Hall of Fame (Remastered Edition) Count Basie

• 1 Blues Inside Out 06:34
• 2 Big Red 03:46
• 3 Trick or Treat 04:11
• 4 Lady in Lace 04:32
• 5 Flute Juice 03:04
• 6 Lollypop 03:06
• 7 Slats 04:39
• 8 Move 03:23
• 9 Dolphin Dip 03:10
• 10 Stompin' and Jumpin' 02:45
• 11 Low Life 05:10
• Total Runtime 44:20

Info for Hall of Fame (Remastered Edition)

Strangely enough, Hall Of Fame has been forgotten, over the years, by most of the big band fans. Recorded at the same time as the April In Paris sessions, this one truly deserves to be rediscovered. There is no explanation for this albums seemingly lack of recognition; it is every bit as good as the other. There is plenty of substantial moments on these sides. The opening, Inside Out, is a long slow blues, with Marshall Royal playing some great, funky and warm clarinet choruses. Joe Newman's perennial muted trumpet shines in Low Life. Frank Foster plays pretty in his own original Lady in Lace. The modern language of Thad Jones and Frank Wess is at its best on Move and that Just to mention a few highlights. This is a must for any fan of the Count. Timeless.

Count Basie, piano
Wendell Culley, trumpet
Reunald Jones, trumpet
Thad Jones, trumpet
Joe Newman, trumpet
Henry Coker, trombone
Bill Hughes, trombone
Benny Powell, trombone
Marshall Royal, alto saxophone, clarinet
Bill Graham, alto saxophone
Frank Wess, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet
Frank Foster, tenor saxophone, clarinet
Charlie Fowlkes, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Freddie Green, guitar
Eddie Jones, bass
Sonny Payne, drums

Recorded at Fine Sound in New York City on January 5, 1956 (track 2), January 11, 1956 (tracks 1, 3-5 & 8–10), June 26, 1956 (tracks 7 & 11) and June 27, 1956 (track 6)

Digitally remastered

Count Basie
He played for kings and queens and presidents, but at the piano or leading his groundbreaking orchestra, William “Count” Basie was the embodiment of entertainment royalty.

Growing up in Red Bank, Basie learned the value of hard work. His father was a coachman, groundskeeper, and handyman for wealthy families in the area. His mother was a laundress. Lillian Basie also played piano and gave her son his first lessons on the keyboard.

Although a good student, Basie dropped out of junior high school to pursue a career in entertainment. He did chores at the local Palace Theater and quickly learned how to operate the lights for vaudeville shows. In no time, he was improvising piano accompaniment for silent films. Playing both piano and drums, Basie performed at dances and amateur shows, landing gigs in Asbury Park and other Jersey Shore towns.

Around 1920, Basie, still in his teens, moved to Harlem to seek opportunities and connect with the more-accomplished New York musicians. Basie made connections and soon was touring as an accompanist as far west as Kansas City and New Orleans. Returning to Harlem, he met the legendary keyboardist Fats Waller, who gave Basie informal lessons on the organ.

Later in the 1920s, Basie found himself stranded in Kansas City. He remained–and joined a band led by fellow pianist Bennie Moten. Together, they pioneered an upbeat style of jazz called Kansas City Stomp. Eventually, Basie started his own nine-piece band, the Barons of Rhythm, with future jazz icon Lester Young on tenor saxophone. One night, during a live radio performance with the band, the announcer gave Basie the name “Count,” to put his music in a class with Duke Ellington.

Another of those radio performances resulted in the band’s discovery by the influential talent scout John Hammond, who produced Basie’s earliest recordings. Basie next moved his band to New York, bringing their lively “jump” sound to such popular venues as the Roseland Ballroom and the Savoy. At various times, the band featured such fabulous vocalists as Billie Holiday, Jimmy Rushing, and Helen Humes. Basie himself wowed audiences with his spare, blues-oriented playing.

By the 1940s, Basie’s band—now the Count Basie Orchestra—was firmly established as one of the most successful attractions of the Swing Era. They played major engagements across the country, appeared in numerous movies, and scored nationwide hits with such Basie-penned swing classics as “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and his signature tune, “One O’Clock Jump.”

The swing-era faded after World War II, but by then Basie was firmly in the entertainment elite. In the ensuing decades, he continued to tour around the world; made frequent television appearances; performed at one of President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural balls in 1961; and cut memorable recordings with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson, and fellow future New Jersey Hall of Famers Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra.

Truly a member of entertainment’s pantheon, Basie was the recipient of nine Grammy Awards; a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; a Kennedy Center Honors award; an NEA Jazz Masters Award; and posthumously, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. New Jersey commemorates Basie with the Count Basie Performing Arts Center in his native Red Bank.

This album contains no booklet.