Count Basie "88 Basie Street

Hard to go wrong with Basie. You might try "Chairman of the Board" if you can find it, but all the ones on Roulette and Pablo are pretty great, not to mention his early stuff on Columbia and other labels.

Agree with Dopogue's comments. I also really like "Chairman of the Board".

try the album on verve "the essential Basie" great playing and good sounding recording.

Basie rarely did a bad record, but if what you like is the recording quality "88 Basie Street" is exceptional. All of his records on the Pablo label, which were recorded late in his life, are very well recorded. In fact, Pablo in general has very high recording values. Another to check out is Roy Eldridge's "What it's All About".

A fellow audiogon member turned me on to a wonderful well recorded disc - Count Basie and his Orchestra - Warm Breeze! "Try it You'll Like It". One of my go to discs for serious listening.

Basie Jam - Farmers Market Barbecue - Count Basie and the Kansas City 7, all three on my "in heavy rotation" list.

Also check out Ben Webster at the Renaissance.

Peter

Thanks everyone for the great input.
Please keep it coming. I'm writing it all down.