It Might as Well Be Swing | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 1964 (LP) October 1986 (CD) | |||
Recorded | June 9–12, 1964, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California | |||
Genre | Vocal jazz, traditional pop | |||
Length | 27:22 | |||
Label | Reprise FS 1012 | |||
Producer | Sonny Burke | |||
Frank Sinatra chronology | ||||
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Count Basie chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Record Mirror | [2] |
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [3] |
It Might as Well Be Swing is a 1964 studio album by Frank Sinatra, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra. It was Sinatra's first studio recording arranged by Quincy Jones.
The recording of "Fly Me to the Moon" which appears on this album has become one of Sinatra's most popular. This was Sinatra and Basie's second collaboration after 1962's Sinatra-Basie .
Sinatra's cover version of "Hello Dolly" on the album features a new second verse improvised by Sinatra, which pays tribute to Louis Armstrong, who had topped the Billboard charts with his own version of the song earlier in 1964.
It Might as Well Be Swing is a reference to the title of the well known jazz standard "It Might as Well Be Spring".
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)" | Bart Howard | 2:30 |
2. | "I Wish You Love" | Léo Chauliac, Charles Trenet, Albert Beach | 2:56 |
3. | "I Believe in You" | Frank Loesser | 2:21 |
4. | "More (Theme from Mondo Cane)" | Riz Ortolani, Nino Oliviero, Marcello Ciorciolini, Norman Newell | 3:05 |
5. | "I Can't Stop Loving You" | Don Gibson | 3:00 |
6. | "Hello, Dolly!" | Jerry Herman | 2:45 |
7. | "I Wanna Be Around" | Johnny Mercer, Sadie Vimmerstedt | 2:25 |
8. | "The Best Is Yet to Come" | Cy Coleman, Carolyn Leigh | 3:10 |
9. | "The Good Life" | Sacha Distel, Jack Reardon | 2:30 |
10. | "Wives and Lovers" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 2:50 |
Total length: | 27:22 |
William James "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and their first recording. He led the group for almost 50 years, creating innovations like the use of two "split" tenor saxophones, emphasizing the rhythm section, riffing with a big band, using arrangers to broaden their sound, and others. Many musicians came to prominence under his direction, including the tenor saxophonists Lester Young and Herschel Evans, the guitarist Freddie Green, trumpeters Buck Clayton and Harry "Sweets" Edison, plunger trombonist Al Grey, and singers Jimmy Rushing, Helen Humes, Thelma Carpenter, and Joe Williams.
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. is an American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 72 years, with 28 Grammy Awards won out of 80 nominations, and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992.
Harry "Sweets" Edison was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard backing singers, most notably Frank Sinatra.
"Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Thaddeus Joseph Jones was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists".
Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First is a 1962 studio album by Frank Sinatra, arranged by Neal Hefti.
The Count Basie Orchestra is a 16- to 18-piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie in 1935 and recording regularly from 1936. Despite a brief disbandment at the beginning of the 1950s, the band survived long past the big band era itself and the death of Basie in 1984. It continues under the direction of trumpeter Scotty Barnhart.
Ella and Basie! is a 1963 studio album by Ella Fitzgerald, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra, with arrangements by Quincy Jones and Benny Carter. It was later reissued with slightly different cover art as On the Sunny Side of the Street.
Frank Benjamin Foster III was an American tenor and soprano saxophonist, flautist, arranger, and composer. Foster collaborated frequently with Count Basie and worked as a bandleader from the early 1950s. In 1998, Howard University awarded Frank Foster with the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award.
Sonny Payne was an American jazz drummer, best known for his work with Count Basie and Harry James.
Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie and vocalist Joe Williams recorded in 1955 and originally released on the Clef label.
Our Shining Hour is a 1965 studio album by Sammy Davis Jr., accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra, arranged by Quincy Jones.
Henry Coker was an American jazz trombonist.
Count Basie/Sarah Vaughan is a 1961 album by the American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan, accompanied by the Count Basie Orchestra, with arrangements by Frank Foster, Thad Jones and Ernie Wilkins. According to James Gavin's liner notes to the 1996 CD release, Basie himself does not perform on any of the tracks.
"Wives and Lovers" is a 1963 song by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It has been recorded by numerous male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and ensembles.
Basie/Eckstine Incorporated is a 1959 studio album featuring Billy Eckstine and the Count Basie Orchestra. It was released by Roulette Records and marked Eckstine and Basie's only recorded collaboration.
Sinatra at the Sands is a live album by Frank Sinatra accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra, and conducted and arranged by Quincy Jones, recorded live in the Copa Room of the former Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in 1966.
Afrique is a 1971 studio album by Count Basie and his orchestra, arranged & conducted by Oliver Nelson released by the Flying Dutchman label
This Time by Basie is an album released by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie featuring jazz versions of contemporary hits recorded in 1963 and originally released on the Reprise label.
Live at the Sands (Before Frank) is a live album by the pianist and bandleader Count Basie with performances recorded in Las Vegas in 1966 at the same concerts that produced Frank Sinatra's 1966 album Sinatra at the Sands. It was released on the Reprise label in 1998. The album is of the warm-up sets by Basie's band before Sinatra's performances.