Count Basie Orchestra (1965)

Brilliant BBC Production

Pure magic in the form of a Big Band

 

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Everyone knows Count Basie, but many younger jazz fans may erroneously believe his music was just crowd-pleasing “big band stuff.”

Crowd-pleasing, yes? That’s what made jazz THE popular music of the 1930s-40s-50s.

But along with that, extraordinary depth.

Check out his piano playing and the soloists. The BBC justified its existence by capturing this one.