COUNT BASIE - TONY BENNETT

Tony Bennett and Count Basie 

Chicago 1958

AllMusic Review by Richard S. Ginell

The Roulette half of the two Bennett/Basie sessions is a band singer's paradise, with the Basie band caught at a robust and swinging peak and Bennett never sounding happier or looser in front of a microphone. The Count himself, alas, appears on piano only on two numbers ("Life Is a Song" and "Jeepers Creepers"), while Bennett's perennial pianist Ralph Sharon takes over on the remaining ten tracks and does all the charts. Yet Sharon writes idiomatically for the Count's style, whether on frantic rave-ups like "With Plenty of Money and You" and "Strike Up the Band" or relaxed swingers like "Chicago." Though not a jazz singer per se, the flavor of jazz is everywhere in Bennett's voice, which in those days soared like a trumpet. The 1990 CD included an atmospheric unissued Neal Hefti ballad "After Supper," but even this bonus track does little to extend the skimpy playing time (about 31 minutes) of what is still a great, desirable snapshot from American showbiz of the late 1950s.

Ralph Sharon

Arranger, Guest Artist, Piano

Ed Jones

Bass

Eddie Jones

Bass

Sonny Payne

Drums

Freddie Green

Guest Artist, Guitar

Frank Foster

Guest Artist, Saxophone

Frank Wess

Guest Artist, Saxophone

Thad Jones

Guest Artist, Trumpet

Joe Newman

Guest Artist, Trumpet

Barry Ulanov

Liner Notes, Text

Count Basie

Performer, Piano, Primary Artist

Tony Bennett

Performer, Primary Artist, Vocals

Billy Mitchell

Sax (Tenor), Saxophone

Charlie Fowlkes

Saxophone

Marshall Royal

Saxophone

Henry Coker

Trombone

Al Grey

Trombone

Benny Powell

Trombone

Wendell Culley

Trumpet

Snooky Young

Trumpet