The Count Basie Orchestra

The Count Basie Orchestra – High Voltage (1970/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 34:23 minutes | 336 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

High Voltage (subtitled Basic Basie Vol. 2) is an album by pianist and bandleader Count Basie featuring performances recorded in 1970 and released on the MPS label.

A dozen generally excellent standards are given overly brief interpretations by the Count Basie Orchestra. Chico O’Farrill was responsible for the arrangements and he should have given the band more space in which to explore these tunes. Since only one number exceeds four minutes in length, none get much beyond the melody.

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The Count Basie Orchestra – Live At Birdland (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 02:30:14 minutes | 2,91 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Candid

In the history of jazz music, there is only one bandleader that has the distinction of having his orchestra still performing sold out concerts all over the world. The work, with members personally chosen by him, for over 30 years after his passing. Pianist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was and still is an American institution that personifies the grandeur and the excellence of jazz. The Count Basie Orchestra, today directed by Scotty Barnhart, has won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once, won 18 Grammy Awards, performed for Kings, Queens, and other world royalty, appeared in several movies, television shows, at every major jazz festival and major concert hall in the world.

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The Count Basie Orchestra – High Voltage (1970/2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:39 minutes | 1,38 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © MPS

“High Voltage” (subtitled “Basic Basie Vol. 2”) is an album by pianist and bandleader Count Basie featuring performances recorded in 1970 and released on the MPS label.

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The Count Basie Orchestra – April In Paris (1957/2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 39:39 minutes | 1000 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve

Hailed upon its release as an instant classic, it’s not difficult to hear why from the opening bars of the title track. Count Basie’s April In Paris, whose title track also happens to be track one, side one, is big-band heaven and one of the great opening numbers on any album. Born on 21 August 1904, Basie is considered one of the greatest bandleaders of all time. April In Paris was recorded in New York over three separate dates, the first in July 1955, followed by two back to back days on 4 and 5 January 1956 It was one of the earliest albums to be released on Norman Granz’s new label, Verve Records, that had been launched at Christmas 1955.

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The Count Basie Orchestra – All About That Basie (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 48:10 minutes | 952 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Jazz

A gathering of legendary artists have come together to join the Count Basie Orchestra under the direction of Scotty Barnhart for this historic release celebrating the iconic band from its earliest years, throughout the decades with Sinatra and Ella, and through to today’s contemporary artists.

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The Count Basie Orchestra – A Very Swingin’ Basie Christmas! (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 44:48 minutes | 887 MB | Genre: Christmas, Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Concord Records

In celebration of the 80th Anniversary, The Count Basie Orchestra releases its first Christmas album, A Very Swingin’ Basie Christmas! The 19-piece band is accompanied with the guest vocals of Johnny Mathis on “It’s The Holiday Season,” Ledisi on “The Christmas Song” and Carmen Bradford on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Additionally, Ellis Marsalis (Piano) and Plas Johnson (saxophone) are guest musicians on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”

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The Count Basie Orchestra – Basie Swings The Blues (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:27 minutes | 967 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Candid

Led by musical director Scotty Barnhart, the Count Basie Orchestra keeps Basie’s unmistakable style alive and thriving around the world.

In the great traction of the Basie Swings albums comes this explosive album of collaborations with some of the greatest living blues and jazz artists, Basie Swings The Blues. In preparation for these sessions, Barnhart took a pilgrimage to the Mississippi Delta to immerse himself in the land where blues began. The resulting album is joyful mix of downhome blues with the deep swing and sophistication that only The Count Basie Orchestra can provide. As Count Basie famously once said, “our blues will make your blues go away.”

Produced by Barnhart along with Grammy-winning producer John Burk (Ray Charles Genius Love Company), and Grammy-winning drummer/producer Steve Jordan (The Rolling Stones), the album brings together Buddy Guy, Bobby Rush, Keb’ Mo’, Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, Charlie Musselwhite, Betty LaVette, Ledisi, George Benson, and others to bring the blues and swing back together for a set that jumps and jives with an energy not heard since Louis Jordan and T-Bone Walker lit up stages in the ’40s and ’50s.

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The Count Basie Orchestra – Listen…You Shall Hear (1988/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 45:21 minutes | 725 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Hep Records

HEP Records presents a collection of works from the great Count Basie and His Orchestra entitled Listen…You Shall Hear! Hep Records was founded in 1974 by its present owner Alastair Robertson, whose aim was to issue albums of well known jazz musicians and bands of the mid 1940’s drawn from radio acetates and transcriptions.

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