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Basie & Zoot
Basie & Zoot is a studio album by the jazz pianist Count Basie and the saxophonist Zoot Sims, released in 1976 by Pablo Records. It was recorded on April 9, 1975, during a session organized by Norman Granz, the head of the label. Granz decided against using the Count Basie Orchestra, instead inviting Sims, who played with Basie a few years prior.
Basie & Zoot is a jazz album consisting of five standards and three original compositions. The songs vary in tempo, with some being uptempo and others being slow blues. The complexity of melodies played by Basie also varies between tracks. He performs the majority of the songs on a piano, only switching to an organ for the last track.
The album was reviewed generally positively, both at the time of its release and retrospectively, with some reviewers considering it one of the best jazz albums of the year. Critics highlighted the synergy between Basie and Sims, while also commending the bassist John Heard and the drummer Louie Bellson. The album appeared on several best albums lists and won the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance.
Following a financially troubled period in his career, the 1950–1960s European tours brought the pianist Count Basie back to his prior levels of popularity. According to Zan Stewart of Los Angeles Times, in that era Basie was "still a major force in jazz". In 1973, the concert promoter and producer Norman Granz founded the label Pablo Records. Shortly after, he signed Basie; the label released more than thirty albums by Basie over the next decade.
The saxophonist Zoot Sims rose to popularity in the 1940s by playing in popular big bands, led by artists Benny Goodman and Woody Herman; in Herman's band he was known as a member of the "Four Brothers" quartet. After struggling to find performing opportunities and briefly working as a house painter in the early 1950s, by the middle of the decade he returned to music, collaborating with many artists. John Swenson, the editor of The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide, wrote: "Sims evolved into one of the most dependable musicians of the '50s and '60s—any recording from this period is marked by his warm-toned yet tenacious blowing." In the early 1970s, Granz signed Sims to the Pablo label, where he released several albums throughout the decade.
In 1975, while the Count Basie Orchestra was touring, Norman Granz organized a recording session. It took place on April 9, at RCA Studio in New York City. Granz decided against recording the entire band, focusing instead on Basie and his piano performance. Zoot Sims, who previously played with Basie on Basie Jam (1973), was invited to accompany him. Basie & Zoot consists of songs recorded during this session, with the exception of "Zoot" and "Turnaround", which were performed without Zoot Sims and were later released on the compilation album Basie and Friends (1988). Several journalists compared the Basie & Zoot session to the 1936 session Basie had with the saxophonist Lester Young, who, according to Don Lass of Asbury Park Press, "paved the way for Sims and a whole generation of important players".
Basie & Zoot was released in 1976 by Pablo Records. Following the 1987 sale of Pablo Records to Fantasy Records, Basie & Zoot was later reissued as part of the label's Original Jazz Classics series.
Basie & Zoot is a jazz album. It contains eight tracks: five standards—Basie's renditions of popular jazz songs—and three original compositions. The album starts with an upbeat track "I Never Knew". John McDonough of DownBeat magazine described it as having "the hummingbird tempo", while Greg Murphy, music reviewer for Widnes Weekly News, believed the song sets tone for the rest of the album. It is followed by "It's Only a Paper Moon", which features a simplified melody that McDonough thought was "distilled to its utter essence". "Blues for Nat Cole", a dedication to the jazz singer Nat King Cole, is the first of the original compositions. It is a high-tempo song. The next track, "Captain Bligh", is also original. However, in contrast to the preceding song, "Captain Bligh" is a slow blues, in which "the notes seem to stick like honey to [Basie's] fingers", according to McDonough. The duo returns to the upbeat pace on "Honeysuckle Rose", originally a song by Fats Waller. Basie first performed it in 1937 with Lester Young. Discussing the version of the song on Basie & Zoot, authors of the book Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present Lewis Porter and Michael Ullman wrote: "On the 1975 version, Basie sounds exuberant, agile, free, swinging easily, as easily as if he were cutting butter". McDonough highlighted Heard's bass performance on the track, who "plays coyly with time signature" before switching to the standard 4
4 signature during the bridges. The following track, "Hardav", is the last original composition on the album. It is a slow blues, which Coda magazine's John Norris compared to the work of Jimmy Yancey due to it being "so articulate, emotional and simplistic". "Mean to Me", built around a simplified piano melody, features an improvisation by Sims. The album's closing track, "I Surrender, Dear", is the only song on the album where Basie plays an organ.
