Count Basie & The Kansas City 3 For the Second Time: Pablo Series

Count Basie & The Kansas City 3's For the Second Time Reissued as Part of the Pablo Records Series on 180g LP: Mastered by Kevin Gray from the Original Analog Master Tape, Pressed at QRP

Anyone who ever heard Count Basie launch his band into a blues with several choruses of effortless piano has lamented that there is far too little of Basie the soloist among his recorded legacy. This shortage was rectified to a certain extent by the trio albums Basie made with Ray Brown and Louis Bellson in the Seventies, of which this is the sequel to the For the First Time set of the previous year.

Once again, Basie's poetic introductions, precise calibrations of touch and coloration, and definitive swing create a joyous program of four venerable standards and an equal number of new blues. Bellson is empathetic throughout and dances with his brushes on "Sandman," while Brown's robust tone and earth-moving walking lines bring out the best in Basie the soloist and accompanist.

Mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog master tape and pressed at Quality Record Pressings, this Analogue Productions 180-gram reissue is housed in a single pocket Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.