Duke Ellington & Count Basie - First Time! (1961)

Duke Ellington & Count Basie - First Time! (1961)
(The Count Meets The Duke)

jazz | 1cd | eac-flac-cue-log-cover | 235MB

Columbia/Legacy 2009

Allmusic:
At first glance this collaboration should not have worked. The Duke Ellington and Count Basie Orchestras had already been competitors for 25 years but the leaders' mutual admiration (Ellington was one of Basie's main idols) and some brilliant planning made this a very successful and surprisingly uncrowded encounter. On most selections Ellington and Basie both play piano (their interaction with each other is wonderful) and the arrangements allowed the stars from both bands to take turns soloing. "Segue in C" is the highpoint but versions of "Until I Met You," "Battle Royal" and "Jumpin' at the Woodside" are not far behind.

Tracks
-1. "Battle Royal" (Ellington) - 5:33
-2. "To You" (Benny Davis, Tommy Dorsey, Thad Jones, Ted Shapiro) - 3:53
-3. "Take the "A" Train (Billy Strayhorn) - 3:46
-4. "Corner Pocket" [aka "Until I Met You"] (Freddie Green, Donald Wolf) - 4:53
-5. "Wild Man" [aka "Wild Man Moore"] - 6:20
-6. "Segue in C" (Frank Wess) - 8:22
-7. "B D B" (Ellington, Strayhorn) - 4:43
-8. "Jumpin' at the Woodside" (Count Basie) - 3:09
Recorded at 30th Street Studio, New York on July 6, 1961

Personnel
* Duke Ellington, Count Basie – piano
* Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Eddie Mullens, Ray Nance, Sonny Cohn, Lennie Johnson, Thad Jones, Snooky Young - trumpet
* Louis Blackburn, Lawrence Brown, Henry Coker, Quentin Jackson, Benny Powell - trombone
* Juan Tizol - valve trombone
* Jimmy Hamilton - clarinet, tenor saxophone
* Johnny Hodges - alto saxophone
* Russell Procope, Marshall Royal - alto saxophone, clarinet
* Frank Wess - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
* Paul Gonsalves, Frank Foster, Budd Johnson - tenor saxophone
* Harry Carney, Charlie Fowlkes - baritone saxophone
* Freddie Green - guitar
* Aaron Bell, Eddie Jones - bass
* Sam Woodyard, Sonny Payne - drums

sample & buy: First Time! the Count Meets the Duke