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Basie & Zoot
Basie & Zoot is a studio album by the jazz pianist Count Basie and the saxophonist Zoot Sims, released in 1976 by Pablo Records. It was recorded on April 9, 1975, during a session organized by Norman Granz, the head of the label. Granz decided against using the Count Basie Orchestra, instead inviting Sims, who played with Basie a few years prior.
Basie & Zoot is a jazz album consisting of five standards and three original compositions. The songs vary in tempo, with some being uptempo and others being slow blues. The complexity of melodies played by Basie also varies between tracks. He performs the majority of the songs on a piano, only switching to an organ for the last track.
The album was reviewed generally positively, both at the time of its release and retrospectively, with some reviewers considering it one of the best jazz albums of the year. Critics highlighted the synergy between Basie and Sims, while also commending the bassist John Heard and the drummer Louie Bellson. The album appeared on several best albums lists and won the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance.
Following a financially troubled period in his career, the 1950–1960s European tours brought the pianist Count Basie back to his prior levels of popularity. According to Zan Stewart of Los Angeles Times, in that era Basie was "still a major force in jazz". In 1973, the concert promoter and producer Norman Granz founded the label Pablo Records. Shortly after, he signed Basie; the label released more than thirty albums by Basie over the next decade.
The saxophonist Zoot Sims rose to popularity in the 1940s by playing in popular big bands, led by artists Benny Goodman and Woody Herman; in Herman's band he was known as a member of the "Four Brothers" quartet. After struggling to find performing opportunities and briefly working as a house painter in the early 1950s, by the middle of the decade he returned to music, collaborating with many artists. John Swenson, the editor of The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide, wrote: "Sims evolved into one of the most dependable musicians of the '50s and '60s—any recording from this period is marked by his warm-toned yet tenacious blowing." In the early 1970s, Granz signed Sims to the Pablo label, where he released several albums throughout the decade.
In 1975, while the Count Basie Orchestra was touring, Norman Granz organized a recording session. It took place on April 9, at RCA Studio in New York City. Granz decided against recording the entire band, focusing instead on Basie and his piano performance. Zoot Sims, who previously played with Basie on Basie Jam (1973), was invited to accompany him. Basie & Zoot consists of songs recorded during this session, with the exception of "Zoot" and "Turnaround", which were performed without Zoot Sims and were later released on the compilation album Basie and Friends (1988). Several journalists compared the Basie & Zoot session to the 1936 session Basie had with the saxophonist Lester Young, who, according to Don Lass of Asbury Park Press, "paved the way for Sims and a whole generation of important players".
Basie & Zoot was released in 1976 by Pablo Records. Following the 1987 sale of Pablo Records to Fantasy Records, Basie & Zoot was later reissued as part of the label's Original Jazz Classics series.
Basie & Zoot is a jazz album. It contains eight tracks: five standards—Basie's renditions of popular jazz songs—and three original compositions. The album starts with an upbeat track "I Never Knew". John McDonough of DownBeat magazine described it as having "the hummingbird tempo", while Greg Murphy, music reviewer for Widnes Weekly News, believed the song sets tone for the rest of the album. It is followed by "It's Only a Paper Moon", which features a simplified melody that McDonough thought was "distilled to its utter essence". "Blues for Nat Cole", a dedication to the jazz singer Nat King Cole, is the first of the original compositions. It is a high-tempo song. The next track, "Captain Bligh", is also original. However, in contrast to the preceding song, "Captain Bligh" is a slow blues, in which "the notes seem to stick like honey to [Basie's] fingers", according to McDonough. The duo returns to the upbeat pace on "Honeysuckle Rose", originally a song by Fats Waller. Basie first performed it in 1937 with Lester Young. Discussing the version of the song on Basie & Zoot, authors of the book Jazz: From Its Origins to the Present Lewis Porter and Michael Ullman wrote: "On the 1975 version, Basie sounds exuberant, agile, free, swinging easily, as easily as if he were cutting butter". McDonough highlighted Heard's bass performance on the track, who "plays coyly with time signature" before switching to the standard 4
4 signature during the bridges. The following track, "Hardav", is the last original composition on the album. It is a slow blues, which Coda magazine's John Norris compared to the work of Jimmy Yancey due to it being "so articulate, emotional and simplistic". "Mean to Me", built around a simplified piano melody, features an improvisation by Sims. The album's closing track, "I Surrender, Dear", is the only song on the album where Basie plays an organ.