The Complete Atomic Basie

Bristling with excitement and electricity, this 1958 album represents the finest accomplishment of Count Basie's "New Testament" big band. His "Old Testament" band of the late 1930s, featuring stars Lester Young, Herschel Evans, Dickie Wells, and Buck Clayton, perfected the blues-drenched, straight 4/4 rhythm of Kansas City swing. Building on the blues foundation, this 1950s band features more ambitious compositions and a more dynamic sound and incorporates more modern developments. One constant, however, is the anchoring rhythm guitar of Freddie Green. As always, Basie can dig deeply into robust stride statements or choose each note as if he had to pay for them separately. Neal Hefti, the primary composer and arranger here, marvelously captures the strengths of each individual musician. His arrangements sparkle exuberantly on the up tunes and create vivid and exotic moods on the slower ones; clever and innovative without ever being overblown. Beefy tenor Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, who was only in the band for a relatively short period, offers the most valuable and vital solo contributions, recalling Ben Webster's tenderness at times, squeaking and honking like an R&B man at others. --Marc Greilsamer more

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title,desc	merchant	price	seeit
Smarter Choice Complete Atomic Basie Complete Atomic Basie	Buy.com 23,982 reviews *smarter certified	$8.96	See it
The Complete Atomic Basie Track Listing: 1. Kid From Red Bank, The, 2. Duet, 3. After Supper, 4. Flight of the Foo Birds, 5. Double-O, 6. Teddy...	Best Buy 14,835 reviews *smarter certified	$12.99	See it
The Complete Atomic Basie (CD)	Tower.com 96 reviews	$8.79	See it

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Recent Reviews

2/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Oct-28-2008; BEWARE! This is the MONO mix.; This was an early 1957 stereo Roulette recording and one of Basie's best albums. Capitol/Blue Note elected to remaster this masterpiece in mono, instead of using the stereo master. They should be ashamed to release this wonderful album...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jun-06-2008; Definitely explosive; I've been on a big time big band kick of late, so after I got done pulling out (and putting back) a bunch of my Duke Ellington stuff, I bought some things new to my collection, including Thad Jones' Consummation and this highly...; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: May-22-2008; You won't need a chair; cuz you won't be sittin' down when you listen to this. Signature Basie all over. Zoom in on the bass player. The horns punching. It's all here. I bought this for Whirly-Bird. Hang on to your hats.; read full review | report as inappropriate

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jun-09-2007; One of the Best Ever; Simply put, this is one of the finest big band albums ever made. It has everything you could think of going for it, outstanding musicians, and an arranger who was born for the Basie band.There has never been a more complimentary arranger...; read full review | report as inappropriate

Selected Reviews

5/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Jun-06-2008; Definitely explosive; I've been on a big time big band kick of late, so after I got done pulling out (and putting back) a bunch of my Duke Ellington stuff, I bought some things new to my collection, including Thad Jones' Consummation and this highly...; read full review | report as inappropriate

3/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Feb-17-2007; Somewhat of a disappointment; I really like Basie but many of the tunes here are on the dull side. It's a good version of Lil Darling and Whirybird. There are better Basie CDs out there; read full review | report as inappropriate

2/5: From: Amazon; Posted: Oct-28-2008; BEWARE! This is the MONO mix.; This was an early 1957 stereo Roulette recording and one of Basie's best albums. Capitol/Blue Note elected to remaster this masterpiece in mono, instead of using the stereo master. They should be ashamed to release this wonderful album...; read full review | report as inappropriate