The Atomic Mr. Basie | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 1958 | |||
Recorded | 21–22 October 1957 | |||
Studio | Capitol [lower-roman 1] (New York) | |||
Genre | Swing, big band | |||
Length | 39:30 [1] 56:34 (1994 Reissue) | |||
Label | Roulette | |||
Producer | Teddy Reig | |||
Count Basie and his orchestra chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Disc | [3] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [5] |
Tom Hull | A− [6] |
The Atomic Mr. Basie (originally called Basie, also known as E=MC2 and reissued in 1994 as The Complete Atomic Basie) is a 1958 album by Count Basie, featuring the song arrangements of Neal Hefti and the Count Basie Orchestra. Allmusic gave it 5 stars, reviewer Bruce Eder saying: "it took Basie's core audience and a lot of other people by surprise, as a bold, forward-looking statement within the context of a big-band recording." [2] It is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die , Will Fulford-Jones calling it "Basie's last great record." [1] It was voted number 411 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000). [7]
The tracks were recorded 21–22 October 1957. The tracks on the original release were all composed and arranged by Hefti. Part of the second day was used for recording tracks by Jimmy Mundy - "Silks and Satins" and "Sleepwalker's Serenade". It also featured recordings of "The Late, Late Show", which had been a hit for Dakota Staton that year, also likely arranged by Mundy. These additional tracks were released in 1994 on The Complete Atomic Basie. [8]
This was the first Basie album released by Roulette Records. [8]
The album won Best Jazz Performance, Group and Best Performance by a Dance Band awards at the 1st Annual Grammy Awards. [9]
The success of the album led to Basie, Hefti and producer Teddy Reig collaborating together again six months later to record Basie Plays Hefti . [8]
All tracks composed and arranged by Neal Hefti, except where indicated.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Kid from Red Bank" | 2:38 |
2. | "Duet" | 4:10 |
3. | "After Supper" | 3:22 |
4. | "Flight of the Foo Birds" | 3:21 |
5. | "Double-O" | 2:45 |
6. | "Teddy the Toad" | 3:40 |
7. | "Whirlybird" | 3:46 |
8. | "Midnite Blue" | 4:25 |
9. | "Splanky" | 3:35 |
10. | "Fantail" | 2:50 |
11. | "Li'l Darlin'" | 4:47 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "Silks and Satins" (Jimmy Mundy) | 4:05 |
13. | "Sleepwalker's Serenade (Alternative Take)" (Mundy, Hefti) | 3:37 |
14. | "Sleepwalker's Serenade" (Mundy, Hefti) | 3:39 |
15. | "The Late, Late Show" (Roy Alfred, Murray Berlin) | 2:52 |
16. | "The Late, Late Show (Vocal Version)" (Alfred, Berlin) | 3:02 |
Neal Paul Hefti was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for The Odd Couple movie and TV series and for the Batman TV series.
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.
Digital III at Montreux is a 1979 live album featuring a compilation of performances by Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Joe Pass, and Ray Brown, recorded at the 1979 Montreux Jazz Festival. It was produced and has liner notes by Norman Granz. The cover photo is by Phil Stern.
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.
April in Paris is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie and His Orchestra, his first released on the Verve label, recorded in 1955 and 1956.
Montreux '77 is an album by Count Basie and his orchestra, recorded at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival.
On the Road is an album by the Count Basie Orchestra that won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band in 1981.
Basie in London is a 1956 live album by Count Basie and his orchestra, recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Basie at Birdland is a 1961 live album by the Count Basie Orchestra that was recorded at Birdland in New York City.
More Blues and the Abstract Truth is an album by American jazz composer, conductor and arranger Oliver Nelson featuring performances recorded in 1964 for the Impulse! label.
"Li'l Darlin'" is a jazz standard, composed and arranged in 1957 by Neal Hefti for the Count Basie Orchestra and first recorded on the 1958 album, The Atomic Mr. Basie.
"Duet" is a 1957 (©1958) big band swing composition and arrangement by Neal Hefti that was part of his larger body of work for the Count Basie Orchestra. His arrangement features two muted trumpets, which – when first recorded in 1957 on The Atomic Mr. Basie – featured Thad Jones and Joe Newman.
Basie Plays Hefti is an album released by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie performing the compositions and arrangements of Neal Hefti recorded in 1958 and originally released on the Roulette label. Basie, Hefti, and producer Teddy Reig had collaborated six months earlier on the album E=MC2.
Breakfast Dance and Barbecue is a live album by pianist, composer and bandleader Count Basie and his Orchestra with vocalist Joe Williams featuring tracks recorded at a Disc Jockey convention in Florida in 1959 and originally released on the Roulette 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.
Basie is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie recorded in 1954 and originally released on the Clef label. the album should not be confused with Basie's 1958 album which became known as The Atomic Mr. Basie.
Dance Session is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie recorded in 1953 and became Basie's first 12-inch LP when it was originally released on the Clef label. Selections from this album were also released on the 1956 Clef LPs Basie Roars Again and King of Swing.
The Count! is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie recorded in 1952 and released on the Clef label in 1955.
Dance Session Album #2 is an album by pianist/bandleader Count Basie recorded in 1954 and originally released on the Clef label. Selections from this album were also released on the 1956 Clef LPs Basie Roars Again and King of Swing.