Once upon a time, jazz big bands were things people actually danced to. It wasn’t like a classical concert; the band wanted you to get on your feet. That’s how the “Swing Era” started, with bands by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey playing to that day’s youth at 8 to the bar.
Things, like WWII changed musical styles, and most big bands folded, as singers like Frank Sinatra became the rage, and musicians either created smaller units or got a living working in the studio.
One of the greatest band leaders, Count Basie, tried leading a small group, but his heart wasn’t in it, so he went back to creating a big band, but instead of focusing on soloists and riffing arrangements, he hired a handful of modern thinking arrangers like Neal Hefti, Buck Clayton, Johnny Mandel and Jimmy Mundy. The result was a new era for Mr. Basie, with this three disc, 63 song collection a perfect intro to hear what a rejuvenated orchestra sounds like.
Oh, he still had some hip musicians, boasting a horn section that included Joe Newman/tp, Joe Wilder/tp, Benny Powell/tb and a velvety sax team of Marshall Royall/as, Ernie Wilkins/ts, Frank Foster/ts, Frank Foster/ts, Paul Quinichette/ts Eddie Lockjaw Davis/ts and Charlie Fowlkes, with Freddie Green still strumming the guitar along with Eddie Jones/b and Gus Johnson/dr. There are also some guest appearances by the likes of Buddy Rich/dr, Ray Brown/b and Oscar Peterson/p mixed and matched throughout, and the deep baritone voice of Al Hibbler resonates on some ballads and blues.
Foster and Wess create a formidable team on pieces like “Two Franks” and “Cherry Point” and the orchestra gives a big sound to some of the older material such as “Oh, Lady Be Good”, “Jive At Five” and “Every Tub”. The band thunders through “Sixteen Men Swinging” and “Cherry Point” and Hibbler shouts out “Goin’ To Chicago” and “Sent For You Yesterday and Here You Come Today”. Hefti’s charts on pieces like “Softly, With Feeling” and Mandel’s pen on “Plymouth Rock” still sound fresh more than a half century later.
If you’ve never heard what a big band can sound like when the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing, check out this finger snapping collection, and keep a good distance from the speakers!