St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1960-01-22
THE WEEK
IN RECORDS
BY ALBERT ANDERSON
Basic, WitherspOon In Platter
Spotlight

A swinger by Count Basic and
his orchestra and a fine blues ses-
sion by singer Jimmy Witherspoon
lead list of good LIPS and singles
in this weeks review.
The Basic band is featured on
Hall of Fame" a collection of
recorded tunes ranging from funky
to heavy and light, packaged in
an eye-catching jacket on the
Verve label. Made up Of contrast
ing colors, the jacket pictures
Basic at the piano giving the
orch his famous cue.
The fare: Blues Inside Out"
a medium to slow-paced offering
featuring the clarinet playing of
Marshall Royal; Big Red" Trick
Or Treat, Slots, "Stompin'
and Moving, all racey numbers;
Dolphin Dip, a novelty tune;
Flute Juice, featuring Frank
Wess on flute, and Low Life" and
"LOllypop." >.
Most of the tunes were ar
ranged by sideman Ernie Wilkins
under the supervision of the Count,
hence the traditional Basic beat
which runs throughout the set.
The chief features are good in
Standardization and shifting
moods and tempo. Thus, whether
one prefers instrumental music or
blues this LIP guarantees him an
enjoyable session.
WitherspOOn's Festival HIT
In this period of frequent festi-
val, the Monterey Jazz Festival
will stand out in the minds of the
fans who attended it last October
and those other fans who heard
it on record because of the fine
blues singing of Jimmy Wither-
spoon, the husky Arkansan who
took the concert by storm.
Jimmy is one of the few artists
who sings the blues the way he
feels. Sometime he belts it; some
times he walls, but mostly he Of
fers his own brand of earthly and
soulful entreaties E. On his entry
here, titled Jimmy Witherspoon
At the Monterey Jazz Festival,
he does all these things with re-
pertoire of songs recorded live at
the highlight Of the first day of
the concert :. And as he walls, or
means, he is backed up by one of
the choicest group of musicians in
Coleman Hawkins, Earl "Fatha:
Hines, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge
and Woody Herman, all of whom
lend stature to the recording.
Good Rockin'" and Amt No
bodys Business" two numbers
sung in the Jimmy Rushing man.
ner, are but two of Witherspoon's
five selections on the record pre-
sented by Hifi Jazz . A fine in
PRODUCTION of Jimmy to those fans
who are not yet on his bandwagon
Basic Presides
Another fine effort by the Basic
group is Chairman of the Board,
featuring some of the same side
men mentioned above, but this time
on the Roulette label. In addition
there is the fine skin work of
Sonny Payne, Counts hard driving
drummer.
This record features 10 new
compositions by members of the
Basic band, including Wess, Thad
Jones and Foster. 1t is a hard
driving set in which the famous
Basic rhythm section stands out
This is especially true on such
offerings as The Deacon" Kan
sas City Shout, Who Me" and
Half Moon Street"
Also Basies piano playing is
heard more frequently, instead Of
at beginnings and endings, as is
customary, as the Count presides
over the musical session Fans
should like this LIP, too.
Cole, Charles Wax New Ballads
Singlewise, Nat King" Cole is
out with another romantic charm
er, and (The Great) Ray Charles
wakes a feature from his big
selling album, The Genius of Ray
Charles"
Coles ballad is called Time and |
the River. With music arranged
and conducted by Dave Cavanaugh,
the ballad is sung in the warm,
intimate style so characteristic of
Cole. On the flip side, Cole is feat
ured in a piano instrumental, play
ing "Whatcha Gonna Do" This is
the first extended piano work by
Nat on record for some time.
Coles single was released by
Capitol, while Charles is heard on
thu Atlantic lahaI