jones; Buck Clayton; Buster Harding. Released in 1999 to cash in on the resurgence of interest in swing music among post-baby boomers, Atomic Swing manages to transcend its immediate commercial purpose. It is the first 20-bit remastering of the Roulette library, and the sound quality alone makes it worth picking up. The 13 tracks present were cut by Basie over a six-year period with Morris Levy's Roulette Records, and they're a strong mix despite only three of the numbers coming off of the legendary Atomic Mr. Basie album. Most of the rest is from afterwards -- amazingly, only two of the numbers here -- "The Late, Late Show" and "Taps Miller" -- overlap with Capitol's existing Best of the Roulette Years, so duplication is a minimum, and the sound is amazingly good. The brass on "Moten Swing" and the broader numbers has equally impressive measures of richness and presence, while softer, moodier pieces like "The Midnight Sun Never Sets" display surprising warmth (but Eddie Jones' bass and Freddie Green's guitar also seem very close). There are no notes, but that's not a problem -- the session listing says most of what needs saying. ~ Bruce Eder

Simply put, Count Basie led the most swinging of the classic big bands. His youthful education in playing stride piano in New York was meshed with a deep immersion in the hard-swinging Kansas City jazz scene of the early 1930s. As Basie moved from sideman to bandleader, his tight-knit ensemble eventually came to rival Duke Ellington's group. The Basie orchestra's perfectly interlocking rhythm section provided a springboard for a succession of jazz giants--most notably tenor man Lester Young--to launch their solo excursions. Basie's big-band vision was so strong that his group continued for decades after his passing.

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