Record Reviews

COUNT BASIE ~ HIGH VOLTAGE MPS 4029759115601 (Barcode: 4029759115601) ~ USA ~ Jazz Recorded: 1970 Released: 2016 This is a reissue of an album by American pianist / composer / bandleader Count BasieFind albums by this artist, which was his second of two albums for MPSFind albums on this label. Basie leads the incredible Count Basie OrchestraFind albums by this artist, one of the tightest and archetypical Jazz Big Bands of all times, which includes some of the best American Jazz musicians of the period, like saxophonist Eddie DavisFind albums by this artist, flautist Eric DixonFind albums by this artist, trumpeter Joe NewmanFind albums by this artist, bassist George DuvivierFind albums by this artist, drummer Harold JonesFind albums by this artist and many others. The orchestra performs twelve classic Jazz standards, beautifully arranged by Chico O`FarrillFind albums by this artist. The music is definitely on the lighter side of the Jazz spectrum, with lush melodies and soft arrangements, spiced with beautiful soulful solos, a mixture which is appealing to a wide audience, way beyond the hardcore Jazz lovers. It is "Classical American Music" at its best, and it´s completely timeless and eternally young. However, at the time this album was recorded Swing as a genre and Big Bands playing Swing were already at their last legs, and would soon leave the stage, mostly for economic reasons, but also due to the rapidly diminishing interest in Jazz as popular music in America and the ascent of Rock and Pop as the centre of musical interest. In the historic perspective this album is a wonderful example of Big Band arrangements and the power of an orchestra, which sounds like one organic instrument, which in turn is clearly incomparable to any other form of instrumentation. As such it is a must to all Big Band lovers, but also a great portion of nostalgic fun of the highest quality. The original album had liner notes written by the great American music critic Leonard Feather, one of my role models, which is still a great fun to read today, forty five years later. Apparently great writing, same as great music, is immune to the passing of time. It´s great to have this album back in circulation! Side Note The legendary German MPSFind albums on this label (Musik Produktion Schwarzwald) label, founded by Hans Georg Brunner-SchwerFind albums by this artist (HGBS) in 1963, first as SABAFind albums on this label Records and later on from 1968 as MPS Records, was the most important independent European record label, which had an enormous contribution to the development of European Jazz. For many years MPS cooperated with the legendary German producer / author Joachim BerendtFind albums by this artist, my Friend and Mentor, whose visionary approach and open-mindedness brought the crème de la crème of the Jazz (in the broadest meaning of the word) musicians from all over the world to the label. Between 1963 and 1983 MPS produced about five hundred albums, many of which are among the most important Jazz recordings on this planet. In 1983 the MPS catalog was sold to UniversalFind albums on this label, which sadly resulted in all those artistic treasures to almost disappear from the face of the earth – a situation not only tragic but culturally criminal. Universal reissued a part of the MPS albums (probably 128 titles) on CD between 1999 and 2011 under the "Most Perfect Sound Edition" moniker. Since 2008 the German Promising MusicFind albums on this label label released some of the MPS recordings, but at a very slow pace. In 2014 the German company Edel AG bought the MPS catalogue from Universal and released a series of 25 MPS albums on CD with a new slipcase graphic design, which brought all those excellent albums back to life. In 2015 Edel AG started to record and release new albums under the MPS moniker. In 2016 Edel AG released a series of 10 classic MPS albums on CD, which were beautifully remastered and re-packaged, presenting the original artwork and liner notes, as well as new liner notes and photographs. An obvious labor of love, these reissues are what the MPS catalogue truly deserves. This project was continued in 2017 with another series of 10 classic MPS albums released on CD. In later years some new reissues were released sporadically. Over the years many SABA / MPS albums were reissued in Japan, which is often the only available source for these albums today, but that is a story in itself.

Updated: 28/05/2018Posted: 05/12/2016

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