Duke Ellington & Count Basie - First Time! The Count Meets The Duke (1962)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a cassette tape, later replaced by a CD.

This album is exactly as you'd think: two legendary big bands playing together. Using the magic of stereo separation, the Count Basie band is on the left channel with the Duke Ellington band on the right. This recording session (July 6, 1961) had the potential to quickly become a competition, but it ultimately plays as a collaboration. Sure, musicians occasionally give in to the urge to play higher and louder than other players (I'm looking at you, lead trumpet players), but those moments are few and far between. I don't think this album was as successful as Columbia hoped, but it's still an enjoyable big band offering.

On rare occasions, the bands would pair up for a live performance or TV appearance, but this album would be the only studio recording of the two groups together. Original album liner notes from jazz writers George T. Simon and Stanley Dance.

Reviews/ratings:

• DownBeat (★★★★): "The parts remain greater than the whole...but still the parts are so great that they produce a mighty impressive whole."
• High Fidelity: "although nothing on the disc measures up to what either band can do on its own, there are some fine moments"
• Billboard: "should be one to watch"
• CashBox: "Jazzophiles should really dig this quality package"
• Stereo Review: Recording of Special Merit
• The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide (1999): ★★★½
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Jazz (1999): ★★★
• The Penguin Guide to Jazz (5th ed., 2000): ★★★

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks: I prefer what was side one of the album (tracks 1-4) than the tracks on side two, save for the final track, Jumpin' At The Woodside, which will forever remind me of Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: In the latter half of 1984, I traveled 350 miles from my parents' house and began adventures as a music education major at a provincial, directional state university (more on those escapades here and even more here). Thinking I needed to expand my horizons beyond pop/rock music, I began buying more and more classical and jazz music, mostly on cassette for convenience. This album was one such purchase (R.I.P. Crossroads Mall in Greenville). It may have been my first big band recording that I bought in any format.

I enjoyed playing in the jazz band in high school and thought I'd continue playing big band music in the university's jazz band, but I didn't have the talent to pass an audition. I may have graduated as an award-winning trumpet player at my high school, but when I got to college, I was suddenly with 30 other trumpet players who had also been the best at their respective high schools. So my mediocre chops and below-average sightreading skills were simply no competition for the 5 spots in the jazz band.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Big Boss Band (1990) with George Benson
Sinatra at the Sands (1966) with Frank Sinatra
It Might As Well Be Swing (1964) with Frank Sinatra