Researching that great Basie ”Live At The Sands” recording that pryso posted I learned that this recording is from the warm up sets that the band would play before the “The Chairman” took the stage for the famous Sinatra At The Sands concerts. Here’s an earlier (1962) performance of the same chart. What a band! This time it’s Frank Wess playing a beautiful tenor solo.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8IVX8BayOCA
Among the many great things that one could point to two stand out for me. One of the, if not exactly unsung, but certainly more subtle heroes in Basie’s band was guitarist Freddie Green. In practically every chart they played, subtly in the “mix”, one can hear Green’s acoustic (!) rhythm guitar chomp-chomp-chomping on every beat. It’s the kind of very important musical detail that is not fully appreciated unless it were not there at all. It added so much to the sound of the band and to that sense of drive that pryso mentions. He was also the author and arranger of “Corner Pocket” which leads me to the second point:
Check out Thad Jones’ trumpet solo! He plays first and is followed by Al Aarons. When was the last time we heard or read anything about what a great trumpet player Thad Jones was? Like Oliver Nelson his fame as a great orchestrator/band leader has made many forget what great players they were. The recognition that the arrangers deserve puts things in a different perspective for me. Not to take anything away from the leaders or headliners, but the reality is that without the great arrangers the leaders would not have nearly as much to lead. Although I’m particular fond of Neal Hefti’s arrangements for Basie, Sammy Nistico was another great arranger who helped define Basie’s big band sound. This is one of my favorite charts of his:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-UNkdyyvg
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8IVX8BayOCA
Among the many great things that one could point to two stand out for me. One of the, if not exactly unsung, but certainly more subtle heroes in Basie’s band was guitarist Freddie Green. In practically every chart they played, subtly in the “mix”, one can hear Green’s acoustic (!) rhythm guitar chomp-chomp-chomping on every beat. It’s the kind of very important musical detail that is not fully appreciated unless it were not there at all. It added so much to the sound of the band and to that sense of drive that pryso mentions. He was also the author and arranger of “Corner Pocket” which leads me to the second point:
Check out Thad Jones’ trumpet solo! He plays first and is followed by Al Aarons. When was the last time we heard or read anything about what a great trumpet player Thad Jones was? Like Oliver Nelson his fame as a great orchestrator/band leader has made many forget what great players they were. The recognition that the arrangers deserve puts things in a different perspective for me. Not to take anything away from the leaders or headliners, but the reality is that without the great arrangers the leaders would not have nearly as much to lead. Although I’m particular fond of Neal Hefti’s arrangements for Basie, Sammy Nistico was another great arranger who helped define Basie’s big band sound. This is one of my favorite charts of his:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-UNkdyyvg