Life Is a Song [Synergy] [Digipak]

Performer: Count Basie
Producer: Philip Elliott Hopkins (Compilation); Ralph Stevens (Compilation)
Distributor: Synergy Distribution

Notes: Liner Note Author: Mac Randall. The music included here is form 1958 when singer Tony Bennett fronted the Count Basie Orchestra. The title is a bit misleading because Basie himself only appears on two tracks here, the title selection and "Jeepers Creepers." Bennett's own pianist Ralph Sharon executes the rest of the piano duties. Nonetheless it is a fairly swinging date, with some fine moments like "Anything Goes," "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," and "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plans." The sound on all Synergy releases is excellent and so is the price. ~ Thom Jurek

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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