Antes da entrada de Frank Sinatra em palco no The Sands de Las Vegas, Count Basie e a sua orquestra abriam o espectáculo para aquecer um público entusiasta. Um animador explosivo e artista lendário que aumenta o ritmo cardíaco, faz bater o pé e estalar os dedos, com performances enérgicas da sua música swing elevada à sua melhor expressão por uma banda fabulosa.

• Edição Limitada
• Edição Numerada
• 2 LP Vinil 180 Gramas de Alta Definição prensado na RTI USA
• Masterização no Gain 2 Ultra Analog System
• Masterização Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Masterização a partir das Master Tapes Analógicas Originais
• Corte por Krieg Wunderlich
• Capas interiores especiais antiestáticas
• Capa Gatefold Deluxe

Digital clone of original 1998 PCM digital master to analog console to lathe. This recording was originally made on 4-track analog tape in 1966. It was not mixed until 1998, onto U-Matic tape, using the Sony 1630 PCM digital system.

Swinging Hard and Heavy With Orchestral Support, Live Big-Band Album Recorded During the Count's Warm-Up Sets for Sinatra in Early 1966 in Vegas. Incredible Sound: Mastered from the Original Master Tapes, Reissue Improves Upon Renowned Dynamics, Presence, Crispness, and Balances.

Count Basie and Frank Sinatra had the perfect arrangement at the Sands. Before the Chairman hit the stage in Vegas, Count Basie and his big band warmed up the already enthusiastic crowd with a brief set of their own. A dynamite entertainer, the legendary leader caused hearts to race, hips to shake, and fingers to snap with high-energy readings of his trademark swing music, taken to feverish heights by both his first-rate orchestra and the incredibly swank setting. Fortunately, the finest of Basie and Co.’s introductory performances from the historic 1966 dates have been preserved here and serve as a seminal complement to Sinatra’s iconic Live at the Sands.

Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s analog version of Live at the Sands (Before Frank) gives you a dead-center, eighth-row seat at the famed Sin City club. You’ll just need to supply your own table and cocktail. Renowned for its sonic clarity, transparency, crispness, and punch, the record is now tremendously enhanced, with improved tonality, a deeper soundstage, correct balances, and lifelike presence. Each horn occupies its own space, and Basie’s transfixing piano—a focal point throughout—resonates with gorgeous detail and impeccable pacing. The collective’s energy almost demands to be measured with an SPL meter.

Captured in late January and early February 1966, Live at the Sands (Before Frank) contains most of Basie’s signature pieces delivered with an enthusiasm, style, and brassiness that exceed that gracing nearly any of the Count’s studio efforts. His band is stacked to the nines, with tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, saxophonist/flautist Eric Dixon, and drummer “Sonny” Payne among the prized cast. The Sands dates marked the first time in years that these players, as well as trombonist Al Grey, gathered onstage together.

Encouraged by Basie, the instrumentalists engage in a series of call-and-response passages and standout solos, not the least of which is Davis’ turn on a white-hot “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and he and Dixon’s exchanges on “This Could Be the Start of Something Big.” No slouch, Basie approaches “Makin’ Whoopee” with graceful playfulness, and oversees the assortment of uptempo swing numbers and mellow ballads with astute melodicism. A sublime version of the Don Gibson country standard “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” arranged by Quincy Jones, can almost be considered a bonus.

No, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing. And Basie and his mates have plenty of it on this superb outing. Big-band jazz seldom enjoyed such levels of rhythmic precision, expert charts, or unfettered joy. Unbelievably, this gem has been out of print for years, with original copies both on vinyl and CD commanding steep prices. Mobile Fidelity’s reissue restores not only the sonics but the record’s place in jazz history.

Músicos:

Alto Saxofone, Clarinete – Marshall Royal
Alto Saxofone, Flauta – Bobby Plater
Baritone Saxofone, Flauta – Charlie Fowlkes
Baixo – Norman Keenan
Trombone Baixo – Bill Hughes
Bateria – Percival "Sonny" Payne
Guitarra – Freddie Green
Banda – Count Basie Orchestra
Piano – William "Count" Basie
Tenor Saxofone – Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis
Tenor Saxofone, Flauta – Eric Dixon
Trombone – Al Grey, Grover Mitchell, Henderson Chambers
Trompete – Al Aarons, Phil Guilbeau, George "Sonny" Cohn, Wallace Davenport

Lista de Faixas:

LP 1 Lado A
1. Introduction
2. Splanky
3. I Can’t Stop Loving You
4. I Needs to Be Bee’d With
5. Flight of the Foo Birds

LP 1 Lado B
1. Satin Doll
2. Makin’ Whoopee!
3. Corner Pocket

LP 2 Lado C
1. One O’Clock Jump
2. Go Away Little Girl
3. Whirly Bird

LP 2 Lado D
1. Blues for Ilene
2. This Could Be the Start of Something Big
3. Jumpin’ at the Woodside

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