I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me - Count Basie, Gaskill, Clarence
Clap Hands! Here Comes Charlie - Count Basie, MacDonald, Ballard
Dickie's Dream - Count Basie, Basie, Count
Lester Leaps In - Count Basie, Young, Lester [Saxo
The Apple Jump - Count Basie, Basie, Count
I Left My Baby - Count Basie, Basie, Count
Volcano - Count Basie, Basie, Count
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - Count Basie, Arlen, Harold
I Never Knew - Count Basie, Fio Rito, Ted
Tickle Toe - Count Basie, Young, Lester [Saxo
Louisiana - Count Basie, Johnson, J.C. [Comp
Easy Does It - Count Basie, Oliver, Sy
Let Me See - Count Basie, Basie, Count
Blow Top - Count Basie, Smith, Tab
Gone With "What" Wind - Count Basie, Basie, Count
Super Chief - Count Basie, Basie, Count
The second compilation of Basie's Columbia recordings, from 1939 to 1940, shows the band at its peak, at various points including trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry Edison, trombonists Dickie Wells, Benny Morton, and Vic Di... more »ckenson, and saxophonists Buddy Tate and Tab Smith among the soloists. Surmounting it all is Lester Young, at the height of his powers and creating an approach that would revolutionize jazz, floating across the band's punching rhythms with consummate ease and rare invention. Six decades after they were recorded, tunes like "Tickle Toe," "Blow Top," and "Super Chief" still define the idea of swing. Two small-group masterpieces by Basie's Kansas City Seven, "Dickie's Dream" and "Lester Leaps In," are also included. --Stuart Broomer« less
The second compilation of Basie's Columbia recordings, from 1939 to 1940, shows the band at its peak, at various points including trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry Edison, trombonists Dickie Wells, Benny Morton, and Vic Dickenson, and saxophonists Buddy Tate and Tab Smith among the soloists. Surmounting it all is Lester Young, at the height of his powers and creating an approach that would revolutionize jazz, floating across the band's punching rhythms with consummate ease and rare invention. Six decades after they were recorded, tunes like "Tickle Toe," "Blow Top," and "Super Chief" still define the idea of swing. Two small-group masterpieces by Basie's Kansas City Seven, "Dickie's Dream" and "Lester Leaps In," are also included. --Stuart Broomer
"great stuff here -- Easy Does It is a masterpiece for the piano and Lester Young's solo, and the mood overall. Dickie's Dream is a classic. So are they all."
Really excellent, but deserves better mastering
Benj Thomas | 04/28/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Recent engineering efforts in the classic jazz field have demonstrated that even recordings from the late 1930's can be processed so that they sound both more pleasing and more accurate than the original 78rpm record. Unfortunately, this particular volume does not benefit from such treatment, though the sound quality is certainly acceptable given the age of the masters used (1939 & 40).
This collection contains some of Basie's best songs and is therefore a necessity for classic jazz fans, as are the first and third volumes in this series. The band swings hard here, and there is a palpable energy that seems to have been toned down in his later recordings."