SINATRA-BASIE: AN HI

Personnel: Frank Sinatra (vocals); Count Basie (piano); Freddie Green (guitar); Marshal Royal, Frank Foster, Eric Dixon, Frank Wess, Charlie Fowlkes (saxophone); Thad Jones, F.P. Ricard, Sonny Cohn, Albert Aarons, Al Porcino (trumpet); Henry Coker, Rufus Wagner, Benny Powell (trombone); Buddy Catlett (bass); Sonny Payne (drums). Recorded in late 1962. In 1962, Sinatra was probably still giddy with the freedom afforded him by the foundation of his year-old label Reprise. It was in that year that he sought out Count Basie, whom he'd long admired, to record a collaborative album. While Sinatra's work with arranger Billy May stands as some of the most swinging work in either man's career, its tough to out-swing the Count. Basie's blues-influenced big-band sound gives Sinatra an unequalled rhythmic push throughout this album, which truly deserves its "historic" reputation. Brassy, bold, uptempo numbers are the order of the day on SINATRA-BASIE, and the buoyancy of "Nice Work If You Can Get It" and "Pennies From Heaven" benefits greatly from both Sinatra's warm-hearted enthusiasm and Basie's earthy swing. Even the ballad "I Only Have Eyes for You" is reworked here into a toe-tapper. And with such luminaries as trumpeter Thad Jones and guitarist Freddie Green behind the Basie bandstand, the musicianship is flawless, simultaneously precise and soulful.