The Count Basie Orchestra High Voltage LP 180g Vinyl MPS Audiophile Analogue AAA Series Optimal EU
Title: High Voltage
Catalog Number: 0211545MSW
Label: MPS
Reissued by: MPS
Barcode: 4029759115458
Original release year: 1970
Reissue year: 2016
Number of discs: 1
Revolutions per minute: 33⅓ rpm
Disc size: 12"
Vinyl Weight Grade: 180gr
Total Item Weight: 357gr
Pressing country: Germany
For Market Release in: EU
Added to catalog on: September 16, 2019
Collection: MPS AAA Reissue Series
Note: Never eligible for any further discounts
Vinyl Gourmet Club: No
When Count Basie entered the studio in 1970 with his 17-piece big band to record High Voltage, he ushered in the last full decade as bandleader of his Orchestra. The Orchestra had left its imprint on the 60's by recording with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and there would be more great albums with star vocalists in the '70s, but the band’s purely instrumental works would go on.
- Audiophile Analogue Remastering
- Remastered by Christoph Stickel and Dirk Sommer
- Reforest The Legend MPS AAA Reissue Series
- 180 Gram Audiophile Vinyl
- Pressed at Optimal Media in Germany
- Large insert with photo of the Original Master Tape box
- Gatefold Cover
When in January, 1970 Count Basie entered the studio with his 17-piece big band to record High Voltage, he ushered in the last full decade as bandleader of his Orchestra. The Orchestra had left its imprint on the sixties by recording with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. There would be more great albums with star vocalists in the seventies, but the band’s purely instrumental works, which had begun in 1965, would also continue. Back then Basie had engaged acclaimed Cuban composer/arranger Chico O’Farrill to arrange the music for such concept albums as “Basie Meets Bond” and “Basie’s Beatle Bag”, transforming them into crossover gems. On High Voltage O’Farrill demonstrates his affinity to Basie’s big band sound, this time with a repertoire of standards. For this album, Basie specifically chose pieces the band had never recorded in their more than 30-year existence. This is saying something, since the band covers such an impressive span of jazz history, from the beginning of the swing era to the bop-influenced bands of the 50’s on through to the present album.
The Count’s new drummer Harold Jones propels Fred Fisher’s Chicago with a tremendous drive. The Rogers and Hart classic Have You Met Miss Jones features beguilingly dense deep-register horn lines and an almost languorous piano, and Eric Dixon’s tasty flute solo spices up The Lady Is A Tramp. With its smoky sophistication, Eddie Lockjaw Davis’ Tenor dominates Bewitched, whereas guest trumpeter Joe Newman’s muted tongue-in-cheek solo highlights Day In Day Out. Of course, Basie himself also steps forward: for instance, on the Fats Waller-like intro to I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, and with the playful grace notes on If I Were A Bell. Reminiscent of the Las Vegas shows the band performed with Frank Sinatra, Get Me To The Church On Time is also a masterful dialogue between the horn sections.
Track Listing:
01. Chicago
02. Have You Met Miss Jones
03. The Lady Is A Tramp
04. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
05. Bewitched
06. Day In Day Out
07. Get Me To The Church On Time
08. When Sonny Gets Blue
09. On the Sunny Side Of The Street
10. Together
11. If I Were A Bell
12. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Click here to listen to samples on YouTube.com ♫
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