Frank Sinatra & Count Basie - Sinatra - Basie (LP)

20TH CENTURY MASTERWORKS � 180g COLOURED VINYL SERIESContains new specially prepared liner notes by PENGUIN GUIDE TO JAZZ'swriter BRIAN MORTON and by Paris' prestigious JAZZ MAGAZINE.FRANK SINATRA & COUNT BASIE SINATRA� BASIE + 2 bonus tracks (Orange Vinyl)Sinatra had long since mastered the microphone, which had become his instrument, capable of a full-on roar or a whisper so intimate it seemed to be spoken inside the listener's head. Tackling things like Nice Work If You Can Get It and I Won't Dance took him back to a kind of repertoire he had mastered two decades before. The youthful sheen hadn't quite left the voice and age hadn't yet darkened it. Basie wasn't the greatest sight-reader and may not have played on all the tracks, but his band knew the score and Sinatra-Basie remains a collaboration of great strength and naturalness. Penguin Guide to Jazz The following decade would see his comeback to stardom, and Sinatra-Basie remains one of the highlights of that period. In this summit meeting, the iconic sonority of Basie's orchestra is sublimated by Neal Hefti's arrangements, while Sinatra, impeccable from start to finish, draws from the prodigious energy of the horns, strings and drums of this triumphant big band a simply irresistible elegance. Jazz MagazineFRANK SINATRA, vocals; COUNT BASIE, piano & conductorThe Count Basie Orchestra: Al Aarons, Sonny Cohn, Thad Jones, Al Porcino, Fortunatus Fip Ricard (tp); Henry Coker, Benny Powell, Rufus Wagner (tb), Marshal Royal (cl, as), Frank Wess (as, fl, ts), Eric Dixon (ts, fl), Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bar), Freddie Green (g), Buddy Catlett (b), Sonny Payne (d). Los Angeles, October 2 & 3, 1962. Arrangements by NEAL HEFTI. Sessions produced by FRANK SINATRA *BONUS TRACKS (A6 & B6): FRANK SINATRA (vocals), orchestra conducted &arranged by NELSON RIDDLE. Hollywood, January and November 1956.