Tag: 1950s

Ellington at Newport

~ Pete Cox ~ Leave a comment

This was a live album, not sure I’ve had a live one yet on the list.

It’s a nice album to have on in the background, great bit of jazz. I listened to this last week, so it’s been a while, and my recollection of it is going to be sketchy. I know the version I heard was the full concert recording, so not just Duke Ellington, which was great. The only odd but I found was the talking, but then it’s a live album, and they introduced acts/songs/band members, so it was fine, just seemed to be a lot of it.

Having never been really into jazz, it was refreshing and enjoyable to listen to. A great introduction for me.

The Atomic Mr. Basie

~ Pete Cox ~ Leave a comment

Heading back in to the 50s with this jazz album by Count Basie. The name rang a bell, but I’d not heard anything by him.

It’s a big band, jazz album, that says it all really. Lots of great tunes, no lyrics, so no chance to sing-a-long, but it was all toe tapping and finger clicking from my side, as I got into the tunes. It was a nice change, both to what I’ve been listening to from the book and in general. It was jazz, but at the same time, it wasn’t that generic background jazz. It had a big band feel to it, but the different instruments didn’t overpower each other, it was completely harmonious and added to the overall feel of the album.

Definitely worth a listen and a follow up on.