Search - Count Basie, Lambert Hendricks & Bavan :: Jazz Casual

Ralph Gleason was a celebrated jazz writer and newspaper columnist from San Francisco. He hosted a popular syndicated TV show in the '60s called Jazz Casual. It presented jazz artists on a bare stage and featured illuminating interviews with the musicians. This disk contains the audio tracks to two sensational broadcasts. The first set offers the great pianist Count Basie leading a streamlined quartet with guitarist Freddie Green. They play a number of down-home, Kansas City-style blues numbers, including the standards "Squeeze Me" and "Handful of Keys," along with several new tunes created on the spot. The other broadcast showcased the dynamic vocal trio, Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan. Backed by an elegant and swinging combo, Jon Hendricks and company provide dazzling displays of the unique improvisational singing style called vocalese. The highlight of their set includes a swing-at-the-speed-of-light rendition of "Cloudburst." Without modern-day special effects and hype, the Jazz Casual series lets the music do the talking. --Eugene Holley Jr.